KATHMANDU: Kathmandu: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) is all set to submit a proposal to the Cabinet regarding giving two days leave in a week to civil servants.
A meeting held at MoCTCA today took a decision to form a taskforce and based on the report prepared by the taskforce, Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai will forward a proposal to the Cabinet to approve two days of leave in a week.
The tourism ministry is preparing such a proposal with an aim to promote domestic tourism.
The taskforce formed today through the meeting will be coordinated by Joint Secretary Pradip Kumar Koirala and comprise of Rudra Singh Tamang, director general of Department of Tourism (DoT) and Dhananjay Regmi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). The team will also include a representative each from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of General Administration.
Tourism stakeholders have been urging the government since long to adopt a five-day working week so as to promote domestic tourism. Meanwhile, after the COVID-19 hit the tourism sector, all the stakeholders are anticipating the domestic tourism to help them revive the sector, for which, the stakeholders have been asking the government to encourage civil servants to travel within the country.
Similarly, the meeting has also decided to prepare health safety protocols for Pashupatinath Temple, Lumbini and other museums. The protocols will be submitted to the COVID-19 Crisis Management Center for approval to open these places to the public. Meanwhile, the meeting has also decided to prepare programs for revival of the tourism industry jointly with DoT and NTB.
Besides, the meeting has also decided to sign air services agreements with Bangladesh, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea and Finland.