Kathmandu. Government employees have to wear clothes produced in Nepal. The government has brought the ‘Directive 2081 on the use of indigenous goods in public bodies’ by including the provisions of this arrangement. In the guidelines prepared by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supply, there is a provision that employees and officials working in public bodies should use indigenous products.

In point 5 of the guidelines, there is a provision related to the use of indigenous products. “Employees and officials working in public bodies should use uniforms produced by indigenous industries as far as available,” in Section 5(1).

The guidelines have kept the definition of the Public Procurement Act 2063 in the definition of public body. Which includes constitutional organs or bodies, courts, ministries of the government of Nepal, ministries of the provincial government, secretariats, commissions, departments, and any government agencies and offices under it.

According to this, the employees and officials working in all organs of the state and the offices under it have to use the uniform produced in Nepal as long as it is available.

The definition of public body includes institutions, companies, banks, or committees owned or controlled by the Government of Nepal and the Provincial Government. Commissions, institutes, authorities, corporations, foundations, boards, centers, and councils formed by the government are included in it. Schools, universities, research centers, and other academic or educational institutions are also public bodies.

Local governments, development committees established under the Development Committee Act 2013, organizations operated with loans or grants from the Government of Nepal and provincial governments, and other bodies designated by the government as public bodies are also included under public bodies.

Employees and officials working in all these will not only wear clothes produced in Nepal. Even when giving a gift to someone, you should use indigenous items. It is stated in section 5 (2) of the directive that “officials of public bodies should use indigenous goods when giving any gift.”.

Section 5(3) of the directive stipulates that domestic goods should be used when using items required for events, conferences, or seminars organized by public bodies.

It will not be done only by using indigenous products. What kind of indigenous products have been used should be kept in the electronic portal?

It is mentioned in section 3(6) of the directive that the public body shall enter the details and amount of the domestic goods purchased by it in the electronic portal as per sub-section 2. According to sub-section 2, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supply will create and implement an electronic portal called ‘Nepali Product’ to manage the purchase of indigenous products.

According to the guidelines, producers who want to provide indigenous products to public bodies should list the name of indigenous products, results, retail and wholesale price, certificate of origin, product quality and standards, and other specifications and list them on the electronic portal named “Nepali Products.”. In the directory, there is also the issue that private sector umbrella organizations or objective associations should coordinate and cooperate with such listing work and business.

However, in the case of projects run with foreign grants and loans, it is said that the development will be done according to the agreement with the partner.

There will also be inspection and monitoring of whether public bodies have purchased and used domestic goods. In this regard, the head of the relevant agency has been given the responsibility of quarterly inspection and monitoring. It will also be included in the audit.

“During the internal and final audit according to the prevailing law, the ratio of the purchase of indigenous goods compared to the total purchase made by such an entity in that financial year should be mentioned in the audit report, including whether the public body has purchased domestic goods in accordance with this guideline or not.” It is in section 7 of the directory.

There will be a separate steering committee to implement, monitor, and facilitate the guidelines related to the use of indigenous products.

Joint secretaries of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration are members of the steering committee, which is chaired by the Industry Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supply. The Joint Secretary of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the Joint Controller General of the Comptroller General’s Office are also members.

The private sector will also participate in this mechanism. The Executive Director of Trade and Export Promotion Center, the President of the Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the President of the Nepal Confederation, the President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce, the President of the Nepal Domestic and Small Industries Federation, and the President of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs are members of the Director Committee.

The Joint Secretary of the Industrial and Investment Promotion Division under the Ministry of Industry will work as the Member Secretary of the Board of Directors. The Secretariat of the Board of Directors will be located at the Ministry of Industry in Singha Durbar.

The work, duties, and powers of the board of directors include monitoring, facilitating, and coordinating the purchase and use of indigenous goods in public bodies. The committee of directors has also been given the authority to make recommendations to the Government of Nepal for determining, modifying, and adding to the list of indigenous products.

This committee is also responsible for taking the initiative to make more policy arrangements in this regard and implementing the recommendations of the audit report regarding the use of indigenous products. The board of directors will also use the power of making recommendations to the Ministry of Industry to reward public bodies that use indigenous products to the maximum extent.

The Board of Directors can also establish mechanisms at the state and local levels as needed. There will be government and private sector representatives in the state and local level mechanisms.