Finance Minister urges customs offices to focus on revenue collection

Kathmandu:  Finance Minister Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat has visited the Mechi Customs Office, Kakarvita, Bhadrapur Customs Office, and the Inland Revenue Office, Bhadrapur in Jhapa.

Minister Dr. Mahat attended the inaugural session of the 15-day fifth Damak Festival on Sunday, organized by the Damak Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Minister Dr. Mahat also inspected the offices and held interactions with the local business communities. While interacting with the media during the inspection, the minister instructed the customs offices to focus on meeting the monthly revenue targets and insisted on combined efforts among the customs offices, Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force, and the Revenue Office to control the cross-border smuggling of goods.

Likewise, he said that a nation's income depends on the size of revenue collection. 'The nation's income will reduce if the revenue collection decreases and a fall in the revenue collection will hamper the government's investment in education, health, and other public service sectors,'  said Minister Mahat. He also urged all to contribute to preventing revenue leakage in a  program held at the Mechi Customs Office.

Minister Mahat said the significance of the office will further increase with the expansion of the Asian Highway. Office's customs officer, Ram Prasad Regmi, apprised the Minister about a declining trend of revenue collection and said the Kakarvitta point is not a priority of the government though it serves as one of the major transits along the Nepal-India border.

During the minister's visit to the Bhadrapur Customs Office, Bhadrapur municipality mayor Ganesh Pokhrel and the business community urged the Minister to give attention to the improvement of the office's physical infrastructure and provide a budget to compensate those whose land was acquired for the official use by it.

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