Kathmandu, October 1
Bipin Kumar Acharya, general secretary of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and a member of the House of Representatives, has said that he is trying to become “extraordinary.”
He made the remark while speaking during the zero hour in the House of Representatives on Thursday.
“I may be an engineer of average ability, which is perhaps why people who excel in ability, intent and facts in every field seem extraordinary to me. I am also trying to become extraordinary myself,” he said.
Acharya did not name Prime Minister Balen Shah in his remarks. However, Shah had held a discussion with lawmakers from engineering backgrounds only on Wednesday. During the meeting, Shah had described lawmakers with engineering backgrounds as “extraordinary” lawmakers.
Seventeen lawmakers attended the meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. Mohan Acharya, a Nepali Congress lawmaker from Rasuwa, was the only participant from the Nepali Congress, while the others were RSP lawmakers.
The lawmakers initially presented their views, after which Prime Minister Shah addressed the meeting.
During his address, Shah explained the types of issues raised by different lawmakers and classified lawmakers into three categories based on their expressions: average, below average and extraordinary.
Shah described lawmakers with engineering backgrounds as “extraordinary” lawmakers.
“Engineers are extraordinary. Ordinary people talk about events. Those below that level tell me to do this or that. Since you are extraordinary, you should raise ideas and talk about creativity. The country will develop if this is done. The country will develop through your ideas,” a lawmaker quoted Shah as saying to Onlinekhabar.
During the discussion, Shah asked lawmakers with engineering backgrounds to provide ideas on what could be done for industrialisation.
He also assured them that they could directly contact the Prime Minister’s Office with ideas and that he would readily meet those who came with ideas.
Against this backdrop, RSP General Secretary Acharya said without naming Prime Minister Shah that he was an engineer of average ability and was trying to become extraordinary.
After making the remark, Acharya raised the issue of the Nepali currency.
“All the powerful currencies in the world have their own symbols. The dollar, euro, pound and even the Japanese yen, as well as the currencies of neighbouring countries such as the Chinese yuan and Indian rupee, have their own symbols,” he said.
He said having a distinct symbol for Nepal’s currency would make things easier in the current global fintech era.
He drew the attention of the Ministry of Finance and Nepal Rastra Bank to the need to create a currency symbol reflecting the originality of Devanagari script and the country’s national pride.
