Kathmandu: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said he feels that climbers are like his family members. Remembering the Sagarmatha ascent by his daughter-in-law and late son in the past, PM Dahal viewed climbers give sense of his family members. The PM was moved at a programme where he was the chief guest. The programme was held to announce a 'climbers' welfare fund'. It was conducted to mark the Sagarmatha Day. "I assure you of my initiatives to set up the fund by coordinating with the Finance Ministry. Tax discount will be mulled for fostering mountaineering tourism and entrepreneurship," PM Dahal mentioned. The Sagarmatha Day would help increase arrival of tourists, conserve mountain, reduce waste in mountain region and take action against climate change impact in this sensitive zone. According to him, the government would formulate a policy and programmes to ensure safe mountaineering and dignity to climbers recognizing the Sagarmatha ascent. On the occasion, Minister for Culture, Touri sm and Civil Aviation, Hit Bahadur Tamang, informed that the government had aimed at welcoming 1.6 million tourists next year. For realizing the goal, the ministry was at work for collaboration and coordination with concerned stakeholders, he added. A taskforce was formed to study environmental impacts at Sagarmatha base camp in the wake rising temperate and human activities in the mountain region. Similarly, Chief Minister of Koshi Province, Hikmat Karki, hoped province would get cooperation from the federal government for conservation of the Sagarmatha region. The government has decided to observe the Sagarmatha Day every year. The day is marked on May 29, the day the first climbers were atop the world's highest peak, Sagarmatha. It has been 71 years since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary climbed the highest peak. Nepal had begun observing the day in 2008. Meanwhile, noted tourism entrepreneur and climber Lakpa Sonam Sherpa has been conferred on the International Sagarmatha Award in recognition to his five decades long contribution to tourism and mountaineering. The award carries a purse of Rs 100 thousand. Several other climbers were provided batch and identity cards. Source: National News Agency RSS
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