March 12: The Indian government has pledged to give continuity to supply of medicines to Nepal.    
Minister of State for Industry, Commerce and Supply, Motilal Dugad, who returned home after participating in Global Summit 2020 held in India on March 6 and 7, shared that Civil Aviation Minister and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of India, Hardeep Singh Puri, directed his secretaries to continue export of medicines to Nepal. The directive was issued after a meeting with State Minister Dugad.    
 Nepal imports 70 per cent of necessary medicines and medicated goods from foreign countries. Of them, 90 per cent is imported from India.    
Talking with media persons at his office on Wednesday, Minister of State Dugad said, "We requested for a separate policy for Nepal, which received a positive response."    
On a different note, Minister of State Dugad urged the consumers not to hoard daily essentials as there is enough stock of daily essentials for three to six months. However, people have started to stock daily essentials and medicines thinking there might be shortage of such things following coronavirus.    
Stating that the government has fined those involved in black marketing and hiding goods, he opined, "Do not stock goods unnecessarily. We will not allow shortage of medicines and daily essentials. Necessary goods are being imported. So there is no reason to be worried."    
State Minister Dugad said that the government has been carrying out monitoring regarding supply of mask and sanitizer and asked the businessmen not to increase the price of such things.    
He also shared that the Indian authorities have urged Nepal to supply mask. - RSS