General meeting of NMA concludes

Kathmandu: The 30th general meeting of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has concluded in the capital on Saturday.

Addressing the inaugural session of the General Assembly, Minister for Tourism Bhanubhakta Dhakal said that the panic has increased even though the standards have been relaxed in the tourism sector which has been most affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.

“As per your request and suggestion, the standards are being relaxed and the environment is being made comfortable,” he said. He said that everyone should move forward together in difficult situations.

Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, Yadav Koirala, said that the NMA was set up for the promotion of mountain tourism at the international level, development of infrastructure, and development of human resources.

He said that although he did well in training, some infrastructure development, and rescue work, there were also weaknesses. “There are some weaknesses in the promotion work in the international arena.

There is no visible work in the construction of infrastructure. It is necessary to build resting places and shelters for tourists,” he said. The NMA President Santa Bir Lama said that tourism has been hit the hardest by Covid-19.

He also complained that the state has not given respect and facilities to the climbers who respect the country. “Climbers who shine the name of the country in the national and international arena are only able to work, then in old age, they do not even get medical expenses.

There is a problem of daily subsistence,” he said. “We have proposed a basket fund in coordination with other tourism-related organizations to solve this problem. I request the concerned government officials to implement it.” He expressed happiness over the distribution of identity cards to mountain guides for the first time in history.

“I am happy to thank the government. For the first time in history, mountain guides have been recognized by the government,” he said. He also said that there was a problem in repeatedly renewing the mountains managed by the NMA, adding that there would be no hassle of renewal if the government provided it from the Council of Ministers for a longer period.

Currently, NMA has been collecting royalties from 27 mountains. NMA honored the founders and advisors of the organization Shambhu Tamang, Lakpa Dorje Sherpa, Haridhwoj Tulachan, Kamal Man Gurung, and Partemba Sherpa during the program.

Similarly, Kumar Khadga Bikram Shah Adventure Award from Austria. Dr. Wolfgang Nairz, Dr. Harka Gurung Mountain Award was given to Me. Tada0 Kanzaki, Japan, and the Dawa Norbu Mountain Tourism Journalism Award was given to Jagdish Tiwari and Arjun Pakhrin. Ten top trekking companies were also honored for climbing the mountains managed by the NMA.