KATHMANDU: The cabinet meeting held Sunday evening has decided to cancel the contract to print the Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) awarded to India, said Shanker Pokharel, the Minister for Information and Communication.
The meeting, which convened at the prime ministerial residence in Baluwatar, unanimously repealed its controversial decision on the MRPs that the government had made last month. Instead, it has decided to select a supplier through a competitive bidding procedure, informed Pokharel, who is also the spokesperson of the government.
The government had awarded the contract to print MRPs to India last month. The Supreme Court (SC) issued an interim order staying the government decision on April 7.Meanwhile, the UCPN-Maoist has withdrawn its nationwide shutdown that the party had called for Monday.
The Maoists had earlier called the general strike protesting the government decision to award the MRP contract to India, saying the deal would be detrimental to the country's national security.
The Cabinet meeting held earlier in the evening, which DPM Sujata Koirala did not attend, had agreed to sit later to take decision on the MRP deal. DPM Koirala was one of the vocal proponents of the deal with India.
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