Priority to locals while recruiting employees at international airport

Home Minister Balkrishna Khand, also a central member of the Nepali Congress, pledged to place priority on locals while recruiting employees at Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport.

Local people would be given priority in recruiting employees for new posts and also in other opportunities at the airport, he said, pledging to take initiative on his own to that end.

In his address to a program of the ruling coalition at Bhairahawa on Saturday, he said emphasis would be laid on residents when new vacancies were announced as the airport construction was made possible only after locals provided their land for the same.

"It was difficult to construct the airport if the locals did not provide their land for the purpose. So, local people should get priority in each opportunity recognizing their contributions to airport construction", he noted.

The government and other stakeholders should not forget the cooperation extended by the locals in providing land on compensation, the Home Minister added.

The airport has opened up avenues for the economic prosperity of the area, he said, adding it was their foremost priority to make locals self-reliant and job holders.

He further expressed the government's commitment to place priority on employment opportunities for the members of the families whose land was acquired for airport construction as compensation.

He said that he was also talking to the chief of the Gautam Buddha International Airport and Civil Aviation Authority in this regard.

Preparations are being made to operate cargo services at the airport, Minister Khand said, adding the government was planning to boost employment opportunities here by sending local agro and industrial products to the international market after the cargo service came into operation.

Province Assembly member of Rupandehi constituency 3 (A) Santosh Kumar Pandey said the coalition partners would devote their all-out efforts to the overall development of the country by safeguarding the constitution, democracy, and federalism. ---