Education Minister Mahabir Pun has urged controversial medical entrepreneur Durga Prasai not to mislead the public with what he described as “baseless and unrealistic claims.”
Prasai recently demanded the removal of 600,000 people from the blacklist, prompting Minister Pun to respond that money cannot be printed like books in a printing press.
Writing on social media, Minister Pun expressed frustration, saying:
He noted that as Education Minister, he has been unable to provide local and inflation allowances to many teachers due to budget shortages. Schools lacking proper classrooms and buildings have had to return empty-handed despite seeking support, and schools requesting even a single teacher have been declined because of insufficient budget.
Pun questioned how Prasai plans to remove 600,000 people from the blacklist, increase army and police salaries to NPR 100,000 per month, and waive loans below NPR 2 million.
He warned that such actions would risk the collapse of public savings deposited in banks, reminding that Prasai is “not the god of wealth, Kubera,” and that money cannot simply be printed at will.
The minister cautioned Prasai not to mislead people with lofty but impractical promises, comparing them to previous unrealistic commitments such as bringing railways, ships, making Nepal wealthy within 12 years, or turning the country into Singapore.
Pun concluded that making such baseless statements only turns people into “objects of ridicule” and urged for factual and informed discussions instead.
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