The Nepal government has appealed to domestic and international non-governmental organisations to divert their funds to fight the Covid pandemic, as the landlocked country seemed hard hit by a brutal second wave of the infection.

The Social Welfare Council, that regulates non-governmental organisations, said the allocated funds can be used for supplying medical equipment, relief materials for the poor and for running small construction projects to employ the migrant workers who have returned to villages from the urban centres.

“They have been asked to divert the funds depending on the size of their budget,” Pushkar Khati, member secretary of the council, was quoted as saying in Kathmandu Post.

 “They can spend the funds in specific areas after submitting action plans to us,” Khati said.

The council said non-governmental organisations with an approved budget of up to Rs50 (Indian currency with the amount equivalent to USD 673736) can divert 20 percent of the funds for Covid-19 preparedness and response purposes, those with budgets of up to Rs100 million (USD 347,355).

According to the notice, the domestic and international NGOs can use the diverted funds in arranging medical goods such as oxygen, cylinders, liquid oxygen, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, intensive care unit beds.

The funds can also be used for distributing relief materials and food to the extremely poor and daily wage workers and in activities that help create employment for daily wage workers, returnee migrant workers and provide relief to women, children, disabled people and the elderly, according to the council.