Food crisis likely to hit Karnali zone this time too

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 9 - Every year food shortages loom large over the remote villages of mid western parts of the country. This year too the situation is not expected to be any different.

Reports from different districts of Karnali Zone say food stock has reached the bottom level and people are already facing shortages.

The nation’s only zone without any road network depends on air shipment and the government-owned Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) to fly in food supplies and distribute it at subsidized rate.

"The government needs to do something fast. We have asked them for help and have been assured help within a week," said Mugu DDC Chairman Mohan Baniya, who is leading a delegation to the capital seeking help.

NFC Surkhet said that although 4,300 quintal of food grains have been allocated for the districts, this year’s additional stock has been dispatched.

Mugu’s Chief District Officer Laxmi Narayan Ghimire said though there was not even a single grain of surplus in stock, they have asked for food to last at least the next five months.

Like in the past years, these districts are facing the risk of diarrhoea and viral influenza that have claimed hundreds of lives in the past.

In Dolpa, the stock could last up to the end of this month only, says CDO Rudra Nath Basyal. In Jumla, they have only about 900 quintal of grains left in stock. However, more stock is being send by helicopter.

PM woos private sector

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 9 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala while inaugurating the 47th annual general meeting of Nepal Chamber of Commerce urged the private sector to cooperate in enhancing the economic growth of the country, and support in the economic reform process to be implemented by the government soon.

Saying that he had become Prime Minister at a very crucial moment of the political history of the country, he said it was high time for the government to move ahead with a forward looking vision for the welfare of poor of the country, where the support from the private sector would also be vital.

He said politics was the game of consensus, cooperation and understanding. "We have to deal the national problems in consensus, and should also find an amicable solution for the progress of the country even with the opposition," he said.

Koirala said that in order to develop the country and improve its economic status he even talked with Madhav Kumar Nepal, the leader of the main opposition party. "The reform process is very much necessary for the country, and we cannot retract this move whatsoever be the result," he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya said the government was moving ahead for the second round of economic reforms. Saying that the first reform process initiated by the government in early nineties had brought a positive changes in the economy, he said the same event would be repeated with the second phase of reform process.

Acharya said that there has been a consensus even among different political parties on the economic future of the country. "Absolute poverty and unemployment is our problem, and that has to be solved at any cost. In order to solve the problem we can’t retract from the process of economic liberalization," he added.

Speaking about the taxation and Value Added Tax, Minister Acharya said he would be simplifying the income tax policy and penalties aspects in Value Added Tax.

The champion of globalization and liberalization, Minister Acharya in his powerful address said that the government was seriously concerned about the health, education and other welfare measures of the poorest of the poor of the country. However, he said further liberalization and increased investment in the economy would bring positive result even in the lives of these people.

On the occasion, Minister for Industry and Commerce Ram Krishna Tamrakar said the country was slowly moving away from political upheavals into the era of economic revolution. He mentioned that the country has been observing many economic events recently, showing a positive trend in the economy.

Minister Tamrakar also urged the business sector to come up with new and noble ventures in investment. "There is a need to pursue economic revolution now, which comes only through fresh ideas and entrepreneurship," he added.

Addressing the inaugural session of 47th annual general meeting of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, its President Mahesh Kumar Agrawal addressed the gathering from the Chair. In his speech Agrawal detailed the activities of Chamber and explained the government about things it was in need for.

Mahesh Kumar Agrawal, in the day of completion of his term as the President raised major issues regarding Value Added Tax, Special Additional Duty of India, income tax, government’s revenue policies, customs and other duties etc. The Chamber president supported the government for its open economic policies. However, particularly on Value Added Tax he said the government would need to review its policies. He also urged the government to be more liberal in taxation.

On the occasion Prime Minister Koirala gave away the certificates, prizes and assistance to the various organizations. Chamber distributed awards on economic, social and educational sector. It distributed awards to the highest exporters that took Certificate of Origin from the Chamber. The vice President of Chamber, Rajesh Kaji Shrestha proposed vote of thanks at the conclusion of session.

Deuba says Maoists lay down arms first

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 9 - Sher Bahadur Deuba, Chairman of the Consensus Seeking Commission on Resolving Maoist Problem, today urged human rights groups to ask Maoists to lay down their arms and assured that he would make the police lay down their arms.

"You, human rights activists, ask the Maoists to lay down their arms, I will make the police lay down arms too," said the former Prime Minister and member of the ruling party’s central committee. Deuba’s comments today follows his claims yesterday that the new Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala has given him a go-ahead to hold talks with the underground rebels.

Former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai appointed Deuba as the chairman of the High Level Commission on November 30, 1999. Since then the Commission has held meetings with various political parties and human rights organisations to seek solutions to combat the insurgency. Deuba met one Comrade Ashok of the underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) last month, days before the fall of the Bhattarai government. The Commission has been given a May 2 deadline to submit its final report.

Deuba’s remarks came today at a talk programme held to mark a decade of democracy by INSEC, a human rights group. Deuba said that the ongoing clash between the police and the Maoists only serves the arms industry as a huge amount of funds is being spent to ward off the insurgency.

"The money that both the Maoists and police use to buy the arms is eventually the money of the people," said Deuba. "This money could, in fact, be used for the development of the country." Reports of the deteriorating human rights situation, mainly in the mid-western region, have surfaced ever since Maoists launched the People’s War in February 1996. Over 1,200 people have succumbed to it.

Amnesty International has been accusing both the government and the Maoists for the unending cycle of violence. In February, the London-based human rights group warned that Nepal is courting a human rights disaster as the face-off between the government and armed Maoists hardens into patterns recalling other regional conflicts.

A visiting UN official on February 14 accused the police of resorting to extrajudicial killings while dealing with the Maoists. Asma Jahangir, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial and arbitrary executions said numerous people had disappeared from police custody and police haven’t been made accountable.

NC PP takes stock of situation

KATHMANDU, April 9 (PR) - The parliamentary party (PP) of the governing Nepali Congress (NC) today met at the prime minister’s official residence at Baluwatar just days after the 17th session of parliament was prorogued.

According to a press release issued by the PP secretary Benup Raj Prasai, the meeting was attended by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, his predecessor Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel, former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba and 113 other NC parliament members.

Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya gave details of the present financial situation of the country and outlined the proposed budget and programs for the next fiscal year.

"There are many problems in the country that need to be resolved and we need to discuss not just within our party but with other parties too to find a solution," Prime Minister Koirala told the gathering.

He asked the committees formed by the previous government to resolve the Maoist problem headed by Deuba and the one formed to seek consensus with other parties chaired by DPM Poudel to continue their work.

Former PM Bhattarai said the unity in the party will be maintained.

Strong civil society found absent

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 9 - Building a stronger civil society is the answer to the turmoil facing the country’s ten-year-old democracy, said Professor Dr Jayaraj Acharya today, adding that civil society has long disappeared from Nepal.

"Building a strong civil society capable to put tremendous pressure on the malpractises and other evils is a solution to the problems facing our country," Acharya said at a talk programme on Role of civil society and the socio-economic development, organized here Sunday by Rotary Club of Kathmandu North (R.I District 3290).

"But our civil society has disappeared in Nepal since the signing of Sugauli treaty in 1816 (between Nepal government and British East India Company), and since Rana Prime Minister Junga Bahadur Rana massacred dozens of people in 1846," the former Nepali Ambassador to the United Nations added.

He, however, asserted that Nepal had a very strong civil society during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. He cited example of the Kingdom of Gorkha, the origin of Shah dynasty ruling the present day Nepal, from the pages of history and said that "rulers like Ram Shah and Prithvi Narayan Shah had nurtured democracy, and bowed to pressures put by civil society, long before western democracies knew about democracy".

While King Ram Shah, who is revered as an icon of justice to this day, had ensured justice and equality to the people way back in the 16th century, King Prithvi Narayan Shah bowed to civil society’s pressure to choose Kalu Pandey as his army-head against Biraj Bakheti (his choice), he said.

Great King Prithvi Narayan Shah launched a unification campaign and united dozens of small states scattered inside the present day Nepal into one Kingdom during the second half of 19th century.

He warned that the country might linger for another decade unless the cream of the civil society start putting pressure on the politicians indulging in such immoral practises "like breaking into the house of a women at mid-night etc."

He also stressed that four important elements--social justice and equality, public education, economic development, transparency and honesty in public affairs, and civil society--were crucial in a democratic polity.

Rights scenario no better

KATHMANDU, April 9 (PR) - Human rights situation in the country did not get any better in 1999 compared to earlier years, said a human rights group here today.

The Human Rights Year Book - 2000 released by the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) today primarily blames the crossfire between the government and the Maoist rebels for the violation of human rights.

CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal scans through the Human Rights Year Book-2000.

According to the book, a total of 288 persons -- 241 men and 43 women -- were shot dead by the police last year. The report enlists cases of human rights abuses that occurred throughout 1999.

The report, however, fails to spell out the number of killings by the underground Maoists. "In 42 events of fire opened by non-state sector, 93 men and two women were killed," states the report. "In personal and organised cases of killings, in which the state was not involved, 448 men and 146 women lost their lives."

Policemen as well as civilians lost their lives in the ambushes placed by Maoists, said the report.

The report further states that cases of disappearances have increased over the years ever since the People’s War was launched in 1996. "Both the police and Maoists have been responsible for disappearances. In the state involvement, 64 men and 9 women were disappeared this year, and 18 men and one women were disappeared by non-state actors."

Six women were raped and killed this year while the number stood at five last year. "A total of 1037 men and 102 women suffered in extra-judicial arrests, two persons died due to police torture," says the report. The decade after restoration of democracy saw over 35,000 cases of human rights violation and 3,000 killings, says the book.

The book highlights human rights and increasing awareness on human rights and its situation in the country.

Human Rights Yearbook 2000 is the eighth annual report prepared by the human rights group.

Not feeling well? Blame it on weather

By Subina Shrestha

KATHMANDU, April 9 - Are you feeling sneezy, wheezy and that your nose and eyes are turning red? Well, blame it on the Valley’s infamous haze that peaks in mid-April.

And unless the Valley gets an early rain, the weather is going to remain this way, warn experts who have been following this dry-season phenomenon over the years.

The dust particles and vehicular emissions have settled in the Valley resulting in the hazy sky and the smoggy air, according to Bijaya Krishna Vaidhya, Chief of Meteorology and Forecasting Division (CMFD) at Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.

"It has just been a few years since such adverse changes have been seen," said Vaidhya. The dry season and the desert sand blown all the way from Rajasthan in India has created such an atmosphere, said Vaidhya, attributing "this new climatic phenomenon" to recent changes in global weather patterns.

"Yesterday the visibility after 3:00 pm was just 2500 meters. If it goes down to 2000m, aircraft cannot even land here," said Suman Regmi, meteorologist at CMFD. According to Regmi, the level of visibility has been changing everyday and that there are possibilities of it going further worse.

Weather-persons say rains could bring in some respite as it happened last year after a long dry spell but they do not know when that would happen. The wind that blows from the west to east, that brings in the rain clouds have bypassed Nepal, resulting in a dry spell. In the meantime, doctors warn the Valley is currently very disease-prone. "The drastic temperature difference of the mornings and the nights takes a toll on our defense mechanism," said Dr. Ram Prasad Shrestha, Director at the Bir Hospital.

According to Dr. Shrestha, the hospital OPD hasn’t yet witnessed sudden rise in the number of patients complaining of respiratory tract diseases or eye problems but should the current weather pattern continues "this will have adverse health effects". The temperature ranges from 10 degree Centigrade to 30 degrees and humidity likewise has been very low.

"The carbon particles and the metals in the air could cause long term hardships like chest problems and poisoning," said Dr. Shrestha.

Ophthalmologists are also fearing the weather. Dr. Banshi Krishna Shrestha from Nepal Eye Hospital suggested that it is time people in Kathmandu brought out their sun shades and clean their eyes - if possible even avoid the dusty roads. "Eye infections because of the dust or the pollen that are in the wind are high in this season," he said.

Women inmates lament prison life

By Yam Pradhan

BIRATNAGAR, April 9 (RSS) - "I hacked my own five year old daughter to death when I became very angry with her. I hit her in the neck with a sharp khukuri in my rented room, and after she started bleeding, I came out of the house."

This is how Mukhiya Bhujel of Biratnagar, who is undergoing imprisonment for the murder told her story without any sense of guilt. Though she has other children, she is not aware of where they are or in what condition.

In the early days of her imprisonment her children and her husband used to visit her. But after the passage of time, no one comes to see her any more. She is mentally sound at present, she says.

The extremely narrow part of the women’s prison to the north of Devkota Chowk in Biratnagar is also where a 55 year old woman, Jimi Yakha of Khandbari, is passing her days after being convicted for murder.

Imprisoned for the last nine years, she usually does not speak with anybody, but sometimes talks to herself. None of her relatives have visited her after she was imprisoned at Biratnagar.

When asked why she killed another’s baby, Jimi, who has lost her mental balance, says nothing at all. Finally she asks for money to buy a box of matches.

Likewise, Rita Aryal of Chatara, Sunsari district is now living a wretched life in the prison for killing a 13 year old boy of the same village with a khukuri.

Opening up her clothing time and again and saying that she would meet her father, the woman does not talk to anyone and only says that she does not want to live there and the meals given her are tasteless. The middle aged woman has turned out to be a burden to the other inmates who say that she has become mentally deranged due to the hard life inside the narrow and congested prison. Out of greed for money, Putun Devi Shrivastav took up drug trafficking and was arrested at Itahari. She is serving a jail sentence along with her two and half year old son.

Because of her poverty, she had carried opium on her person in the hope of receiving Rs 2,000. She was left in the lurch by Jitendra Shrivastav of Birgunj who fled when he saw her being caught by the police at Itahari bus park.

Although aware that drug trafficking is illegal, Bimalsari Rai said she took up this activity for the sake of money. She also complains that the place inside the prison is too narrow for her to sleep comfortably with her child. Her husband, Hari Bahadur Rai, is in the men’s jail nearby.

Convicted for flesh trade, Anita Mallaha of Biratnagar is serving a jail sentence with her one year old daughter. She has kept the daughter with her out of compulsion. But another child, a three year old, has been with her relatives ever since her husband was convicted for girl trafficking and imprisoned.

Though she knows that one should not indulge in criminal activities, Laxmi Subba is one of the inmates compelled to live within the four walls of prison, a victim of circumstances.

She says that Ganga Marapachare of Pathari of Morang district falsely implicated her in a girl trafficking case, and she has been staying there for the last ten years for no valid reason. When she was a teen-age girl, she along with Ganga and three other friends had gone to Jogbani. Ganga had early eloped with a boy and was living a happy married life. She fabricated a case of girl trafficking against all four friends, but Laxmi is still in prison while the three others have been set free.

Laxmi says, "I have been languishing in jail for ten years without even committing any crime. It would really have been fun to stay here after committing a heinous act. But when one is poor and has no one to speak to, one is falsely implicated in crime and imprisoned. Nothing will happen even if you publish my story".

"I was charged with selling a girl who is now living a happy married life in her village. But I myself am unnecessarily living the hopeless life of a prisoner" Laxmi related her story inside the prison.

"The time has once again come for the inmates to live a hard life. When it rains, we have to remain standing up day and night as the floor is covered with water and there is no space even to cook meals" she laments.

The life of inmates with children becomes harder during the rainy season, and she wonders if this is any place for keeping prisoners. Though the women’s prison built during the Rana regime is in very poor shape, the inmates have to be kept there as there is no alternative. This is how Jailor Chiranjivi Adhikari speaks of the limitations.

The inmates complain that the boundary wall is in such poor shape that it may collapse any time, and they are not given even the minimum humanitarian facilities.

Jailor Adhikari conceded that 38 inmates and 4 innocent children in the prison have to fight among themselves due to lack of space for sleeping. He also said that in the absence of means and resources, even minimum facilities could not be provided and he is incapable of finding any alternative.