PAC, PFC confront over RNAC aircraft deal

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, Aug 30 - Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) which has always been plagued by controversies has now brought two parliamentary committees into confrontation.

As the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) continues to investigate the RNAC's proposal to purchase two French-built ATR aircraft, the Parliamentary Finance Committee (PFC) today ruled that RNAC needs to follow the financial regulations and purchase the aircraft through international bidding only.

"It is PAC that is defined by the parliamentary regulations which investigates and reviews cases of irregularities. The work of the Finance Committee is limited to checking the fiscal budget and economic policies," PAC Chairman Subas Nemwang said.

Nemwang said that he would take up the matter with Speaker Taranath Ranabhat once he returns from the trip to attend a conference.

"What happens if two committees begin to decide in two different ways on the same case. The consequences could be severe," PAC's Birod Khatiwada said.

NC general convention from Jan 19

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, Aug 30 - The 10th General Convention of the governing Nepali Congress (NC) will be held between January 19-to-22 in Pokhara, party spokesman Narhari Acharya said.

The date of the convention that was originally scheduled for November this year was postponed following agreement between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and his party rival Krishna Prasad Bhattarai early this week.

The emergency meeting of the Central Working Committee (CWC) that concluded today fixed the dates for the gathering that would hold election for party positions including the coveted one for the party presidentship.

Postponement of the convention was one of the five demands pushed by Bhattarai and the over four dozen lawmakers who had rebelled against Koirala earlier this month and threatened to oust him from power. The situation was defused on Sunday after Koirala agreed on four of the five demands.

Similarly, the regional and district conventions of the party will be held throughout the country between November 23-to-29. Besides, the meetings for Village and Town Committees will be held between November 9-to-15.

As per the agreement between the two senior leaders, a central election committee has also been formed which will be headed by advocate Mukund Regmi with K.B. Gurung, Laxman Ghimire, Bimaledra Nidhi and Gyanendra Karki as members.

"This committee has been handed over the mandate to finalize the election process, appoint election officials and publish the list of eligible voters," Acharya said. "It (the committee) has the full authority granted by the party constitution to ensure a free election."

He said Prime Minister Koirala, who is also the party president, assured the meeting that the election under his presidentship will be free and fair.

Today's meeting also continued discussion on a report prepared by Chandra Singh Bhattarai on the status of current and active party members of the party.

The CWC also instructed that the final list of members should be published within September 10 at the central and by September 16 at the village level.

Party members and acitivists whose names are missing from the list can make their claims between September 17-to-22 at the district level and between September 23-to-27 at the central level.

Acharya said there was no further discussion on the agreement between Koirala and Bhattarai.

"It was an understanding between the two leaders and there was no need to discuss it. There was no need to endorse the agreement," Acharya said.

All quiet in the Nepali Congress camp, but for how long?

By Binaj Gurubacharya

KATHMANDU, Aug 30 - Once again the turbulent situation in the governing Nepali Congress (NC) appears to have calmed down with the truce reached between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and long time friend-turned-foe Krishna Prasad Bhattarai.

But for how long will the cease-fire hold is a question nobody is willing to answer. At least for the next few days while the prime minister boards on a trip to the United States and Europe, it has been agreed between the two factions that there will not be any movements.

"There won't be any changes or developments until the prime minister returns home from his trip abroad," Bhattarai told reporters after the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting today adding he was very happy with the turn of events.

Bhattarai who was ousted from the prime minister's office earlier this year has every reason to be happy. After all he was granted four of the five demands pushed by him and his supporters who had initiated a signature campaign against Koirala threatening to oust him from the office he has held for mere five months.

Though their main demand that Koirala give up either the premiership or the party presidentship was not met, the anti-Koirala camp now has the luxury of time to garner support until the party's general convention that has been postponed by few months.

"Getting the convention pushed back is a major victory for us. Now we have more time to lure more people to our group since in the recent days more and more of Koirala's supporters are crossing on to our group," said a NC lawmaker close to Bhattarai.

One of their trophy is Khum Bahadur Khadka, who was sacked by Koirala as the Minister of Water Resources early this month. Though Khadka lost his powerful position in the cabinet, in the long run it could be one of his best moves.

Clinging on to Koirala would have meant he would always remain second to Sushil Koirala, who the prime minister is most likely to propose as a candidate for party president if he decides not to contest in the elections.

The Bhattarai camp with Former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in the lead has a more promising prospects than the Koirala camp that has a big vaccum in leadership between him and his followers.

They are also claiming that the events have now tired Koirala down who, despite his reputation, he has softened down and in the months ahead before the 10th General Convention scheduled for January 19-22 in Pokhara, they would have enough support for their choice of candidate for party president -- which most likely will be Deuba.

In the days leading to the general convention, the rebels will try to get as many of their people active membership of the party to build their support from the grassroots level in the party. In the past, they have accused Koirala's men of blocking the membership renewal of supporters in the rebel camp.

Besides, they are also getting more of their people in the cabinet and CWC with the prime minister agreeing to reshuffle both the bodies to include at least half the people from the rebelling camp.

Koirala is expected to make the changes after he comes back from the trip to United Nations in New York for the Millennium Summit. "If he does not hold on to the promise then we would have  no choice but to file the proposal of no confidence against him as planned earlier," said the lawmaker.

The rebels claim that they have enough support to oust Koirala from the prime minister's office. Such a proposal to oust the leader of the parliamentary party needs at least half the votes of total 113 lawmakers of the party.

300 cases of rights violation at HRC

By Tilak Prasad Pokharel

KATHMANDU, Aug 30 - Around 300 cases of human rights violation have come to the notice of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since the Commission saw the light of the day three months ago, Commission members said here today.

Most of the cases registered at the Commission include, illegal detention, arrest of acquitted persons and disappearance of detainees by the police, according to Sushil Pyakurel, a NHRC member.

Pyakurel said all the cases were registered after the Commission was formed in May. He did not elaborate further, saying that the exact details are still being worked out.

He added that the Commission has at present given high priority to the cases related to the violation of fundamental human rights.

The Constitutional body was formed on May 27 this year, more than three years after the Human Rights Commission Act was enacted and months after human rights activists protested against the government's "reluctance" to form the body.

Chaired by Nayan Bahadur Khatri, other members of the Commission include, Dr Gauri Shankar Lal Das, Indira Rana and Kapil Shrestha.

The Commission members also expressed concern on the government authorities' tendency to continue violating human rights. "We are not satisfied with the way the state is handling things (cases)," Pyakurel said. "The way authorities are interrogating detainees is not tolerable...We want to reform such practises."

According to Pyakurel, NHRC has also written a letter to the Chief District Officer of Siraha, appealing the district administration to help bring an end to the malpractice of discriminating Chamars by those belonging to "higher castes".

Reports of discrimination of Chamars and other lower caste Hindus by upper caste Hindus in Siraha and Saptari districts of eastern Terai are rife in the media in recent months.

The Commission is also developing rapport with various national and international human rights organizations, according to another NHRC member, Kapil Shrestha.

Just last week, it received membership of Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APFNHRI) during a APFNHRI meeting held in Rotoroa, New Zealand, according to him. India and Sri Lanka are the other South Asian nations that are in the grouping.

"All international human rights institutions are eager to work with us," Shrestha said. "Even the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) has extended its commitment to helping us in such areas as institution and capacity building to make effective intervention."

"The Australian Embassy too has shown its willingness to avail us with the funds," he added.

NHRC is also working towards sensitising policy makers, planners and government officials about Nepal's international commitment to human rights, the members say.

So far Nepal has ratified 16 international human rights treaties and conventions.

Upper caste people gherao journos, activists

By a Post Reporter

RAJBIRAJ, Aug 30 - The upper caste community of Matigadha, Hariharpur VDC manhandled here Tuesday a group of reporters and Human Rights activists while covering the events of their ostracization to the lower caste Chamars.

The reporters and rights activists said the higher caste people looted their cameras, walkmans and cassettes at Ramjanaki village.

A group of upper caste people led by Vice-Chairman of Harihar VDC Ram Prasad Yadav snatched all the possession of the visiting journalists and rights activists when they were taking photographs of a closed shop owned by a lower caste Chamar, our reporter from the site said. Higher class people have not allowed the Chamars even to open their local shops since the latter refused to remove carcasses from the upper castes settlements.

After the reporters and rights activists produced their identity cards the upper caste group gheraod them for two hours at their village and coerced them to sign a piece of paper that read "nobody in the village manhandled us."

Having returned to the district-headquarters of Saptari, the victims filed here Wednesday a case against those involved in the loots and attacks, police said.

Prison reforms : Justice delayed is justice denied

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, Aug 30 - At a time when seminars are held on penal reforms in the capital against the backdrop of the concept of open prison in the West, things are continuing to remain the same, if not worse, in the prisons here.

Let alone the alternatives that would allow most prisoners an option of community service to turn a new leaf in their lives, they are denied even the basic needs.

Even after three months of the presentation of the report by the Parliament's State Affairs Committee (SAC) and more than a month after it asked concerned ministries to reply, within a month,  to a letter asking them to act on their recommendations, the conditions in the prisons are same as before.

According to Mukund Sharma, Secretary of the SAC, the letter had asked the ministries of Home, Finance, Health, Education and Sports, among others, to implement their recommendations and in case of their inability to do so, the ministries had to give the reason for non-implementation.

A visit to the four prisons in the Kathmandu Valley makes it clear that none of the reform measures have come into practice.   

Although an official with the SAC says that the Ministry of Education and Sports had issued a circular to the concerned Department of Prison Management (DoPM), asking it to give the Ministry a list of requirements, both the Ministry spokesman and director at the DoPM deny having sent or received any such thing as a circular.

"I have no knowledge of any proposal from the Ministry regarding conducting classes for the prison inmates," says Chuman Singh Basnet, Spokesman at the Ministry of Education and Sports.

Similarly, Dharmaraj Dhungana, Director at DoPM says his department has not heard from any ministry till date on what and how to improve things in the prisons.

"We are determined to implement all the recommendations of the SAC report," says Dhungana. He, however, does not elaborate if the "determination" he speaks of has been translated into action.

Certainly, the DoPM has done something to improve things - it has formed a committee for the Central Jail in Kathmandu. The committee was necessitated after the SAC recommended the need of such a body while compiling their findings for their report just before it was tabled in the Parliament.

At that time the jailor had alleged lack of transparency and financial irregularities in the treatment of inmates and supply of medicines. The medical staff responsible for the jail inmates had denied any wrong doing.

"We formed a committee comprising the Chief Jailor, Security Chief and Chief Doctor a month ago," says Dhungana.

An inquiry with the Ministry of Health revealed that nothing was being done, except that "we are doing our level best". It could not be confirmed whether the Ministry was planning to hold a regular 15-day camp in all the jails in the country.

It was Mukund Sharma, the SAC secretary, who had said such a plan was in the offing.

Sharma now says things cannot change overnight. He adds, "We are aware of the need to effect the reforms at the earliest."

"Everything comes down to budget," Sharma says further. "As for the vehicles to ferry undertrials from the prison to the court and back, we are thinking of a pool system, under which a van could be used to carry the prisoners."

Sharma explained that the van could be stationed at such a point from where it could go to the prisons, collecting the undertrials.

All undertrials have to part with their daily allowance of fifteen rupees to go to court for their hearing. It is with this amount that they have to buy their needs, ranging from pulses to vegetables to mustard oil to kerosene oil and medicines which is not enough.

"It is for the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to provide the fund for the purpose," adds Sharma.

Balananda Poudel, Spokesman at MoF says he is unaware that any such demands made with the Ministry. Yubaraj Bhushal, the head of the Budget Appropriation Division at the Ministry was not available for comments, despite several attempts.

And thus goes the continuing tale of misery of prison inmates who had dared to rekindle hope in their heart for a slightly better days. But as usual, "everything is being planned and in the process," as concerned officials put it.

37 pc mosquito-borne diseases are encephalitis

By a Post Reporter

HETAUDA, Aug 30 - A medical test of blood samples collected from the most encephalitis-hit districts in the country has revealed that about 37 per cent of the people suffering from mosquito-borne diseases have been diagnosed as encephalitis cases.

According to Vector-borne Disease Control and Training Division (VDCTD), Hetauda, the only centre of this kind in the country, some 32 blood samples out of the total 85 brought for tests from the most encephalitis-hit Terai districts have been found to have been infected with Japanese encephalitis.

A total of 73 samples of blood from Bheri Zonal Hospital, 10 from Mahakali Zonal Hospital and two from Dang Hospital were collected at VDCTD for vector-borne investigations on July from the six Terai districts -- Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya, Dang, Jhapa and Morang.

Similar blood tests conducted by VDCTD from the same region in April, May and June, however, had detected a very little percentage of the vector-borne disease that causes Japanese encephalitis.

The division, however, was not sure about the actual situation in Kailali district because Dhangadhi Hospital did not provide any blood-samples here for test despite frequent requests, Lab Technician Shambhu Nath Jha said. In Kailalai district alone, more than a dozen of people have already lost their lives owing to encephalitis during this year's monsoon.

Encephalitis has already claimed 110 lives across the country during this year's monsoon, Director of VDCTD Doctor GD Thakur said. The Ministry of Health (MoH), confirmed the encephalitis toll.

Before VDCTD was established here last year, blood samples for vector-borne diseases tests had to be sent to Delhi, India or to Bangkok, Thailand. The country had to wait for at least, a month to receive the test results, said Director Thakur, but VDCTD now provides tests reports to the concerned hospital within three days.

"As the government concentrated its efforts on combating  the disease, the deaths from mosquito-borne diseases has remarkably reduced this year," Vector Specialist Shridhar Prasad Pradhan said.

Last year this season, out of the total 2,924 encephalitis patients across the country, 434 (about 14 per cent) persons had died of the fatal disease, MoH said.

After the Japanese encephalitis was detected first in the country in 1978, a total of 4,146 patients out of the total 19,145 infected persons have already succumbed to encephalitis, official statistics reveals.