Govt positive on holding talks with Maoists: Deuba

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, Feb 26 - A day after the Maoist leader Prachanda issued a statement expressing willingness to sit for dialogue with the government, former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who heads the High-Level Consensus-Seeking Commission formed to resolve the insurgency, today said the government too will show a positive response to their demand.

Underground CPN (Maoist) general secretary Prachanda issued a press release yesterday stating that the group was willing to hold talks provided the government meet their demands.

"We would like to clear that if the government is really serious about holding the dialogue it should immediately release Dinesh Sharma and others who were arrested and disappeared while still in custody, investigate the recent incidents like setting villages on fire and punish the guilty and create environment for dialogue as per the international standard," the press release stated.

Stating that Prachanda’s reaction to the commission’s request was "positive and encouraging", Deuba told The Kathmandu Post "The government will show a positive reaction to their demands." He, however, declined to elaborate on the details.

He also added that the problem should be resolved through dialogue and not by killing each other. "I want the problem to be solved as soon as possible," he said.

Deuba had called the Maoists on February 23 "to sit for dialogue with the government immediately and quit violence."

"I am confident that they will come forward for talks," Deuba said today.

The six-member committee headed by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was formed on November 30. The committee has already held talks with all the prominent parties to seek consensus on ways to combat the insurgency.

Flights resume to Humla

NEPALGUNJ, Feb 26 (PR)- All the regular flights to Humla that had been cancelled last month following snowfall in the mountainous district will resume from tomorrow, Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) officials said here today.

Air links to the inaccessible mid-western hill district had been discontinued since Jan 15.

Officials said the thick layers of snow have begun to melt in Karnali’s districts like Jumla, Dolpa and Humla. Nageshwor Raya, RNAC Regional Director here, said a Yeti Airlines cargo plane landed on Humla’s Simikot airport on Saturday.

He, however, said that aircraft should land in Humla and surrounding airports before 9 am in the morning as snow melts at a faster rate in the afternoon.

Only RNAC, the national flag carrier, flies passenger flights to different destinations in Karnali zone. In recent times, however, a few private airlines have been flying cargo flights to these areas.

Most areas of Karnali zone have not yet been linked with roads. And thousands of people living in these areas rely on air transport. RNAC officials have also been arranging LPC (Local Passenger Cargo) flights to meet growing flight demands.

Rautes against polio vaccine

By J Pandey & Moti Poudel

GHUMKHAHARE, Surkhet, Feb 26 - Four Raute (nomads in the far western region) kings here are preventing their subjects from taking oral polio vaccine despite repeated efforts by the government.

While the government is preparing to give polio vaccine on Sunday, these kings have already issued directives to their subjects not to take their children for vaccination as it is against their custom. These Rautes had refused to take polio vaccine on the earlier polio day on January 23 as well.

The 300 Rautes living in the banks of Babai river have never taken polio vaccine. Raute commander Chandra Bahadur told The Kathmandu Post that they will not give polio vaccine to their children even if their kings tell them.

Chandra Bhadur said they would revolt and disown the kings if they go against tradition and tell people to take polio vaccine. The Rautes said they will send back the health workers who have

camped near their settlement if they try to give the vaccine on Sunday.

"We have already told your Ministry that we will not let our children take polio vaccine," said the Raute king Mahendra. "There is no need for us to live like you."

More than 70 children in the settlement are below the age of five.

The polio team camped here too has decided not to go to Raute’s settlement for vaccination. Dr Ram Shankar Thakur of Surkhet Hospital said that it is impossible to give vaccine against the Rautes’ wishes. "That is why we are not going to that settlement on Sunday," he said.

Dr Thakur said that the Rautes’ decision not to take polio vaccine will not make any difference in the campaign for polio eradication. "It is not possible to eradicate polio in Nepal until it is eradicated in India because of the free flow of movement between the two countries," said Dr Thakur.

The World Health Organisation aims to eradicate polio throughout the world by the year 2003.

Five dists made power-cut-free

By a Post Reporter

GULARIYA, Bardiya, Feb 26 - Load-shedding has been completely stopped from five districts of the Mid- and Far-Western Region since Friday, according to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

Chief at the NEA Regional Office, Nepalgunj, Ram Chandra Pandey said load-shedding was removed from five districts -- Bardiya, Surkhet, Kailali, Doti and Dadeldhura -- after the successful transmission from the Tanakpur Power House (TPH) since Friday and additional power supplies from Nanapara and Lehiya power-houses in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

TPH has been supplying 60 million units of electricity to eight districts -- including Banke, Kanchanpur and Dailekh -- free of cost. All the eight districts were disconnected from the Kulekhani and connected to TPH since December 29.

TPH supplies 12 out of 16MW demanded by the districts. "Remaining 4MW is provided from the Nanapara and Lehiya heads," said Pandey. "Hence, we don’t have load-shedding in Banke, Kanchanpur and Dailekh in peak hours like in the Central Grid."

Constable killed by rotors

By a Post Reporter

NEPALGUNJ, Feb 26 - A police constable died on the spot at Bajang airport today when the propeller of a plane readying for take off cut into him.

The airport’s security Constable Ganesh Dutt Bhatta was hit on the head by the right propeller of an RNAC Twin Otter which was on its way to Nepalgunj at 1pm.

The accident happened as the constable entered the runway’s Restricted Area to fetch documents which had been carried off by the wind, according to RNAC’s Regional Director, Nageshwor Raya.

The body has been taken to Nepalgunj for postmortem. The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the incident, said Raya.

Barren lands now lush green in Chitwan

By Satish Jung Shahi

CHITWAN, Feb 26 - Hasta Maya Gurung, a small farmer in Simal Danda VDC, no longer runs away from the watchful eyes of forest rangers.

Many like her across eight districts in the country would have never imagined that the rangers, whom they termed as "cold-hearted brutes", would some day be assisting them in cultivating barren land. Thanks largely to the Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project (HLFFDP) that started in this district three years ago.

Around 460 hectares of "degrading and hopeless hill terrain" in Chitwan has now been leased out for the next 40 years to 120 forest groups since 1997. Leasehold forestry was first launched in Kavre and Makwanpur in 1993. It has now spread across eight other districts: Sindhupalchowk, Ramechhap, Dhading, Dolakha, Sindhuli, Tanahu and Gorkha, including Chitwan.

Each group comprises 5-10 persons belonging to families living below the poverty line.

"We now get to set vegetable gardens, grow fodder and collect firewood...It has been a boon for us - we are without employment and don’t have a regular source of income. We don’t allow people to steal timber from here," says a beaming Hasta Maya.

The barren land, which was once a haven for encroachment and illegal logging, is now home to lush green tress of sissou, bagena, amrisou and some fruit-bearing plants. Then there are forage species like Molasses, Naphier and Stylo, the latter is the most nourishing of feeds for livestock. Its seeds sell at Rs 400 per kg.

"Had it not been for all this, I would still be ferrying locally brewed millet liquor to the nearby market for survival," she further recalls. It takes her an hour of bicycle ride through the rugged jungle trail to reach Bharatpur, the nearest town.

Chhabi Lal Gurung of Kabhilash VDC, another poor farmer who moved in from Bandipur hills 13 years ago says, "Now I don’t have to walk for hours searching for firewood and forage for my livestock."

Apart from bringing in rays of hope to hundreds of poor small farmers, the leasehold forest programme has also empowered the womenfolk in the remote areas across this district.

According to Mandira Shrestha, a Group Coordinator of Dahakhani VDC, womenfolk are the most empowered lot since the programme was launched in 1997. All 42 group leaders across the district are women.

"The team spirit among women is better unlike their menfolk who are drink and involve in petty politics. Plus, women even save the money they are paid during the training," she adds.

Rameshwore Koirala, Main Branch Manager of Agriculture Development Bank of Nepal (ADBN) here says the rate of loan payment by leasehold forest users’ groups is high among women. According to him, even the illiterate women are now using banking facilities.

All users’ groups raise Rs 10-25 per head during a monthly meeting and deposit it in the bank which is used for "emergency purposes".

Still, banking policy has left a large section of the target group unattended. ADBN does not provide loans to small farmers who have outstanding debts under the Small Farmers Development Programme.

"Yes, HLFFDP has failed to help the real needy due to ADBN’s policy of not lending to defaulters," says Koirala. "Since the project is playing a major role in poverty alleviation, we have tried our best to be flexible at times. We are also a state bank."

Project Coordinator Jamuna K. Tamrakar says it is high time both the Forestry Act and Regulations were amended. Currently, the barren area is leased out only after no local residents oppose a notice for 35 days. "This leads people from a higher status to oppose the move to give away the land to the poor for free," officials say.

The project is jointly funded by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD). The project duration will come to an end this year.