GULARIYA, July 25 - About two thousand freed Kamaiyas participated in a programme organised here by the Kamaiya LIberation Movement Western Regional Committee Bardiya on Monday to mark their victory day.

They celebrated the victory day of Kamaiyas after the government announced last week the eradication of the Kamaiya system (Bonded Labour) following the movement launched by the Kamaiyas to build pressure on the government.

The liberated Kamaiyas went round the town with musical band bearing red pieces of cloth as a mark of victory and later the gathering turned into a mass meeting at Bagiya of Gulariya village.

Addressing the meeting as chief guest of the programme, the DDC Vice-President Chitra Bahadur Shrestha said the liberated Kamaiyas could be rehabilitated at the local level also.

At the programme held under the chairmanship of member of Kamaiya Mukti Sangharsha Samiti Bubari Tharu, a number of speakers including the president of Kamaiya Liberation Committee Dinesh Prasad Shrestha expressed their views about the liberation of the bonded labour.

Similarly, at a programme organised by Nepal Journalists’ Federation Bardiya, coordinator of the Kamaiya Liberation Organising Committee Dilli Chaudhari spoke about the coming programmes of the committee and added that the freed labourers would set up tents on government land and stay there if they were not given land.

BHADRAPUR, July 25 - Ten commissions have been set up by the government so far to resolve the rehabilitation problem of landless squatters and those resettled in an unsystematic manner over the last 29 years but 80 percent of the problems are yet to be resolved.

The present commission headed by Lilak Sitaula has distributed land ownership certificates to 7 thousand 461 families out of the total 15 thousand landless and 34 thousand unsystematically sttled people in the district. Over the last 19 years, land ownership certificates were distributed to only 2 thousand 500 landless people.

Lilak Sitaula, who has been appointed chairman for the second time in the Commission for Resolving the Problems of the Landless Squatters said irregularities were found in the decisions, record books, maps and field books of the previous commissions.

Therefore, they are being assessed and the correct ones are being sent to Land Revenue and Survey Offices. Similarly, there is a backlog of about 2 thousand 500 people to prepare land ownership certificates. Works are going on to prepare the land ownership certificates with priority and with a view to distributing them before this year’s Dashain festival.

The commissions have surveyed 20 VDCs out of the 47 VDCs and three municipalities in Jhapa district but they are working in only seven VDCs.

Vice-Chairman of the commission Chandra Bir Nemwang says they can declare Jhapa as a district free from landless people in two years if the commission was provided with adequate manpower and resources.

Chairman Sitaula said they would set up all-party committees without political bias and distribute land after completing the necessary process giving priority to the tillers, thus without any chance of controversy.

Frequent changes in the government and the commissions seem to have resulted in the slow pace of work in resolving the landless people’s problems in the Jhapa district.

Experts believe that this problem can be settled as per the government’s resolve to end this problem all over the country in three years if commissions are given necessary authority and they are equipped with resources.

MANANG, July 25 - The body of Assistant Nurse Midwife at Dharapani Health Post of Tal Manang Laxmi Poudel has been found in Marsyangdi river trapped in four boulders, about 300 metres down the main road on the 13th day after she was missing.

Laxmi Poudel, aged about 40 years, was missing for the last 13 days. She had left the health post to take part in a symposium organised for Health Post in-charges at the District Health Post Office, Manang but she never reached there. When she did not return after the symposium, her staff reported the matter to the District Health Office.

The body was found on Monday after a cowherd informed seeing something like a body in the Marsyangdi river. There was nothing in her body, no clothes except a bra and no ornament. Her bag was also found empty. The body was taken out from the river with the help of local people, government employees and the police, according to Manang District Police Office.

The body has been sent to District Hospital for post-mortem.

DSP Prem Bahadur Adhikari said police are investigating into the incident and the reason of her death would be known only after the post-mortem report was available.

BIRATNAGAR, July 25 - A father has astounded his two daughters and a son-in-law with his odd demand. He has asked his son-in-law either to marry his second daughter also or pay him 150 thousand rupees.

Nand Prasad Poudel of Topgachhi VDC in Jhapa district had married off his first daughter Sumitra 20 years ago to Hari Krishna Adhikari, resident of Indrapur VDC-8 in Morang district. Five years after her marriage, his daughter Sumitra took away her 6-year-old sister Laxmi with her to educate her.

Laxmi stayed at her sister’s house and completed her education from Class 2 to 10. Then Sumitra and her husband got some employment for her. Until this period, their father and brother did not take care of Laxmi. Now suddenly, her father was trying to mar the happiness of his daughter by forcing his son-in-law to marry his second daughter also, Sumitra complained.

His son-in-law Hari Krishna said he was rather shocked by the proposal of his father-in-law. He had brought up and educated Laxmi as his daughter from her infancy and had found an employment for her after she completed Class 10.

He said his father-in-law had asked him either to marry her or pay him 150 thousand rupees instead. He asked this reporter whether he should accept her sister-in-law as his second wife whom he had always treated as his daughter or pay him 150 thousand rupees.

KATHMANDU, July 25 - Altogether thirty people from Mechi to Mahakali received training on operation and management of community library and resource centre.

The 23-day training which imparted training to librarians and those aspiring to be the same of 13 districts,was jointly organised by Kathmandu University (KU),Nepal Library Association (NLA) and Rural Education And Development (READ).

One of the chief aims of the training was to create awareness in the librarians about the multifarious uses of a library.

"We are planning to develop the libraries as a community resource centre to meet the tastes and needs of people of different class and profession," said Murari Poharel, a trainer.

The concept of the "Community Resource Centre" is very much people-oriented and focuses on providing reading materials which have practical use to farmers, health workers,teachers and others.

He hoped that such an approach would promote positive response, especially among rural readers.

Speaking at the concluding programme of the training, Suresh Raj Sharma Vice-Chancellor of KU pointed out the need to cultivate library culture in the country.

Librarians and experts lamented over meager budget allocated to the development and management of libraries.

Hem Raj Gyawali, Chairman of Kantipur Publications, asked the trainees to utilise the fruits of training and enhance the quality of library management.