65 kilograms of hashish seized

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JAJARKOT, Nov 25 - The surveillance team of Area Police Office at Ramidanda arrested six people and seized 65 kilograms of hashish in Silpachaur village near the police post on Friday.

According to local people, two of them were local agents and the remaining four could be the hashish dealers from Salyan district.

Jajarkot District Police Office told The Kathmandu Post by telephone that the police team of Police Inspector Govind Man Pariyar had checked the bags of the six strangers on suspicion of being Maoist insurgents and found hashish in their bags.

This is the biggest haul of hashish in this district after the Maoists had started their People’s War. Police investigation is underway.

Teachers urge to adjust allowance
Education minister gives assurance

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KATHMANDU, Nov 25 - Public school teachers of Jumla, a remote mid-western district,Friday, urged the government to fulfil its promise immediately to make their remote area allowance at par to the amount drawn by other civil servants.

The Cabinet meeting, on August 31, had decided to reduce the allowance of the teachers of the 18 remote districts including Jumla making it to nearly half of the other civil servants.

A five-member delegation of four teachers’ organizations from the district today organised a press conference with the objective of pressuring the government to fulfil its promises immediately. All the teachers from the district have refused to draw their salaries since August, the members said.

The members of the delegation had met the Education Minister last week.

The members also said other 15 remote districts other than Jumla, Kalikot and Mugu have remained silent about this move,though ,there are 18 remote districts. "We appeal to all the teachers of other remote districts also to work hand-in-hand with us," they said.

Meanwhile, Minster for Education and Sports Amod Prasad Upadhyaya said in Biratnagar today that the government would provide facility to the teachers working in the remote districts at par with the civil servants within three months.

The teachers organisations affiliated to various political parties have been pressurising the government for the equal pay and facility at par with the civil servants for a long time.

Addressing a meeting of Morang District Representatives of the Nepal Teachers’ Association, Minister Upadhyaya said that the teachers in the remote districts would be given equal facility with that of the government employees within the coming three months.

He added that the Education Service Commission would be activated and the results of the examinations taken by the Commission for permanent appointment of the teachers to the public schools would be published soon. The result of the Commission has been held off over the last five years.

"The government is doing its homework to call for new vacancies so that the temporary teachers working for a long time would be made permanent," Upadhyaya said. He was of the view that unless a drastic change is brought about in the existing education system, the new generation would not be able to cope with the challenges ahead of them.

Kerosene crisis hits Jajarkot

JAJARKOT, Nov 25 (PR) - It is more than a month that the govt announced to provide 5 litres of kerosene per month to each household at a concessional rate through coupons. However, people in this remote district have received neither coupons nor kerosene.

The government has said it will bear the transporation cost of kerosene only upto the nearest dealer. Since there is need to sell kerosene only after adding the transportation cost, the three dealers of the district are hesitating to bring kerosene.

A hotel entrepreneur , Mohan KC, told The Kathmandu Post that kerosene will not be available in plenty even if they transport kerosene from Saslyan Shitalpati and sold it at 60 rupees per litre.

The rural area of the district has not received electricity facility while the district headquarters has also been deprived of electricity facility for the last 6 months. To make matter worse, even candles are out of supply at the local market.

Many people living close to the district headquarters have started lighting their homes by burning the stem of a tree called "sallo" ( a kind of pine tree). Students studying in the district headquarters are having the most difficult times due to shortage of kerosene and candles.

DNYF preponds conference

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KATHMANDU, Nov 25 - Democratic National Youth Federation (DNYF), a sister organisation of the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal, United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) today alleged CPN-ML of taking a counter course by coinciding the date and place of its inauguration procession of the Fourth National Conference.

Communist Party of Nepal, Marxist-Leninist (CPN-ML), the breakaway faction of UML, decided to hold their inaugural procession in Kathmandu on Dec 8, which was also the date fixed by DNYF for its inaugural procession.

However, later DNYF announced that they would hold the inauguration and procession of their 4th national conference on 7th December, one day ahead of the scheduled date. "We have preponed our programme as CPN-ML is also holding their procession on the same day and at the same place, and we do not want confrontation with them," said Convenor of the conference Pashupati Chaulagain.

"CPN-ML’s plan to hold the procession on the same day and at the same place, shows their mal-intention to create an undesirable situation," said Chaulagain. "As a sister organisation of a responsible political party (CPN-UML), we have preponed the scheduled programme to avoid any confrontation," he said.

DNYF is organising its 4th conference with various activities in Kathmandu from 6th to 12th December. "Education, Employment and Good Governance: Our Motto; Dynamic Youth Movement Our Identity," is the theme of the conference.