NC to choose new PM by Sunday

Post Report

KATHMANDU, July 20 - A new Prime Minister will be elected on Sunday when the lawmakers of the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) will vote to choose a Parliamentary Party (PP) leader.

This was decided at the emergency meeting of the Central Working Committee (CWC) that met at the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar today.

Following the resignation of Girija Prasad Koirala as the Prime Minister, a race has begun to choose a successor in the party that has long lacked leaders to replace the elderly leaders like Koirala or his predecessor Krishna Prasad Bhattarai.

"There is no chance of me contesting the election," Bhattarai told reporters after the meeting confirming once again that the race will be among the "younger generation" leaders in the party.

Though there has not been any official confirmation on who will be contesting for the coveted post, members said it would be former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who will be the choice of candidates from the anti-Koirala group.

Deuba was the lone challenger to contest against Koirala last year when he was elected after ousting Bhattarai from office.

Deuba, with the blessing of Bhattarai, commands a good support in the party and in the recent days there have been many people close to Koirala who have abandoned for him.

The Koirala side is yet to decide between candidates like General Secretary Sushil Koirala or Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola. Koirala today announced that he would be contesting.

"I will contest the election but first we have all decided to try and reach a consensus and find a candidate agreeable to all," said Sushil Koirala.

Reaching a consensus was the only thing all the sides in the party could agree. But easier said than done, finding one unanimous candidate would be an uphill task.

"I have not decided who I will support but first our priority would be to reach a consensus," said Khum Bahadur Khadka.

During the meeting too, Girija Prasad Koirala, who still continued to be head of the caretaker government until new arrangements are made, also pushed for a consensus.

Consensus being his favourite subject, Koirala said he would prefer if the party could agree on one unanimous candidate, but if there is an election he would support the person who is elected.

Former Deputy PM Ram Chandra Poudel told the meet that the new leader would have to be a one who can face all the challenges currently faced by the nation.

The CWC has already formed an election committee under the co-ordination of Basu Risal with K.B. Gurung and Laxman Ghimire as members. Narhari Acharya will be the observer.

The committee will fix the date for the candidates to file their candidacy and the election is scheduled for Sunday.

Meanwhile, highly placed Congress sources said that Bastola was likely to withdraw in favour of Sushil Koirala for the post of the Prime Minister.

SLC results dismal in Mid-West
Many 10+2 schools face closure for lack of students

By Utpal Raj Misra & Sudarshan Rijal

DANG, July 20 – Along with the massive decline in the overall pass percentage in the SLC exams this year, students with pass results in this mid-western district too have come down to a staggering 20 per cent.

This, among others, has put the handful of local educational institutes here offering the higher secondary courses - popularly known as ten plus two - in a very tight spot as they are on the verge of closing down for lack of students.

Moreover, with no financial grant flowing in from the government or the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB), the school authorities also complain that they can barely keep their ten plus two classes running with the fees collected from the students.

And, they further say, that the schools are in no position to raise the fees fearing rebuttal from All Nepal Nation Free Students’ Union (Revolutionary), the Maoist aligned student wings who have been waging violent protests to bring down school fees.

At present, this district has around eight schools running ten plus two classes while two more are in the process of starting soon.

According to Rakesh Srivastav, the District Education Officer (DEO), out of the 1,616 students who appeared from 62 schools in the district for SLC exams this year, only 308 have passed. Not even a single student managed to pass from 17 schools.

This means, that the rough estimate of the number of students expected to enroll in the eight schools for ten plus two is less than 39 students per school. However, one has to further minus the number of students not studying further and those who might go out of the district for further education.

DEO Srivastav put the blame, behind the low pass percentage, on the introduction of a new syllabus as well as the new examination system, and on the numerous bandhs and disturbances that have hampered regular teaching days.

Nonetheless, the people running the ten plus two schools are in no position to accept DEO Srivastav’s reasoning and bluntly blame the government to come up with clear-cut education policies.

"The government does not have a clear policy regarding the phasing out of the old proficiency certificate level(IA examinations) system while even the HSEB has not been able to gain much trust either," says Dev Mani Gautam, principal of Mahendra Multiple Campus. "Whatever the cause, this year’s SLC results are very unfortunate for institutes like ours."

Govinda Neupane, principal of Padmodaya Higher Secondary School, is of the opinion that the government should only give permission to limited number of private institutes to run ten plus two classes based on the number of students in the locality.

"It seems that the government is shying away from taking the responsibility of enhancing the education system by only introducing the new SLC examination system," says Neupane, who is also the central committee member of Nepal Teachers’ Association.

House adjourned till Thursday

KATHMANDU, July 20 (PR)- A day after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala resigned from his office, the House of Representatives that convened today for the briefest period this session with the Speaker reading the King’s messages before adjourning the House until Thursday.

The House wore a subdued look a day. Among the messages were His Majesty’s approval of the Vote on Accounts Bill and acceptance of the resignations of the Deputy Prime Minister as well as that of the Prime Minister.

After the adjournment of House, some of the lawmakers speaking to the reporters expressed their surprise over the PM "bypassing" the parliament while announcing his resignation. A lawmaker close to former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that the PM wanted to tell the people that since the opposition had stalled the House, he had no option but to go to the people directly.

However, Birodh Khatiwada, a CPN-UML lawmaker alleged that Koirala had no courage to face the opposition. The entire opposition, with UML in the forefront, had been demanding Koirala’s resignation.

‘Situation in Nuwagaon normal’

KATHMANDU, July 20 (PR)- The team of Human Rights activists that visited Rolpa to take stock of the situation there returned to the Capital today. According to the team members, the situation there is very much calm and that there were no incidents of violence as reported by some foreign media.

At a press conference held here today, the activists spoke at length about the situation in and around Nuwagaun in Rolpa district, where Maoist rebels were reportedly holding hostage the 70 policemen they abducted last week.

The report distributed in the press meet today said that the situation in Nuwakot was normal and there was no presence of army in the VDC. "The army had left Nuwagaun for Budagaun last Monday," said the report. The report also said the abducted policemen were given fair treatment as claimed by the Maoist rebels. However citing security reasons the Human Rights activists were not allowed to meet the abducted policemen, the report states.

The briefing team comprised of Sudip Pathak, Mukti Pradhan, Kalyan Dev Bhattarai, Dr Mathura Shrestha, Sharva Raj Khadka and Dr Bhogendra Sharma who had been to Nuwagaun to free the 69 abducted policemen but had returned to the Capital empty handed after holding one normal dialogue with the district level Maoist leaders.

The Maoist leaders had assured them that some of the abducted policemen would be released soon. The rebels had also mentioned that the government should also release their party workers in exchange, stated the release. "There is no need of such exchange as it is against the Geneva Convention and principles of Human Rights," said Sudip Pathak, a member of the team. Pathak said the army had restrained themselves the first day they were mobilised without which there could have been a heavy blood shed.

ANNISU shuts down schools

Post Report

KATHMANDU, July 20- The bandh called by All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union (ANNISU), Revolutionary student wing of the underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) passed off successfully on Friday with almost all schools and university in the capital remaining closed.

According to sources close to students’ organizations, the ANNISU (R) activists hurled a petrol bomb at a government vehicle BA. 1. JHA 5842 at Kanajol at around 10 am and broke the windshield while in another incident the activists threw a bomb at the resident of a Nepali Congress Party worker at Lalitpur which left the window panes shattered.

However, the bandh spared the on-going BBS II year examinations despite its threat to bring it to a standstill. Kabi Raj Bantawa, Principal of United Academy who is also a lecturer at Trichandra College said that today’s BBS II year examinations was conducted peacefully at the college.

The activists of ANNFSI (U) have long been clamoring against what they say "disparity in the quality of education" imparted in the private and government schools. The activists had twice closed down the schools so far and this time they wanted to press the government to funnel more money into the education sector to the extent recommended by the Dr Nirmal Pandey led High Level Committee.

"We were disappointed by the new budget for it failed to address our demand," said a member of ANNISU (R) . An estimated 14 per cent of the total national budget, both from the regular and development fund has been allocated towards the education sector for the fiscal year 2001-2002.

Bhoj Bahadur Shah, General Secretary of Private and Boarding School Organization Nepal, who is also the Principal of Anandabhumi School, said that all most all schools, including universities remained shut down today due to the threats of the ANNISU (R)’s activists.

"After the ANNISU (R) were denied any kind of constitutional rights or otherwise other modes to hold peaceful rallies to press for their demands, they were forced to take up violent activities and ambush operations," added Shah. Meanwhile several students’ organizations including the CPN-ML wing criticized the violent activities of ANNISU (R) members saying that the bandh had only affected the innocent children and their studies.

Kalaazar patients swarm into the Capital

Post Report

KATHMANDU, July 20 - With the onset of monsoon season and subsequent rise in Kalaazar cases across the Terai belt more and more patients are swarming into the Capital city for medical treatment.

While 33 patients were hospitalised at the Sahid Shukraraj Tropical Hospital (SSTH) on Thursday, 32 more were admitted today. Hospital sources said that most of the patients are from Siraha, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Parsa, Bara and Rautahat districts.

Director of SSTH, Punya Bahadur Thapa said, "The rise in patients with such tropical disease could be due to the ongoing monsoon season."

Reports from the Terai regional clinics claim that the actual number of patients are far more but due to landslides most are not able to come to the capital for proper treatment.

However, a few of those who made it to the capital are not so lucky as the hospital is facing shortage of beds for those patients who need immediate hospitalisation

Parents too to get equal share of property

By Binaj Gurubacharya

KATHMANDU, July 20 - In what is being described  as a proposed law thatwould bring a massive but positive changes to the social structure of the country, lawmakers continue to define finer details that would ensure women’s equal rights to property.

The parliamentary Law and Justice Committee decided that both the parents will have equal share as that of the children when property is distributed.

While amending the Bill proposing 11th amendment to the Muluki Ain or civil code, members of the committee agreed that both the father and mother will get equal share as the children.

"This way both the parents will have property to support themselves during their old age," said Mahendra Yadav, chairman of the committee.

If there are three children in the family, each of them would receive a fifth of the total property while the parents would get equal share of 20 percent each.

Once the parents expire, then their share of property will go to the person who takes care of them during their old age and not automatically to the children as proposed earlier.

This ensures property rights just not to the daughters but also the mothers who once they lose their husbands can continue to independently survive without the support of anyone.

Earlier this week, the committee had approved the most controversial clause in the Bill that would now allow women to retain parental property even after marriage.

The committee began their discussion on the controversial Bill approving the clause where daughters would have equal rights to parental property as the sons and they would not have to return it after marriage.

This clause initially had said that though women would have equal rights to parental property, they would have to return it after they are married off which has been severely criticized by women rights activists as a lame loophole in the proposed Bill.

This had settled the lengthy debate between women rights activists and the lawmakers that has delayed endorsement of this Bill since it was first tabled in Parliament four years ago.

The development was widely applauded by women rights activists.

"This has may be the first step but a positive one towards not only empowering women with a legal tool but also mentally empowering them," said Sapana Pradhan Malla, a renowned women’s rights advocate.

The committee members are now busy working on details of the proposed Bill hoping to wrap up the amendment process, which promises to be lengthy, and present it for voting during this session.

In another major decision today, the committee decided that both the husband and wife after marriage would have equal stake on their joint property. Meaning that once married the property the wife brings on from her parents house will be mixed with the husband’s share he gets from his parents.

"Both the husband and wife will have equal share and liability towards the joint property so if they are divorced then each of them would have equal share to survive," said Yadav.

Just in case if either one of the parents was to die, then the property will be divided only after the children comes to age, which in Nepal is 16 years. Earlier this year, members of this committee spent days travelling to all 14 zones in the country soliciting opinions on the proposed Bill.

The existing laws do not give rights to women to stake their claim on parental property unless they are over 35 years of age and unmarried till then. The proposed Bill recognizes daughters as equal heirs of the parental property, share in the husband’s property even before a divorce and remove age restriction for widows to claim property from her in-laws.

There are other implications still pending like the debate raised by lawmakers from the Terai region who feared the practice of cross border marriage could see money flowing into neighboring India.

"This has established rights for women but there are still more discussions left," said lawmaker Lilamani Pokhrel. Discussions are on to impose restrictions against giving the property if married across the border.

"It will take time for the society to change," said Yadav. "This is a legal tool to protect the women who are willing to fight for their rights and it ensures that women will have rights to property right from their birth to their death." Yadav said during their research they found out that there are similar laws in West Bengal and Karnataka in neighboring India.

Employment prospects relegating engineering to lower status

By Subas Risal

KATHMANDU, July 20 - It may sound distressing, but the appeal connected with being an engineer in the country seem to have taken a turn for the worst with the rising unemployment among qualified engineering graduates.

"It’s been almost two years since I graduated in civil engineering but I am still trying to get a respectable job," laments Dinesh Bhattarai, a resident of Anamnagar who got his engineering degree from Nepal Engineering College (NEC)-in 1999.

"Why is the government not taking any initiatives and chooses to remain a mute spectator when fresh ideas are conspicuously getting squandered?" questions Bhattarai. "Engineering is definitely an integral part of the development but I have not been able to understand the government’s indifference towards it." adds Bhattarai.

If the unemployment rate of the engineers continues to bloat, this could further accelerate the already worsening process of brain-drain. "The engineers will have no other options but to go abroad to dispel their frustrations," says an unemployed engineer.

"I opted to leave the country both for study and to get a job as I had nothing else to do here," says Sushant Adhikari, a mechanical engineer who graduated from Malvia College, India.

"I spent a whole year looking for job but couldn’t get one. It was a futile endeavour. I applied at a US university and got admitted in Masters in Business Administration (MBA)," says Adhikari, who recently got a US visa and will be leaving for USA soon.

Students apply for Masters in Engineering not to hone in their skills, but to avoid the pang of frustration that creeps in after years of persistent effort looking for job.

Lately, engineering, the profession that is still regarded respectable, also suffers from the lure to professions. Engineers claim that other professions have undoubtedly started to command better respects and employment prospects thus relegating this profession to lower status.

"Initially, I was interested in engineering but after I heard about the lack of job opportunity in this field, I opted to pursue my studies in Bachelors of Business Science (BBS)," says Alok Sharma, a resident of Ekantakuna, Patan.

Not only are the students shying away from pursuing their higher studies in engineering but also qualified engineers yearn to switch to more lucrative professions.

"Since there is a bleak future in this field, my enthusiasm has eroded and I desperately want to switch to another profession," said Bijaya Sharma, an employed engineer at one of the consultancy agency based in the Capital.

According to the Nepal Engineering Association (NEA) there are over 7000 engineers among which around 2000 are unemployed. Currently, 5000 engineers hold Association membership.

It is not only that the recent ‘pass-outs’ are facing strenuous competition in the job market; even the well-established engineers confront the same problem.

" I admit that engineers are finding it really difficult to get job and many of the engineers are frustrated with the profession," says Hari Darshan Shrestha, General Secretary, NEA.

"To create conducive environment for the engineers to work, government should utilise the local qualified manpower and not the foreign engineers in various projects," says Shrestha citing that Kali Gandaki hydro electricity project employs foreign engineers.

He further adds that if the government is to think seriously about mitigating unemployment then promoting private enterprises in construction and other works."

Even so, every parent wanted their sons and daughters to become engineers but for how long will it remain a secure profession is a question for all to note and answer.