Campus elections: violence, colors and traffic jams

By Tilak Pokharel

Kathmandu Valley and the whole country witnessed yet another election frenzy this week. And this was neither a contest for those "high and mighty" positions in the government, nor did the election results affect the shaky national political scenario. It was only an election for the students’ unions in the colleges but looking at the chaos, campaigns and the traffic jams these elections created, one can easily see how politics has influenced the college students these days.

Studies in over two dozen of colleges affiliated to Tribhuvan University and Mahendra Sanskrit University were stalled due to the frenzy of Free Students’ Union (FSU) Election, a gateway to make the students politicians. Post-election hangover is still gripping some of the colleges, while the pre-election fever interrupted their academics weeks before the elections.

The nationwide FSU election was conducted on Sunday in almost 150 public and private schools, overshadowing Monday’s Lhosar festival. Fights, disputes and violence have been synonymous in almost all FSU elections since it started 37 years ago and is conducted in the interval of two years. Undoubtedly, violence became a significant part of the election this season too.

Elections in Shankar Dev Campus, Padma Kanya Campus (women’s largest college), Saraswoti Campus, Thapathali Engineering College, Minbhavan Multiple Campus, Mahendra Ratna Campus, Patan Multiple Campus were the few ones where the election was marred by violence. However, the election went peacefully in the country’s biggest college - University Campus Kirtipur, and now the studies are also resumed.

It was not just the election, but the post-election rallies too disrupted the normal lives. After the end of the election, the winners took victory processions to the streets blocking the narrow roads of the capital causing more traffic jams, while those who lost the election went on blaming the oppositions of rigging.

Prior to the FSU election, various student groups, who had the blessings of the leading political parties, were seen busy (un)decorating their college premises and the surroundings with banners, wall paintings, pamphlets and other forms.

On the eve of the election, the student leaders made their fingers busy in telephone sets dialing the numbers of almost all of their fellow colleagues calling them up to cast votes in their favour. Furthermore, some of the student leaders even called former students and those who had already dropped out the college. One of my friends, who had left Shankar Dev College two years ago, said that a student leader, whom he did not know at all, called him and insisted that he went to college and cast vote in his favour.

The FSU is regarded as the parallel administration in the colleges. It has control over almost all machinaries of the college administration. And above all, they are politically motivated. This aspect is the most dangerous and has politicized every government colleges. Since the student workers are cadres of one or another political party and have political influence, they do not follow the campus administration and create the college environment in their favour. In many colleges, they also hold the power to admit students. Admission of extra large number of students in the year of FSU election is common.

The lucky ones - the students studying in colleges affiliated to Kathmandu University, Pokhara University and Purbanchal University were free from the student politics.

The major student groups contesting the election were ruling Nepali Congress associated Nepal Students’ Union (NSU), main opposition CPN-UML associated All Nepal National Free Students’ Union (ANNFSU) and CPN-ML associated ANNFSU. However, National Democratic Students’ Organisation, the student wing of Rastriya Prajatantra Party showed less influence in any of the colleges in the Valley in comparison to other big student organisation.

Whatever the results of the elections of student’s unions, one thing is for sure. The unions are more politically motivated and have less interest in improving the education environment though their only promise while asking for votes always is to improve the educational environment.

Imposter police detained

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DOLAKHA, March 1- The district police in Dolakha has detained the police personel involved in creating terror by pretending himself as as Maoist, after calling him back from duty at the Kharidhunga police post.

The police initiated action against the ASI Shambhu Bahadur Karki after a woman VDC official of Lakuridada lodged a complaint of the incident to the district administration, Wednesday. Karki had been assigned to the Kharidhunga post for a few days, from where he set for the nearby Lakuridada village to terrorise the people there.

Budget inadequate to provide remote area allowance

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DUNAI, Dolpa, March 1 - The funds currently allocated to the remote districts-based District Education Offices (DEO) will be inadequate after the government announced to provide remote area allowances to the teachers in the districts at a par with the civil employees, said officials at DEO.

Accountant at DEO, Dolpa, Mohan Kumar Acharya said that more than Rs 9.5 million would be inadequate if the remote allowances were to be provided to all the teachers in the district.

In the last year’s fiscal budget, the government decided to provide remote allowances by 32 per cent only to those teachers from outside the remote districts.

The government, however, reversed its earlier decision and agreed to provide equal allowances to all the teachers working in the remote districts with that of the civil employees following the teacher strikes for months.

The government has already despatched circular to this effect to the concerned districts. However, the funds available at the DEOs will be insufficient to provide such allowances to the teachers, said the official at DEO.

The civil employees working in the remote districts receive additional 75 per cent of their basic salary as remote area allowances.

Preparations underway to resettle the ex-Kamaiyas

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DHANGADHI, March 1 - The government has decided to provide land to the liberated landless Kamaiyas in the treeless meadows of the forest as well as the land left behind by rivers apart from the fallow government land.

Earlier, the government had decided to resettle them only in the fallow government land.

Necessary preparations are under way to resettle the liberated Kamaiyas in this district.

Although there are plenty of plots of fallow land in Kailali district, such areas are occupied by different people. Due to lack of concrete government policy in this regard to snatch such land from them is considered to be a difficult task.

Kamaiya Resettlement and Land Registration Committee has been constituted after the Cabinet decision to resettle liberated Kamaiyas in the treeless meadows in the forest, land left behind by rivers and the fallow government land.

Earlier, immediately after the liberation of Kamaiyas, the government had formed Monitoring and Coordination Committees at the central and district levels. The committees were authorised to identify and classify the Kamaiyas, distribute identity card (red card), examine and determine the plots and register them in the name of the former Kamaiyas.

However, the committee was allowed to distribute only temporary land ownership certificates to the ex-Kamaiyas. The committees complained that enough authority was not delegated to them, which delayed the programme to resettle the Kamaiyas.

The latest committee formed by the government for a specific task consists of a coordinator from among the employees and officer level members from district level Forest, Survey, Land Revenue and District Administration offices with land reform officer as member secretary.

The committee has said it would distribute land to those who have already received red card from the previous committee.

Committee coordinator Hari Raj Pant told The Kathmandu Post that the committee was making final preparations to distribute land to 272 families at the rate of one kattha land to each family in Joshipur, Thapapur and Bouniya.

"In areas where the land has already been checked, we will distribute one to five katthas of land and ownership certificate," he added.

He said each of the 98 families of Kamaiyas were receiving one kattha land in Pathraiya VDC where the government had already procured five bighas of land for them three years ago. These families will each receive 4 katthas of land afterwards, Pant added.

According to the data prepared by the monitoring committee, the number of the families of the liberated Kamaiyas is 2,643 in Kailali district and of them, 2,103 have already received red card.

However, according to the NGOs of the liberated Kamaiyas, the number of such landless people is three times more than what the committee has identified.

The Kamaiyas who were agitated due to government delay in allocating land for them embarked on a campaign to capture the forest land.

Pant said, "we are making necessary preparations to distribute one to five katthas of land to those Kamaiyas who possess red card from the fallow land as far as possible and also from open spaces of forests by immediately fulfilling necessary procedures."

Land survey works will begin in Masuriya, Geta and Malakheti VDCs and Dhangadhi municipality from Thursday.

Those who receive the plots of land will not be allowed to sell them until 10 years.

Japanese support for rural electrification

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KATHMANDU, March 1- A grant contract was signed Tuesday between the Embassy of Japan and the Environment and Power Concern Group of Darchula (EPCGD) for the rural electrification project in Darchula, according to a press release issued here today by the Embassy of Japan.

According to the agreement reached between the Japanese Govt and EPCGD, a grant assistance amounting to three million and thirty-nine thousand (NRs 3,039,000) rupees will be provided for procuring accessories for 153 sets of photovoltic system to be installed at the 32 VDCs of Darchula district.

The total cost of the project is estimated at around 21,760,000 Nepalese rupees of which the Government of Nepal has supplied solar modules equivalent to 10, 880, 000 rupees, a fifty percent of the total share, and the remaining 7,840, 000 rupees will be borne jointly by users’ participation, DDC, 32 VDCs and EPCGD, says the release.

The Embassy of Japan had targeted Darchula district taking into consideration its remoteness and exclusion from the central development plan. The district had not been included under the target areas, says the release.

"Around 75, 000 people of Darchula do not have access to electricity," the release said.

It was also stated in the release that the embassy has given top priority for public wellbeing through participatory roles of the locals who are direct beneficiaries.

The Embassy of Japan places much importance on the eco-friendly and renewable solar energy which is conducive to the environment.

A total of 16 high schools and colleges, 32 VDCs, and 54 health institutions of Darchula are expected to be benefited directly or indirectly by the project.

Forest land hand over draws flak

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CHITWAN, March 1 - The government decision to give five bighas of Bageswori forest land in Devghat to Satya Sai Trust has triggered criticism of the government.

The land has been given to the trust to build a national level Satya Sai Temple and an international level Sadhana Kendra, according to a source in the District Forest Office, Bharatpur.

Bageswori forest falls under Devghat Area Development Committee and is important from archaeological, religious, tourist and environment viewpoints. It is believed that the palace and temple of the Sen dynasty king were located there.

The forest was given to College of Medical Sciences to build a college and Teaching Hospital buildings in 2050 BS. The government had decided to lease 42 bighas of forest land to the College of Medical Sciences for 49 years.

There was a public outcry and the people fought against the government decision at that time. The Supreme Court later ruled, in response to a petition, that the government decision was illegal and the medical college should be removed from there.

Mayor of Bharatpur municipality Him Bahadur Piya has expressed his disagreement with the government decision.

Nepali Congress Chitwan District president Krishna Lal Sapkota vented his anger against the government for the decision.

It is illegal to give the land to another organisation after the Supreme Court has already given its verdict to preserve the forest, he added.

Locals complain that the forests of Chitwan district would be depleted soon endangering the natural and environmental aspects of the area if the forest land is distributed in this way.

Panchakoshi parikrama in Janakpur

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JANAKPUR, March 1- The participants of the Panchakoshi Parikrama, probably the longest such pilgrimage in Nepal, are happy this year that the weather has accorded them well.The fifteen-day trek that involves going round the greater Janakpur pilgrimage area, believed to comprise of the ancient Mithila kingdom of Janakpur, during mid-spring has this year been spared of the usual windy weather.

"It’s neither cold during nights nor are the days hot: it’s all the grace of Janakiji", says a devotee, Bauelal Giri, a long-time pilgrim of the Panchakoshi Parikrama.

Not all are sure of smoothness in the weather for the remaining eight days though. "I don’t think the tradition of troublesome weather during the Parikrama will be broken this year," says Deva Raut, another Parikrama resident. She is rather optimistic that the mettle of the devotees will be on test this year too.

The Parikrama involves making make-shift camps for stay during nights, cooking meals under the open sky and singing kirtans and bhajans in the praise of Lord Ramchandra and goddess Janakiji.The pilgrims develop intimate relations during the walk and become close friends.

The Greater Janakpur Area Development Council has this year arranged drinking water facilities at almost all stops. Several NGOs and social organizations are also providing the Parikramabasis free meals and health services.

This pilgrimage, also called Madhya Parikrama, begins from the historical Kachuri Math of Dhanusha district and includes visits to Janakpurdham, and many rural areas in Dhanusha and Mahottari as well as several other places in the neighbouring Bihar.The pilgrims are believed to be bestowed with prosperity and good health.