AIDS prevention program to be launched

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SINDHULI, May 8 - Nepal Red Cross Society Sindhuli branch has decided to carry out various programmes for the prevention of AIDS, which has been spreading as an epidemic all over the world.

The programmes will be taken to different schools since this year through Junior Red Cross Circles and Youth Red Cross Circles where Red Cross Circles have been formed, Chairperson of the Society Falguni Sharma said.

A one-day symposium of headmasters of secondary and higher secondary schools was organised to discuss as to how participation of students of secondary and higher secondary schools could be ensured in AIDS prevention programmes.

Speaking at the symposium Central Instructor Purna Puri said about 36.1 million people were suffering in the world today from AIDS and underlined the need to implement effective programmes among the students as they are likely to involve in sexual activities in one way or other.

The Red Cross will carry out various programmes, such as street drama, training, symposium, publicity and so on, chairperson Sharma added.

Damauli water project remains incomplete

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DAMAULI, May 8- The district’s largest drinking water project, which is expected to benefit more than 13,000 people in the two remote VDCs of the district, is yet to be completed even after 18 years.

While charges of irregularities and corruption are being made behind the inordinate delay in the construction of the Rangrung drinking water project, the concerned officials complain inadequate budget allocations.

Started in 1983 to provide drinking water facilities to more than 70 percent of the population in the remote Bhanumati and Bhimad VDCs, the project’s source of water is at Ramche in Syangja’s Chitre VDC, some 6 km away from the site.

According to engineer at the District Drinking Water Office, Buddhi Prasad Gautam, work in the project was impeded first by the dispute about the source and again by the National Planning Commission, which asked for re-assessment of the proposed project.

"Despite the minimal budget allocations, we hope to accomplish the project this year," Gautam said. He blames the squandering of budgets as responsible for the protracted period of project completion here, as elsewhere.

However, vice-president of Building Entrepreneurs Association, Krishna Ghimire, says that the project is deliberately being delayed in the hope of swindling away a hefty commission in the purchase of pipes. "The project would have been completed wayback last year if the technicians were less greedy," Ghimire, who was associated with the project some ten years ago, said.

Gautam, however, said, "There is no room for any irregularities since we’ve involved the consumers in the whole process."

Govt shows luke-warm response to Buddha jayanti

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KATHMANDU, May 8 - While most of the Asian countries celebrated the 2445th birth anniversary of Lord Buddha with different brilliance, the celebration of the Buddha Day in the Hindu Kingdom remained gloomy.

Celebrating Buddha Day on the full-moon day of Baishakh started fifty years ago after the establishment of decomcracy. Still, the festival has not been able to take a national shape and whatever is done is by the local efforts, said the leaders of Buddhist community.

Buddhists blame the government that it has been indefferent to the significance of world festival of peace and did nothing to disseminate Buddha’s teachings among the people in general.

"We are doing what ever we can from our level. Obviously, the result is not satisfactory," said Buddhist scholar Prof Asharam Shakya, the chairman of Baudha Vihar Conservation Association.

He said that there has been no initiation from the government’s side to make the historical day a festival for all. He blames that the bureaucrats, composed of Hindu majority, always make attempts to put this day and its significance in shadow, whereas they offer the government media several weeks to promote every Hindu festival.

"The whole world found a path to enlightenment through Buddhism but the leaders of Nepal, the country where Shakyamuni Buddha was born, never even follow the five basic principles," he noted.

Prof Shakya said that the leaders do show their faces at such Buddhist programmes but they never show sentimental attatchement to the religious atmosphere.

During the religious oath-taking ceremony at a programme Monday, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was the only person in the mass meeting who remained silent.

However, he is contended in the gradual rise of awareness among the Buddhists and participation in such religious programmes.

Bhikkhu Sudarshan Mahasthavir, the vice-chairman of All Nepal Bhikkhu Association said that the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha is celebrated in countries like Japan, Korea, Singapore or Sri Lanka from the government itself. But in Nepal, this has remained only a business of small Buddhist communities.

He blames the tradition of Nepalis, which has been turned orthodox in the last few centuries because of the state’s indifference towards Buddhism.

"It will definitely take time to come back to the spirit of Buddhism. In a country like Nepal even to do as much as the Buddhists are doing needs appreciation," he said.

Bhikkhu Nigrodh of Bishow Shanti Vihar said that the government could have done a lot to present this day as a symbol of peace.

"It must be like that because this is not a Buddhist country. The government bodies take interest only when they get a chance to present Buddhism as a part of Hindu religion but the people in authority hide their face when the time comes to give Buddhism an independent identity," he said.

Lok Darshan Bajracharya the chairman of Dharmodaya Sabha, a leading Buddhist organisation, said that though the goal is still far, a lot of things have been achieved in the last fifty years to make Buddha Day a grand festival not only of the Buddhists but of the whole nation.

Still, he also blames the community for not showing solidarity against the indifferent nature of the government.

Rehabilitation program for disabled to be carried out

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BHADRAPUR, May 8 - Keshab Bhattarai who has crossed fifty years of his age was very happy to get a certificate before numerous people for the first time in his life.

Bhattarai, whose right leg is shorter than the left one and who is blind of one eye since he was five years old, was elated to obtain the certificate because he had never hoped that he would receive a colourful certificate like this at the age of 52. He has decided to put his certificate inside a frame and display it at his home. He thinks that he received from this programme some knowledge that he missed by not attending the school.

This benefit was received not only by Bhattarai but also other 117 men and women of the area. They have benefited from the week-long awareness generation programme run in Maheshpur VDC by Apang Tatha Mahila Punarsthan Samaj (Disabled and Women’s Rehabilitation Society) of Kathmandu. This is the first phase programme of the organisation which is going to carry out two-year programme for the rehabilitation of the disabled and poor women in this VDC.

The same kind of excitement was seen in the face of Sarala Rajbamsi, 55, Krishna Maya Subedi and Dafa Rajbamsi, 45 who had also received certificates for the first time in their life.

According to programme coordinator Ram Keshari Shrestha, it is a challenge to make more than 100 disabled and hundreds of destitute women living in Maheshpur VDC. For this, six groups have been formed and Rs 40,000 will be given to each group and they will be taught different skills for two years.

Similar programmes will also be carried out in Garamani, Anarmani, Shanishchare, Budhabare and Charpane VDCs and Damak municipality in Jhapa district, according to the programme coordinator.

At the concluding function chairman of Maheshpur VDC Rohit Rajbamsi expressed his commitment for the success of the programme to be implemented for the benefit of local people many of whom were destitute and underprivileged although they were living close to the district headquarters.

Secretary of Nepal Blind Association Jhapa, Dipak Thapa, (a blind man) said society should forsake its attitude of despising the blind people and the government should implement programmes to uplift their condition.

Chairman of the organisation Govind Adhikari was chaired the function.

Similarly, the organisation conducted a health camp and found a large number of people suffering from anaemia. Fifty people were suffering from cataract and were referred for operation. Medicines worth about Rs 50,000 were also distributed free of cost to the patients on the occasion, according to Chairman Adhikari.