Headline News The Kathmandu Post (Nepal)

All land transactions opened after two weeks
Govt registers Land Reforms Bill

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, Aug 31 – The government today registered a Bill on the much talked-about land reforms in the Parliament Secretariat, incorporating the governing Nepali Congress’ proposals passed on Thursday.

With the registration of the Bill, the government also withdrew the earlier ban on all land transactions throughout the country. The Ministry of Land Reforms and Management, in a statement today, announced that all the activities on land sale and transfer of ownership should be done as per the ceiling mentioned in the proposed Bill. The Ministry has also warned that transactions against the provisions of the proposed Bill would be punishable as per the Land Reforms Act of 1964.

The government decision comes as a huge respite to the people in the Terai region where land sale and transfer of ownership are the routine activities.

Secretary at the Ministry of Land Reforms and Management, Keshav Raj Rajbhandari registered the Bill today afternoon. The Bill proposes the new ceiling for agricultural land ownership and house at 130 ropanis and 13 ropanis in the Terai, 25 and five ropanis in the Kathmandu Valley, 70 and five ropanis in the rest of the hilly region respectively.

Those who wanted the ceiling to be lowered have already criticized the new ceiling.

The existing ceiling is 400 ropanis and 48 ropanis in the Terai, 50 and eight ropanis for the Valley and 50 and eight ropanis in the rest of the country. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba announced the land reform measures in the parliament on August 16 as part of his 8-point social reform package.

But the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and the Terai-based Nepal Sadbhawana Party protested the announcement both inside and outside the parliament. Besides, big landowners and their relatives have already registered a lot of fake cases to save their land from being confiscated by the government.

When asked to comment on the new provision of ceiling in the proposed Bill, RPP general secretary Pashupati Shumsher JB Rana told The Kathmandu Post that the land ceiling was not the issue. "Our views have been misrepresented and misinterpreted. We are not against the land reforms, but we want citizenship certificates be issued to the poorest of the poor in the Terai and elsewhere before the land is distributed," said Rana. He declined to give a categorical response to the Bill registered today.

Gajendra Narayan Singh, the President of the NSP, reacting to the Bill, told The Kathmandu Post that his party would not allow the government to table the Bill in the parliament. "We will continue to disrupt the House unless government introduces the ceiling on property," Singh said, adding that the PM has only focused on land to terrorize the farmers. "The bigwigs who have amassed illegal wealth have been left untouched."

Singh also criticized the government’s contention that fragmenting huge tracts of uncultivated land would improve productivity. "Distributing this way would not improve the productivity," Singh said. The NSP leader lambasted the government for coining a political slogan of giving the land to the landless, without having any intention of doing so.

Even the Communist Party Nepal (UML), who had earlier supported the government announcement, is criticizing the proposed Bill. Standing Committee member of the main opposition party and President of the All Nepal Peasants Association, Keshav Badal came down heavily on the government decision, terming it as the decision against the farmers’ interest.

"The government has not done enough homework to make this hasty decision which is totally against the interest of the peasants," Badal said in a press release issued here today. Badal accused the government of siding with the landowners "instead of implementing the Badal commission’s recommendation."

As a result of this continued protests, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba could not read a statement of public importance in the House of Representatives today after an all-party meeting in the Speaker’s chamber failed to reach an agreement on resuming the House proceedings.

Speaker Taranath Ranabhat had called the all party meeting today in order to break the impasse. However, with the two parties vehemently opposing the government move, the meeting failed to come to any conclusion. The Prime Minister left the meeting with the prepared statement still in his hand.

Speaking to the reporters, Hridyesh Tripathi of the NSP said that since no agreement was reached today on the PM responding to the House, another meeting would be held on Saturday again.

The House convened thereafter, only to be disrupted by the RPP and the NSP for the eighth time this session. After five minutes of sloganeering by the lawmakers of the two parties, the Speaker adjourned the House until Sunday.

Land reforms proposal brings rift within Cabinet

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Aug 31 – The proposed Land Reforms Bill forwarded by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has triggered protests not just in the Parliament but has also brought a rift within his own Cabinet.

At least four of the total 13 ministers in the Cabinet today expressed their strong disagreement over the proposed reforms that took the shape of a Bill and was filed in the Parliament Secretariat.

During the Cabinet meeting this morning where Prime Minister Deuba tried to push through the Bill that was endorsed by the NC Central Working Committee (CWC) a day earlier, some ministers suggested that the government should have the guts to refuse it and make changes as it was the prerogative of the government to make amendments in the Bill.

Ministers like Jayaprakash Gupta, Mahesh Acharya, Bijaya Gachchhedar and Sharad Singh Bhandari asked the Prime Minister to take the recommendations from the committee formed by the CWC and endorsed by the apex body as just recommendations and take up its own decisions.

The Prime Minister declared that he was reluctant to make any changes which would be considered a step against the party. Other ministers siding by Deuba agreed that, even though, the decision by the party could put the government in a difficult situation, it was not possible to go directly against the decision of the party.

Even within the CWC, there have been protests against the proposed ceiling on land ownership and the government’s freeze on land transactions since the announcement was made.

During the CWC meetings, members like Shailaja Acharya were totally against the imposition of ceiling while others were more divided over what the ceiling should be set at.

In parliament and within most political parties, the lawmakers from the Terai have voiced their concern against the government proposal. The issue has divided the members by geography rather than by party lines like in the past.

CPN-UML, 8 left parties forge alliance

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Aug 31 - Just a day after the government and the Maoists concluded their first round of talks in a positive note, several left parties including the main opposition, the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) today met for the first time and decided to agree in principle to forge ahead together and face the fluid political situation of the country.

"Eight left parties sat down for the talk to end the present political crisis and reached an agreement to move ahead together principally," said UML politburo member, Bharat Mohan Adhikari as he came out of the talk which lasted for almost two hours.

"The meet basically focused on the on-going dialogue between the Maoist rebels and the land reform measures announced recently by the Prime Minister Deuba," said Adhikari.

The agreement comes after the first round of talks between the government and the Maoist rebels and comes as an accelerated effort to get the left parties united. All the left parties, especially the main opposition UML fears "regression in political status" as the outcome of the on-going talks between the government and the Maoists.

General Secretary of the UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the talk was held in cordial atmosphere and many issues were discussed focusing basically on the government-Maoist dialogue.

However, when asked about the reaction over the first round of talks between the government and Maoist rebels, he declined to answer.

"Since we are not involved in the dialogue, I can’t say anything right now regarding it," said Nepal. According to the party source, the meeting did not make any concrete decisions and that the meet would continue on Monday.

Siddhi Lal Singh, politburo member of the CPN-ML stressed on the need of Maoists’ participation in the meet before arriving at any concrete decision. "Without the participation of the Maoists in the meet, it will be absurd to arrive at any conclusion as they are recognised as the great political force," said Shrestha.

Eight different left parties including the UML, CPN-ML, CPN-United, CPN-Marxist, CPN-MLM, United People’s Front Nepal, National People’s Front and CPN-Masal attended the meeting. Two major left parties, Nepal Peasant’s and Worker’s Party and Unity Centre, were absent in the meeting.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of Nepal-Masal, one of the radical communist groups, today issued a statement stating that the party leadership had a meeting with the Maoists at an undisclosed location a few days ago.

The statement added that the two parties failed to reach an agreement although they discussed extensively on issues such as the country’s present political situation, the on-going government-Maoist talks and formation of working unity between the left parties. The meeting also involved issues such as declaring Nepal a republic, election of a constituent assembly and formation of an interim government, the statement adds.

"We don’t differ in principle with the Maoists on declaring the country a republic state and on forming an constituent assembly but the present situation is not suitable for us to try to overthrow the monarchy," the statement says.

The communist party also made it clear that looking at the recent activities of the Maoists they were not able to trust the Maoists on their stands.

"The Maoists have changed their stand on their view on monarchy from time to time. First they opposed the monarchy vehemently but after the royal palace massacre they changed their stand and started issuing pro-Birendra statements and now also after the Holleri incident the party has softened its agitation movement against King Gyanendra dramatically."

The statement undersigned by Masal’s General Secretary, maintains that at the moment when they are not able to trust the Maoist and don’t agree with their terrorist activities such as kidnapping, extortion and murders, the party is unable to form any kind of working unity with them.

Government to compensate land-owners

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Aug 31 - The government is going to provide compensation to landlords once it acquires their land above the new land holding ceiling fixed by the government.

Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, speaking at a press meet organized by the ministry today, said that the government should acquire private land above the new land holding ceiling paying certain compensation. He said that the Prime Minister is also of the same opinion.

The Constitution does not allow the government to acquire private property without any compensation, but the amount of compensation would be ascertained only after acquiring land, said the finance minister.

He also said that the government would collect the necessary amount either through domestic borrowing or any other sources. If necessary, it would collect the amount by issuing debenture.

The new land holding ceiling has been proposed with a view to end feudalism, to create an equitable society and to provide land to the tillers.

"To fix a ceiling on property is an unfettered rumour. The government at any cost would not fix a ceiling on property. The Constitution also bars the government from snatching private property. Therefore, people should not panic", said FM Mahat.

He also urged the public not to buy gold and accumulate US dollars and Indian currency going by the rumour.

The American dollar is weakening and there is no possibility of devaluating Nepalese currency against Indian currency. And the decreasing gold price in the international market would make a loss, if gold is purchased at this juncture of time, said the FM.

However, the government is determined to bring the illegally amassed wealth and those evading tax into the tax net, he warned.

Following the government’s announcement of fixing new land holding ceiling, rumour was rife that there would be a ceiling on property too, which prompted people to withdraw their deposits from banks. Similarly, the rumour of devaluating Nepalese currency against Indian currency also led to hoarding Indian currency.

The finance minister claims that though some deposits were withdrawn in the first few days of the announcement of land holding ceiling, it has come to a halt at present. Over the past 10 days, a total of Rs 2.77 billion was withdrawn from the Nepal Rastra Bank and Rs 1.52 billion has been re-deposited in the bank. The rumour had some impact on the bordering towns, said FM Mahat.

The Indian currency reserves has crossed 25 billion mark, the central bank has increased the overdraft of Indian currency from 25 thousand to 100 thousand and the balance of payment is in favour of Nepal. Therefore, the rumour of devaluating Nepalese currency against Indian currency is baseless, he said.

However, due to such hearsay, the exchange rate of US dollar has gone up in illegal market and the demand for gold in the domestic market has gone up. Though gold price in international market has dipped, there has been almost Rs 200 increment per 10 grams of gold in the domestic market following the new land holding ceiling announcement.

Court hearing on land sales after one week

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Aug 31 – People will have to wait for at least one more week for the result of the legal battle between Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and half a dozen writ petitioners who have challenged the former’s land reforms measures.

The hearing on the writ petitions at the special bench of the Supreme Court could not complete Thursday. The hearing will continue next Thursday. The special bench comprised Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyay, Justices Laxman Prasad Aryal, Kedar Nath Upadhyay, Krishna Jung Rayamajhi and Govinda Bahadur Shrestha.

The writ petitioners and lawyers pleading on their behalf argued that the Prime Minister’s land freeze announcement as unconstitutional.

But the written statement filed Tuesday by Deuba had stated that the programme was brought forth in accordance with the Article 25 (2) of the Constitution which says the state should make equitable distribution of economic resources of the country on the basis of social justice so as not to limit such means and resources within specific class of society.

It states that the Premier’s move is also backed by the Clause 62 (1) of Land Act, 2021(1964) that provides the government enough power to make necessary arrangements to untie difficulties found in course of enforcement of the Act.

The statement also says that a notification published Wednesday on the Nepal Gazette by the government caters legal validity of the Prime Minister’s announcement.

The notification published by the Ministry of Land Reforms and Management states an order of the government to prohibit land sale and ownership transfer except for the five purposes. The five categories are – registration of left over land, distribution of the land which is encumbered with tenancy between landlords and tenants, ownership transfer of the land registered in deceased person’s name to its claimant, ownership transfer of tenancy rights, keeping land or house in lein (guarantee) or relaxing it as authenticated in written by the bank or financial institution.

Containing these claims of Deuba, advocate Mithilesh Kumar Singh questioned under which law the government freezed the land sale or onwership transfer from August 17 to August 28 as the notification was published only on August 28.

Senior advocate Kunja Bihari Singh said Deuba’s ‘ announcement statement’ can not be law as the government should comply with law as it is also a legal person.

Singh asked what kind of legal difficulties were to be untied on the specific day of August 17 as the Land Act was being enforced for the last 37 years.

Another senior advocate Kushum Shrestha said fundamental rights could not be infringed in the name of directive principles. There should be harmonious construction in the implementation of directive principles.

Other lawyers to demand the issuance of the writ were Mukunda Lamichhane, Madav Kumar Basnet, Dhrubalal Shrestha, Yagya Adhikari and Saroj Kumar Sapkota.

The separate six writs petitions were filed by Namasa Karki, Madhav Kumar Basnet, Surendra Kumar Mahato , Uttam Shrestha ,Silki Gautam and Krishna Bastola.

CPN-UML, 8 left parties forge alliance

Post Report

"The meet basically focused on the on-going dialogue between the Maoist rebels and the land reform measures announced recently by the Prime Minister Deuba," said Adhikari.

General Secretary of the UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the talk was held in cordial atmosphere and many issues were discussed focusing basically on the government-Maoist dialogue.

However, when asked about the reaction over the first round of talks between the government and Maoist rebels, he declined to answer.

The communist party also made it clear that looking at the recent activities of the Maoists they were not able to trust the Maoists on their stands.

Maoists to present agenda in next round of talks

Post Report

NEPALGUNJ, Aug 31 - Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who led the Maoists team in the peace talks with the government, today said they would present written agenda during the next round of peace talks.

During the first round of the meeting on Thursday, the team had concentrated mostly on introduction with one another and on creation of an environment for further talks.

He also claimed that the exercise towards establishing a republic state had already begun.

Abolition of the Constitutional Monarchy to be replaced by a republic state is the primary demand of the Maoists, who for the past five and half years have been waging a guerrilla war before they came forward recently for peace talks with the government.

"After the June 1 Royal Palace massacre the monarchy has ended in practice and the process for establishing a republic has begun in the local level," Mahara said adding they are standing by their demand for Republic State, new Constitution and an interim government."

He said that if the talks failed then they would be forced to take up arms struggle again and that there would be no cases of use of force by them and in case of such an incident there would be investigation.

Meanwhile, human rights activist Padma Ratna Tuladhar said today that the Maoist negotiators met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba prior to the first peace talks on Thursday.

Tuladhar, who is one of the felicitators in the ongoing talks between the Maoists and the government, was addressing a talk programme on the role of civil society in the peace talks.

"The Prime Minister first met with us and then the team of Maoist negotiators who conveyed greetings from Prachanda and thanked him for the peace initiatives," Tuladhar said.

"The talks were in the most civilized and cordial manner and there were no harsh words spoken by either side during the entire meet," he said. "The biggest achievement is that both side expressed commitment on resolving the problem through peaceful means."

He said that the Prime Minister appeared sincere, serious and hopeful of the talks and had personally made the arrangement for the peace talks.

He said that the Maoists in Nepal were responsive to the offer of peace talks compared to similar armed revolts in other countries.

"I have been to Peru and seen that the government and the rebels have not been able to come together for such talks," he said.

The Maoists in Nepal is believed to model themselves after the Shinning Path Guerrillas of Peru.

During the programme, Industrialist Padma Jyoti said that the talks have finally given a ray of hope for peace to return so that lives can go to normal.

"The government has the law but the Maoists have the order. We need to put these two together," he said adding that the Nepali industries are having difficulties competing and operating in the environment where there are many ill factors like corruption and extortion in the name of the Maoists.

Dust continue to blanket Valley, thanks to bad roads

By Birodh Pandey

KATHMANDU, Aug 31 – Nearly two million people living in the Kathmandu Valley are becoming increasingly prone to various air-pollution-related diseases as officials fail to check the trend, and lack of coordination between the concerned government offices continues to make the matters worse.

Experts closely monitoring the Valley’s air quality say that the problem of air pollution has turned worse from bad in recent years due mainly to authorities’ failure to maintain roads, among other reasons. According to them, concentration of dust in the bowl-shaped Valley’s ambient air has crossed the level pointed out by the 1995 URBAIR report, which was commissioned by the World Bank and local environment groups.

And this has not only fueled cases of respiratory and other diseases in the hospitals but also damaged the aesthetic look of the Valley, which is home to seven monuments enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage List, besides other heritages. Excessive concentration of dust has also caused adverse impact on the vegetation growth and led to low visibility.

While stating that the Valley’s emission level up to the mark compared to other South Asian cities, experts say the real problem is not the vehicular or other forms of emissions but the dusts that have become the defining feature of the roads of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and other towns, their suburbs and even villages.

Says Dr Subodh Sharma, Associate Professor of Environmental Science at the Kathmandu University: "The problem due to vehicular emission is not that acute compared to the amount of pollutant released into the atmosphere through the chimneys or brick kilns…Dust pollution is in fact the major problem causing deterioration in the Valley’s air quality. The bad roads and different anthropogenic have started to cause regular seasonal dust storm into the atmosphere of the Kathmandu Valley."

According to the State of Environment Nepal 2001 report, 33 per cent of the total air polluting industries in the country are based in the Kathmandu Valley.

Adds Dr. Subarna Mani Acharya at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH): "Dust pollution is the main culprit. Which is why respiratory diseases and other complications are on the rise in Kathmandu. We have urged the government to take actions and check the trend time and again, but to no avail."

Dr. Acharya predicts an increase of 30 per cent dust-related-complications during the dry season, while factors like atmospheric inversion—trapping of the air above human settlements during cold season—make matter even worse during late autumn, winter and early spring seasons.

No up-to-date data was made available to The Kathmandu Post by the hospital authorities.

However, according to the State of the Environment report, respiratory diseases increased from 10.9 per cent of the total outdoor patient visits (5,167,378) in 1996 to 11.6 per cent of the total outdoor visits (7,115,981) in 1998.

Rabin Man Shrestha, who looks after the city environment at the Kathmandu Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), agrees that the problem is really severe in the city. "No such thing as civic responsibility exists," he says. "People pile up their construction materials along the road, throw wastes in haphazard manner, burn wastes in sensitive areas and hence the pollution problem."

The Valley’s air quality crossed the WHO danger marks long time ago. Research conducted by ENPHO in the year 1993 and 2000 shows that particulate matter of size less than 10 microns (pm10), a form of dust pollution, from Kalimati was 80 and 100 micro gram per meter cube (mg/m3), respectively. Similarly the record from Putalisadak was at 90 and 99 mg/m3, respectively. WHO standard says the concentration of pollutants up to 70 mg/m3 is tolerable for humans.

Likewise the Total Suspended Particle (TSP), dust particles of size larger than 10 microns, in the year 1993 and 2000 for Kalimati was 230 and 270 mg/m3 respectively. Similarly from Putalisadak it was 260.5 and 250.5 mg/m3 respectively. Whilst the WHO has recommended only up to 120mg/m3 as permissible.

Health specialist warn that pm10 has smaller particles capable of intruding into lungs and thus reach the lungs and damage the tissues.

Experts blame bad roads for the excessive dust pollution in the city, but concerned authorities privately concede that they have not been able to maintain roads and make them dust-free due to various reasons. Lack of resources is the major constraint, according to them.

Kathmandu district alone has 8,09 kilometers of roads, out of which, 4,93 kilometers is blacktopped, 1,72 kilometers graveled and 1,39 kilometers continue to remain dusty, according figures made available by the Department of Roads.

"There are lots of unpaved roads in the Valley and even the paved roads have pot-holes in them, but we have not been able to maintain them due to lack of financial resources," said a high-ranking official at the Department, who preferred to remain anonymous.

Legal experts converge in Biratnagar

By Tilak Pokharel

BIRATNAGAR, Aug 31 – Lawyers, judiciary experts and law enforcers from various eastern districts assembled here in this eastern hub, leaving aside maybe piles of "fake cases" registered in their courts, to suggest policy makers amend a report that if endorsed by the parliament would replace the existing Muluki Ain, 2021 (National Code).

About five dozens of participants – most of them from district courts and appellate courts – attended Friday’s interaction programme on the draft report prepared and presented to the government by a government-formed task force led by Attorney General Badri Bahadur Karki. The draft report was on "Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code", which was presented to the government on July 16.

According to secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Management Uday Nepali Shrestha, the government is set to propose it in the parliament as a Bill by next year, after accumulating suggestions from all walks of life to further amend the report. If it is endorsed by the parliament, it will succeed the existing Muluki Ain, which has been established as the base for most of the prevailing laws.

Speaking during the interaction programme jointly organised by the Ministry and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Kashi Raj Dahal, secretary of the Judicial Council and member of the seven-member task force, said the report has focused on the compensation to the victim. "Also in the report, we have tried to incorporate the cases which are criminal in nature but not declared ‘criminal’ by the existing laws," said Dahal.

Labeling the Muluki Ain, which was first enacted in 1853 and later amended in 1963, "obsolete", Hari Bamsha Tripathi, District Judge of Saptari district, said Muluki Ain has failed to counter the new-emerging criminal trends (such as cyber crimes, sexual harassment). "The draft report has suggested to incorporate all such crimes including some crimes against privacy rights," said Tripathi.

UNDP has been supporting the government in its mission to reform laws and also has launched, jointly with the government, a programme titled "Strengthening the Rule of Law and Reform of Judiciary Programme" of which Friday’s programme is a part.

Addressing the same function, Shantam Khadka, National Programme Officer of UNDP, said that UNDP has been working with the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Management and also with the Supreme Court to fulfil five objectives, on the road towards updating the existing laws and judicial practices. Of the five objectives are – training of arbitration board members, upgrading of Nepal’s laws, making His Majesty’s Government loyal towards international treaties and capacity building of court staff and judges, among others.

Suggesting on the draft report, District Judge of Sunsari, Kamal Chandra Nepal, said that the report has failed to give continuity to the essence of the older laws.

Pointing out the flaws of the report, Judge of Appellate Court, Biratnagar, Keshav Prasad Mainali said the report is silent on the part of punishment though it has described a lot in the part of codes. Mainali also questioned the task force for increasing the life imprisonment from 20 to 22 years.

Other participants during the programme, which also included senior police officials, chief district officers, among others, also suggested to reduce the long gap in the years of imprisonment in the same crime as suggested in the report.

Smugglers hurl bomb at RNA vehicle

Post Report

BIRGUNJ, Aug 31 - A group of smugglers on Wednesday night hurled a hand- made bomb at a team of Royal Nepal Army (RNA) patrolling on a vehicle to thwart the activities of smuggling. However, no casualties have been reported.

A team of RNA had gone for a patrolling to Chapakaiya VDC on Thursday night upon hearing the reported cases of smuggling from a loosely managed transit point. But the smugglers carried out an ambush attack hurling at least three hand bombs at the patrolling vehicle before it could arrive at the spot, reports from the district said.

The RNA carried out the patrolling of the area the whole night following the bomb attack, which is expected to last until Friday, reports from the district stated.

The report further states that the RNA has apprehended a local suspecting him of hurling the bombs. However, the locals accused the RNA of arresting an innocent villager who they claimed was standing along the site of the incident while the actual men behind the attack on the patrolling army vehicle remained absconded.

According to Yogendra Bahadur Katuwal, Police Superintendent, the detainee was released after a group of villagers came protesting against his arrest.

"Let nobody think that it was our weakness, we have ever remained firm and stronger," said an army personnel.

"We are determined to crush their morale and stop illegal smuggling of goods in this village," added Iswar Kanta Mainali, an army reacting to the incident.

The reports from the district state that at least 50 per cent of the locals in the village of Chapakaiya earn their livelihood through smuggling. The locals here had similarly gheraoed the army patrols 3-4 times earlier.

Shraddha on the Internet

KATHMANDU, Aug 31 (PR)- Are you a devout Hindu and deprived of performing Shraddha, an annual ritual performed in respect and memory of one’s dead ancestors, just because of living abroad? Don’t worry. Now you can perform a Shraddha in the holy temple of Lord Pashupatinath in Nepal wherever you are.

Thanks to the revolution Information Technology (IT) has brought, you can perform an e-Shraddha.

Web Park Nepal, an IT company, has developed a new software programme: an e-Shraddha, performed through internet. The latest software programming of the company allows a devout Hindu living abroad to perform Shraddha of his dead ancestors that too in Pashupatinath temple.

The process is easy. Fill in an e-form with your complete name and family lineage name, Gotra, the name of the dead in whose memory the Shraddha is performed. You should also mention his date, Tithi, of demise according to lunar calendar and send the required to perform a Shraddha here through draft.

Web Park then would assign particular priest at the Pashupatinath temple to perform a complete ritual in the name of your ancestor. Following the completion of the ritual, the company would put the matter on their website which you can browse at your PC anywhere in the world.

Besides, the programme entitled Shraddhavidhi, also gives you information on various types of Shraddhas, performed at different times according to the lunar calendar.

According to Udaya Mohan Shrestha, Managing Director of the company, Web Park Nepal is the only IT company that caters to the social and religious need of Nepalese irrespective of their castes and creeds in and outside the kingdom.