Over 100 security men missing in Rolpa
Maoists suffer causalities in Chainpur

By Khim Ghale & Surya Biswokarma in Pyuthan
J. Pandey in Nepalgunj

May 8 - More than a hundred security personnel have been missing and most of them feared dead following a fierce encounter with the Maoist guerrillas at the Gam village area of Rolpa district late Tuesday night. The exact figure of casualties could not be ascertained but those feared dead include 40 soldiers the rest Armed Police Force (APF) personnel and the police.

Additional deployment has been made to combat the Maoists who are still believed to be in the close by areas. The casualties on Maoist side also could not be ascertained.

The rebels however suffered major reverses in Chainpur in Sankhuwasabha. Atleast 11 Maoists were killed and half a dozen more wounded in retaliatory action taken by the APF. Officials confirmed at least four APF personnel also lost their lives with at least a dozen wounded, five of them seriously. Death toll on the Maoists side could be much higher, officials said adding five of the wounded Maoists have also been captured.

Out of 165 security personnel stationed in the Gam area in Rolpa only 60 have come into contact as of filing this report. The rebels might have used heavy weapons since the report could be heard in Pyuthan district, our reporter said. Helicopter could not land at the opportune moment.

Security officials in Pyuthan earlier said that 126 security personnel are still missing after the rebels attacked the base camp. Among the missing security personnel is Major Nilkantha Khadka, who was leading the joint security forces.

The government has not confirmed about the status of these personnel but sources in the districts believe that they have been killed in the attacks.

The Maoists attacked a temporary security base in Gam VDC, which was set up about a year ago. Gam is located about two days walking distance from Liwang, the district headquarters of Rolpa, and about a day’s walk from Khalanga, the district headquarters of Pyuthan.

Details of the casualties on the security forces and the Maoists sides are sketchy as the battle site is far away from Liwang and communication is totally disrupted.

The Defence Ministry in Kathmandu also conceded that the incident took place and heavy gunfights between the two sides continued in Gam VDC till Wednesday. But the Ministry did not give any details about the incident.

The Ministry said that the reinforcements of the security forces have been sent to the site from Nepalgunj, Pyuthan and Liwang.

Our reporter in Nepalgunj said that six injured security personnel - three soldiers, two policemen and one APF policeman - were airlifted from Gam area to Nepalgunj for treatment.

Security sources in Nepalgunj said that 56 security personnel who were on a regular patrol in the Gam area came in to the contact of the reinforcement sent to the site from Nepalgunj. A helicopter carrying the reinforcement reportedly landed at a place that lies about two hours walking distance from Gam VDC.

A security official said that the reinforcement that moved ahead of the battle site clashed with another rebel group while searching the missing security personnel.

Security officials in Pyuthan said that there were 186 security personnel, including the RNA soldiers, APF, and civilian policemen, stationed in the temporary base camp in Gam VDC. Out of these, 126 personnel were still missing till late Wednesday, according to the security officials.

Shortly after the rebels stormed into the Gam base camp, the security forces lost contact with the army barracks in Liwang and Khalanga, said the officials.

It is speculated that the rebels could have concentrated their guerrillas in the Gam area hoodwinking the government’s forces in the Lisne Lek area for a week. The security forces had concentrated their attention around the Lisne Lek area when the rebels attacked the Gam base camp.

Two helicopters - MI-17 and Cheetah - had flown to the battle site at about 10 p.m. Tuesday but failed to land there because of bad weather and returned to Khalanga. The choppers, however, flew to Gam area in the second attempt after about an hour.

In Sankhuwasabha, the rebels, who were hundreds in number, surrounded the Chainpur APF base camp and attacked it from all sides. There were 140 APF personnel in Chainpur, hometown of Krishna Mohan Shrestha, APF Inspector General of Police (IGP). His ancestral house is reportedly destroyed in the Maoist attack. Additional reinforcement of the RNA forces has been sent to the site from Hile of Dhankuta and Itahari of Sunsari districts.

The rebels had destroyed a 50-kv transformer with a bomb before attacking the APF base. Although the rebels had also raided the branch office of the state-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank, they could not rob the bank as all the cash and valuables were kept in the APF barrack. But the rebels looted gold and silver worth Rs. 100,000 from a local businessman Govindaman Shakya.

The bodies of the policemen were handed over to their respective family members and other injured police personnel are undergoing treatment in the B P Koirala Memorial Hospital in Dharan.

Major restructuring in the administrative set-up likely

By Damaru Lal Bhandari

KATHMANDU, May 8: The government is planning to make sweeping changes in the administrative set-up by bringing around 94,000 non-gazetted civil servants directly under the local bodies. The idea is to equip local bodies with its own bureaucratic set up with responsibility to implement its programmes and policies

The blueprint of the scheme is likely to be the part of the programmes and policies in the upcoming budget, a source at the Ministry of Local Development said.

The ultimate purpose is to decentralise governance, rule out administrative bottlenecks and resultant delay arising out of current bureaucratic structure and element of political influence in the functioning of the bureaucracy.

Based on recommendations made by Public Expenditure Review Commission (PERC), the imminent announcement of "related development cells" in all the 75 districts is being considered as the milestone towards decentralisation process.

The importance of the move lies in the fact that the "related development cells" so formed at district, municipal and Village Development Committee (VDC) level will look into the administrative affairs of concerned offices under them, which is currently done by related departments and ministries and offices under them.

The government is mulling devolution of administrative powers in agriculture, health and primary education, which means the district bodies will enjoy the authority to transfer the non-gazetted staff from one district to another.

However, the move is least likely to result in job cuts from the overall national perspective since the purpose is to decentralise governance and not aimed at cutting the redundant workforce. The policy will, nonetheless, result in quicker decisions.

The second phase of decentralisation will involve setting up of district level civil servant recruitment agencies in all the 75 districts. The scheme is being introduced in five districts on experimental basis.

"The scheme, which is being implemented in five districts to begin with, will go down to the Village Development Committees (VDCs) level later," said Ganga Dutta Awasthi, chief of Local Autonomy Co-ordination Directorate in the Ministry of Local Development.

This means the district recruitment agencies will, inter alia, advertise the vacancies and fill up the vacant posts. Those who switch over to the local service will be entitled to quicker promotions since the number of levels in the non-gazetted class has been raised to twelve from the current five.

Benefits to central government lie in the fact that it will not have to arrange the salary and other remuneration of nearly 94,000 non-gazetted civil servants, with 33 thousand of them being peons. The total strength of gazetted civil servants is 11,000.

The districts, which do not record substantial revenue, will still be entitled to grants from the government as long as they are not self-dependent when it comes to meet the liabilities entailed.

A separate policy on budget disbursement is expected to result in additional transfer of resources to the districts, which are behind in most of the indicators.

Although details have not yet been worked out, districts like Dolpa, for example, stand the chance of attracting enhanced development budget, which was not possible under the present set up.

The government is also mulling ways to transfer at least some fraction of the revenue mobilised from activities like tourism by concerned districts. If this happens, districts like Solukhumbu, for example, stand the chance of being doled out additional development budget, which can be used to build tourism infrastructure.

Commenting on the fall in revenue mobilisation after the local bodies took over the job of collecting revenue in certain districts, Awasthi said that problems "lie in devolution not backed up by institutional efforts."

"In fact, the experienced staff who used to handle the job with good results earlier have been shifted elsewhere under the current regime," Awasthi said. "This can be reversed once the local administration makes right appointments."

Bush pledges military, economic aid to Nepal; Deuba jubilant

By Akhilesh Upadhyay

NEW YORK, May 8 : The United States has pledged vital support to make Nepal’s democracy more vibrant with special emphasis on effective anti terrorist measures, peace and security of the Himalayan Kingdom.

The outcome of the 45 minutes meeting Prime Minister Deuba had with President Bush in the Oval Office Tuesday was more or less on the expected line and America’s long term interest to be a partner in Nepal’s peace progress and democratic exercise more visible than ever before.

"I found President Bush frank, open, and warm," an upbeat Prime Minister said in a telephone interview from Washington. "He reiterated America’s firm support for democracy in Nepal."

Asked to elaborate on the nature of military assistance the US President had committed, Prime Minister Deuba said: "That’s a technical question to be decided by the concerned authority. The fact that he expressed strong support for our fight against the insurgents means a lot."

At the White House press briefing earlier in the day, the White House Press Secretary, Ari Fleisher said President Bush and Prime Minister Deuba would discuss regional security matters, economic and educational cooperation, human rights, democracy, and means to further strengthen the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Nepal.

Asked if the crisis in the Middle East, and concurrent visits to Washington by leaders from the region had overshadowed Deuba’s visit, first by a Nepali leader since President John F. Kennedy’s term 40 years ago, and if the President had been well briefed on the problems Nepal was facing due to Maoist insurgency and economic hardships, Fleischer said: "I think any time a visiting head of state has an opportunity to meet with the President of the United States in the Oval Office, they will be the first to tell you how welcome they feel, and what a nice reflection it is of the United States that no matter what is going on in the world, the United States treats visiting heads of state with dignity and grace, and welcomes them into the Oval Office. And that is exactly what the President will do with the Prime Minister."

Fleischer added: "Nepal is fighting a Maoist rebellion, and Nepal is an example, again, of a democracy. And the United States committed to help. There’s a proposal by the administration for $20 million in the supplemental appropriations bill to help Nepal.

"The United States currently provides a couple million dollars of assistance toward Nepal. And so — it’s up to the press to determine what meetings are the most newsworthy, but the President welcomes all into the Oval Office."

Commenting on his talks with President on regional security, the Prime Minister told The Kathmandu Post, they discuss a number of issues related to South Asia, SAARC, "He expressed satisfaction that Nepal had received cooperation from India in fighting the insurgency."

Asked if the Prime Minister shared reservation expressed in some quarters that the Royal Nepal Army could possibly give a greater say to the Royal Palace rather than the democratically elected leaders, Deuba told The Kathmandu Post: "Nepal’s army has been cooperating with democracy. They are apolitical."

Prime Minister Deuba will on Wednessday hold talks with Secretary of Sate Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice. He will also share his views on "War on Terrorism: Nepal’s Perspective" at Wodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

The United States has refused to be drawn into a recent controversy, which attributes US military officials as having suggested that Nepal needs to increase the strength of its army to 200,000 from its current position of 40,000.

US officials maintain they are still awaiting an assessment report from the military team that recently made an inspection tour of Nepal, and any comments on Nepal’s military needs now would be premature.

In a report last month on the state of Maoist insurgency, Jane’s Defense Weekly, the world’s leading military magazine, said the Maoists in all probability miscalculated in attacking the army last November. The report, however, argues that the Royal Nepal Army has been stretched in its fight against the guerrillas.

Analysts here say that the United States accords utmost importance to Nepal’s current fight against Maoists, primarily for two reasons. First, since Sept 11 US has been at the forefront in the global war against terrorism; second, assisting young democracies has been an enduring foreign policy priority for the super power.

Washington is not using a blanket term terrorist against Nepal’s Maoists, but regards that they have been involved in terrorist attacks, according to the State Department.

Prime Minister Deuba yesterday also met Gabbi Visquez, Director of Peace Corps, Kenneth Pollock, president of National Democratic Institute, Mark Silzanger, former US Congressman, and business leaders.

The Deubas leave later today for New York, where the Prime Minister will attend UN Special Session for Children slated for May 8-10. More than 70 heads of state and government, and child delegates, are scheduled to arrive for the first UN General Assembly session devoted entirely to issues related to children.

Investments on health and education and protection for children are the focus of the special session, which will review the targets set by the first Children Summit in 1990.

UML alerts Deuba against foreign intervention

Post Report

KATHMANDU, May 8 : At a time when Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is in the United States to garner latter’s support in the government’s fight against Maoists, the Central Committee meeting of the main opposition CPN-UML today warned him not to make Nepal a battleground of foreign forces.

At the conclusion of the three-day Central Committee meeting, the Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist-Leninist decided to alert the government not to allow any foreign forces to be active in Nepali land.

"In the name of resolving problems, the government should not take any initiative that would threaten national independence and sovereignty," said a statement issued after the meeting. "We alert the government not to entertain foreign forces to be active in the Nepali land."

The meeting has also demanded that the government should have made its stand clear on the recently emerged controversies about the foreign support to the country. "But the government, in spite of clarifying it, has been keeping the country in confusion," the statement said.

The meeting urged one and all to resolve existing national problems by their concerted efforts. The meeting was referring to the suggestions and recommendations given by a US security team who visited Maoist-hit districts of Rolpa and Gorkha.

The main opposition has strongly condemned the Maoists for their increasing atrocities and their indiscriminate attacks on the development infrastructures. "If the Maoists are really committed to the country and the people, they should resume the dialogue for peaceful solution to the problems by renouncing violence," the statement said.

According to an UML source, the meeting has even agreed to mediate for the possible peace talks between the government and the Maoists. "But prior to the talks, the rebels should give up arms," the central level source said.

The 27th meeting of the CPN-UML has also directed its cadres to ideologically fight the Maoists right from the grassroot level, the source said.

The CPN-UML heavily condemned the government for failing to table the Bill on Constitution amendment in the 21st session of Parliament, even after expressing its commitment. "We strongly urge the government to table the Bill in the next session," the source said. "The meeting asked the government to table the Bill so as to prevent the country from further bloodshed and destruction."

According to the statement, the main opposition has asked the government to immediately stop arresting, torturing and killing the innocent in the name of emergency. "The government should immediately release those arrested and provide proper compensation to the victims and their families."

Parties gearing up for Friday’s joint rally

Post Report

KATHMANDU, May 8:The all-party mass meeting scheduled for May 10 in the capital is likely to see a sea of humanity assembling at the city centre demostrating support to the system in place and celebrating the achievements of the 1989 movement for the restoration of democracy.

"Ëxpect more than a hundred thousand people," ruling Nepali Congress (NC) Member of Parliament Tirtha Ram Dangol said at the Reporters’ Club on Wednesday. Dangol, along with main opposition CPN-UML leader Krishna Gopal Shrestha, is the coordinator of the seven-party rally and mass meeting being staged as a political move.

Shrestha argued that had the ruling party heeded the call from late Madan Bhandari, the nation would not have landed in the mess like at present. "The crisis aggravated because no one followed the footsteps of late Bhandari’s and late Ganesh Man Singh."

National People’s Front (NPF) leader and Member of Parliament Chitra Bahadur KC flayed the ultra rightist and ultra leftist forces for waging a campaign against the system in place. "There is a strong need to become united against the nefarious design," he said.

Spokesman of Nepali Congress Arjun Narsingh KC said the rally was being held to remind one and all to celebrate the achievement of the 1989 movement.

The rally is being organised basically to call one and all to refrain from violence and force the government to introduce special programmes targeted to the people at the masses, the speakers said.

Meanwhile, the all-party campaign committee held its meeting to discuss the draft of a common programme, which will be announced at the all-party mass meeting scheduled for Friday.

The meeting decided to give the common programme a final touch on Thursday. The sister organisations of major political parties also organised corner meetings in various parts of the city to ensure widespread presence at the rally on Friday. The corner meetings were held today at Mangal Bazaar, New Baneshwor and Bhotahity. Even Nepal Medical Association organised a peace march in the capital calling for restoration of peace on Wednesday.

The student wings of the parties are holding a peace march around Tundikhel Thursday morning.

Insurgency, emergency taking heavy toll on natural resources

By Surendra Phuyal

KATHMANDU, May 8 : Maoists’ armed rebellion and the state of emergency imposed in the country nearly six months ago have started to take a heavy toll on the country’s already-threatened natural resources as well.

Highly placed officials at the Ministry of Forest and reports from far-flung districts suggest that there has been a dramatic upsurge in the incidents of logging and poaching of endangered species of wildlife in recent months.

And the post-November 26 shift in security forces’ priority – from national parks and forests’ security to fighting Maoist insurgency – has exacerbated the problem. Illegal loggers and poachers are upping their ante - literally.

While the situation in the mountains is not clear – except that the security forces are continually pursuing rebels, who have their camps and hide-outs inside jungles - hundreds of standing trees are being felled by professional loggers, few from as far away as neighboring India, across the country’s southern Terai districts, say officials.

Despite the massive influx of hill migrants in recent decades, the Terai belt boasts of thousands of hectares of lush green forests and such endangered species of wildlife as Royal Bengal tigers, Asiatic one-horned rhinos and Asiatic elephants, besides scores of others. Nearly 38 percent area of Nepal is covered with green – crown and forest – cover, according to a survey result that was made public in 1998.

"There had never been such an upsurge in the incidents of logging," says Dibya Dev Bhatta, Director General at the Department of Forest, under the Ministry. "Many districts in the Terai - such as Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Chitwan, Dang – have seen a sharp rise in the incidents of logging in recent months."

Consider these facts: local loggers felled nearly 600 standing Sal trees in two Community Forests of Dang – Kalika and Sarekhola – last week. All this was done within a span of just four days, says K.P. Ghimire, our correspondent in Dang.

A rhino was found killed, its horn missing, in the Babai valley of Bardia on Friday. And about a dozen loggers preparing to transport several dozen Cubic Feet of Sal timbers to neighboring India were arrested near Parsa Wildlife Reserve last week, according to officials.

In Chitwan alone, forest authorities have confiscated between 4,000 to 5,000 bicycles owned by local loggers, according to Director General Bhatta. A cubic feet of Sal timber fetches up to Rs 500 in the local market.

The list of damage done to wildlife living in these forests is long. According to figures made available by the Department of National Forest and Soil Conservation (DNPWC), of the 38 rhinos found dead in Royal Chitwan National Park in the Nepali year 2058 (2001 April to 2002 April), at least 24 were killed by poachers. The horns of 18 rhinos had gone missing.

In the previous year, of the 33 rhinos that were found dead in and around the Chitwan park, 18 were killed by poachers.

"The warden of the Chitwan park has publicly announced that there has been a sharp rise in the incidents of poaching of endangered wildlife in Chitwan after emergency," says Laxmi Manandhar, Conservation Education Officer at the DNPWC.

Against such backdrop, officials at the DNPWC say what is happening to wildlife in other parks and the general wildlife like deer and boars – which are not listed as endangered or threatened – is anybody’s guess.

The officials have not been able to do much. With the Maoists continuing to damage whatever public property or infrastructure the country has, all that the officials at the ministry are doing these days is assessing the damage and looking into ways to ensure security to property and officials.

All the districts except Achham has District Forest Officers (DFOs), according to Director General Bhatta. And "the Chief District Officers (CDOs) in Maoist hotbed districts like Rolpa, Rukum, Pyuthan, Salyan, Jajarkot, where forest offices have been reduced to cinders or badly vandalised have been requested to make necessary arrangements to set up makeshift or temporary offices," he says.

According to figures made available by the Ministry, Maoist rebels destroyed the Ministry’s property and infrastructures – excluding furniture and officials’ personal belongings – worth Rs 177.4 million. This includes, a total of 209 buildings – 12 district offices, 39 area offices, 155 range posts, two training centres and one security guard quarter – and three jeeps and a motorbike.

With the security forces taking away their arms in most of the places, the 2,700 forest guards guarding the 600-odd range posts have been left handicapped – and are doing little to nab or pursue fly-by-night loggers and poachers, say officials. Besides, 600-plus posts for forest guards are lying vacant, according to Bhatta.

The Royal Nepal Army (RNA) that guards the country’s national parks and wildlife reserves has also withdrawn its personnel from outlying security posts post-emergency, making the protected areas vulnerable to illegal poaching and logging activities. "Except for few crucial posts, most of the security outposts are unguarded these days," says Manandhar at the DNPWC.

Eighteen percent landmass of Nepal falls under the protected area system.