‘India inspected weapons’
RNA finally gets delivery of 500 Belgian Minimis 

By Surendra Phuyal

KATHMANDU, Jan 8 A Silkway Airways cargo plane carrying the first shipment of Minimi machine guns arrived in Kathmandu via New Delhi late today from Central Asia, more than three weeks after the Belgian government announced the dispatch.

Sources in the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said that the plane landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport at six pm. The aircraft took off from New Delhi but not before the Indian authorities had inspected the weapons, highly placed official sources told The Katmandu Post.

However, more details about the inspection by the Indian authorities in Delhi could not be obtained from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

But CAAN sources confirmed the report, saying that India granted permission to use its airspace to the arms carrier only ‘on condition that the plane touches down in India before entering Nepal’.

The Royal Nepalese Embassy in India had to re-apply on behalf of the Belgian government and Silkway Airways late last month to get the overflying permission to fly the aircraft into Nepal.

"The plane came here via New Delhi from Azerbaizan," a CAAN official told The Kathmandu Post. "The plane stopped in New Delhi for more than two hours." Added a confidential source in the RNA, "Finally, they (Indian authorities) managed to inspect our arms."

As per the Euro 25 million deal, the Belgium manufacturer, Fabrique Nationale Herstal, is to deliver 5,500 Minimi machine guns to the RNA. Belgian news media reports say that Belgium is planning to supply the arms in three more phases. While the second shipment will come later this year, the remaining two consignments will be delivered in 2004 and 2005.

According to information culled from the Internet, the Minimi belt-fed machine gun can be mounted on tripods and vehicle mounts to provide 1,000 rounds per minute firepower up to 1,000-metre range.

The arms delivery was made after two groups of Belgian observers that visited Nepal recently submitted their reports about the overall human rights situation in Nepal. The delivery of the shipment was made, just when the Belgian parliament prepared to pass a stricter arms sales law, and a pro-Maoist Nepalese organisation there protested against the delivery.

The deal has remained controversial all along. In August, the Belgian government was rocked when one of its allies in the ruling Rainbow Coalition protested against the arms delivery to a country, where democracy and human rights were not very positive. The row also saw the resignation of senior cabinet minister, Magda Aelvoet.

Before the 500 Minimis, the RNA got a shipment of 3,000 US-made M-16 rifles. The arms arrived in Nepal last Sunday. The RNA, which joined the civilian and the armed police forces to fight Maoist insurgents in November 2001, plans to fully equip its nearly 60,000-strong forces with M-16s in the next few years.

RNA soldiers are currently armed with India-made Self-Loading Rifle, Light Machine Gun, General Purpose Machine Guns and other arms.

However, the over 30 years old arms have reportedly started to create such problems as "stoppage" and "overheating" in the battlefield.

Govt has framed multi-million-rupee plan to solve Maoist problem: Minister

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Jan 8 The government has prepared a multi-million rupee programme aimed to persuade the Maoists to lay down arms and facilitate the return to their previous life, said Minister for Physical Planning and Works, Narayan Singh Pun, here today.

"The government has finalised Disarm, Demobilise, Rehabilitate and Reintegrate (DDRR) Programme and this will soon get cabinet approval," Minister Pun said, adding that the programme proposes disarming, demobilising, rehabilitating fighting Maoists and eventually integrating them into society, offering employment and training at home and abroad so as to make them "responsible" citizens.

Minister Pun was speaking to newspersons after participating at a programme organised by Nepal Engineers’ Association.

"The objective of the programme is to make the misguided Maoists realise that there is an alternative of war."

Under the programme, to be supported by a number of donors, five camps, one each in the five development regions, will be set up at the outset of the programme and a few more will be added if needed, Minister Pun added.

"People who will give up insurgency will remain in the camps for six to eight months. They will receive training and other income generating skills, so as to wipe out their war mindset, making them fit to return to their previous life."

"The modality of the camps have also been finalised. Regional Administrators will look after the camps, which will have a capacity for accommodating 1000 people. We will add other camps as per the need."

The translation of the government’s fresh bid to attract fighting Maoists to give up wars, will begun from the mid-western development region, the most Maoist-affected part of the country.

He also informed that a number of donors have already shown their support for the programme, but he declined to name the donors.

The programme will be used to rehabilitate Maoists and their families, if the seven-year long insurgency comes to an end, before the launching of the DDRR, Minister Pun said.

Meanwhile, Minister Pun declared that the government is all set to launch the proposed relief package to the Maoist-affected, the poor and other people deprived of basic needs from January 15.

Dhulikhel Hospital to extend free services to children, pregnant women

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DHULIKHEL, Jan 8 Dhulikhel Hospital, the first and perhaps the only community-run hospital under no profit basis in the country, completed its five years of establishment today. And the occasion was marked with pledges to enlarge its scope of its services.

The hospital today decided to extend free medical services to children under the age of five and pregnant mothers now onwards. Visitors under this category would be entitled to prompt service round the clock. Services will include vaccination and free medical check-up, according to the hospital.

The hospital had immunised nearly 1200 pregnant mothers and over 750 children last year from different diseases. Stress is being laid on providing uterine service and fertility care to the local women. Nearly 124 pregnant mothers were operated upon at the hospital to give birth at the end of the pregnancies.

"Soon we are commencing much more services concerning uterus by machine," co-ordinator of the hospital Dr. N Sharma told The Kathmandu Post. The hospital had extended medical services to nearly 700 women visitors last year, with 24 of them being patients of cancer. The hospital has also conducted training to women in emergency pregnancy care.

Meanwhile, the hospital is currently extending medical services concerning heart diseases, lung and kidney complications and other complicated ailments. The hospital conducted nearly 1700 complicated operations last year, according to the hospital sources.

"Soon we are graduating to European standard of hygienic conditions inside the hospital," said Dr. Sharma.

In fact the hospital has come a long way in the last six years. It had commenced services from its two rooms under the leadership of Dr. Ram Kantha Makaju Shrestha, while the hospital was formally inaugurated by Late King Birendra.

The hospital which was founded by Dr Shrestha after returning from Austria is spread over 44 ropanis of land while the number of trained doctors is 23. Similarly there are 64 nurses and 39 health technicians. The number of visitors adds up to 59,000.

Meanwhile the hospital is being run on the strength of the community backing and involvement of Dhulikhel Municipality, Association of Health Services and Nepal Med-Austria.

Hospital has been also conducting three-year training in co-operation with Kathmandu University in the area of general medical training and clinical health laboratory functioning. Similarly it has also commenced ophthalmic training in co-operation with Tilganga Hospital and physiotherapy training in co-operation with United Mission to Nepal.

Inquiry commission to ‘expose’ educational malpractices

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KATHMANDU, Jan 8 Fraud, financial and administrative irregularities and mismanagement, which had long crippled the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) and the Centre for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), will soon be exposed publicly and severely dealt with under the law of the land, Education Minister Devi Prasad Ojha told The Kathmandu Post today.

For quite a long time, numerous complaints were filed at the Ministry of Education and Sports, about information related to irregularities including financial embezzlement, administrative slackness, and mismanagement by these institutions. But government inaction only emboldened the wrong-doers to carry on with their nefarious activities.

The recent move of the government follows the newly announced 29-point education reform package, which had vowed to check corruption practices in education and sports.

With the government appointing an Inquiry Commission headed by Dr Ishwar Prasad Upadhyaya with members Bal Krishna Neupane (advocate) and Borna Bahadur Karki (advocate) and Kedar Koirala (Deputy Inspector General of Police), it is expected that corruption cases will come out in the public eye within a month.

"We have already appointed separate inquiry commissions for each of the institutions to detect the irregularities," Minister Ojha said. "The probe team will submit the report to the government within a month."

According to Baikuntha Das Shrestha, joint secretary at the ministry, officials at HSEB and CTEVT have been accused of reported financial, technical and administrative irregularities as well as mismanagement.

"The probe committee will find out the truth of the circumstances surrounding these institutes and report to us," he said. "After receiving the findings, the guilty would be punished accordingly."

One of the complaints against the HSEB is its inability to check the missing of answer papers, immediately after the examination. There have been innumerable instances in the past, when the HSEB has been blamed of improper handling of answer papers of the 10+2 students.

Mystery shrouds CIAA silence over MIP irregularities

By Yuvraj Acharya

KATHMANDU, Jan 8 Mystery shrouds the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA)’s silence over demand to investigate into the alleged irregularities in execution of the Mahakali Irrigation Project (MIP).

The mystery has gone deeper as the CIAA chose to probe into the alleged irregularity and corruption in the Bakraha River Control Project (BRCP) only, ignoring pointed allegations to similar irregularities in the MIP as well.

In fact, one single petition filed by ‘concerned engineers’ is believed to have attracted attention of CIAA chief Surya Nath Upadhyaya into the alleged irregularities committed in execution of both the projects. Incidentally, CIAA chief himself was secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources when the alleged irregularities in the Mahakali project were committed.

Although Upadhyaya had issued instructions to the concerned officials to collect details of both projects and discuss with him in three days after the petition was received. All investigation after that was focussed on the BRCP, in which former irrigation minister Khum Bahadur Khadka along with some senior engineers were arrested and charge-sheeted for the alleged irregularity. The case is now pending in the Special Court.

The petitioners in the MIP case claimed that there was a loss of millions of rupees to the government when the then secretary Upadhyaya ordered the lower level authorities to pay compensation to National Power Construction Company (NPCC).

A government formed independent committee last year recommended action against Upadhyaya calling the MIP case a "case of a special nature."

Dr. Bhola Nath Chalise, the co-ordinator of the probe team, stated that Upadhyaya admitted of issuing verbal orders to the officials of the project.

Bhuwan Ojha, chief of the project, decided to award the project to Koneko International Pvt. Ltd after previous contract with the NPCC was cancelled. The dispute stalled the construction work for four months and the government had to bear an unwarranted loss.

The contractor company had claimed about Rs. 40 million as compensation which was paid to it on orders allegedly coming from Upadhyaya. CIAA Chief Upadhyaya had, however, claimed that it was not him but those who followed his verbal orders, were the defaulters in the alleged irregularities.

NWC draft bill moots autonomous status

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KATHMANDU, Jan 8 The draft Bill of National Women’s Commission (NWC) entitled ‘National Women Commission Act- 2059’, prepared 10 months after its inception, strongly stipulates its status as an autonomous body, having sole authority on par with government for formulation of policies.

The autonomous status is clearly aimed at equipping the body to help protect and promote the interest of the deprived women.

A copy of the Bill was presented to Prime Minister Lokhendra Bahadur Chand by Dr Durga Pokharel, the NWC president, today amidst a function. The Bill details areas of concern, rights and responsibilities, criteria for potential members and president, apart from highlighting different mechanisms for its functions.

It has drawn up a 22-point policy programme, regarding women’s issues, which envision formulation of gender-sensitive policies, supervision and analysis of existing laws relating to women, coordinating with concerned NGOs and INGOs, preparation of statistics on women and human rights violations, and their solution through investigation and inquiry.

The Bill also insists that the government consult with NWC, while formulating new policies and signing international conventions on women. The NWC will have its own trust and maintain different financial resources to run it.

The Bill lays down that all potential members are required to be Nepali citizens, of at least 35-years-old. In addition they should have worked for 10 years in areas concerning issues. Doing away with the current strength of eight members in the core committee, of whom only three are full-time members, the Bill proposes for 5 to 7 full-time members.

There is also a provision of a five-member recommendation committee, for recommending the name of the president and members for the commission. The committee includes the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the leader of main opposition party, a woman justice of the Supreme Court and a senior MP of parliament.

In the presence of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Home Minister and Assistant Minister, the commission officials, under the leadership of its president Dr Durga Pokharel, strongly put up the NWC position, calling on ministers to pass the Bill and implement it without any further delay.

"This is the Bill which reflects the will of women of 53 districts of the country. They are expecting a positive action from the government. NCW is committed to play a very active role at the policy level but the task of implementing them solely rests with the government," said Dr Pokharel.

Speaking as the chief guest, Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand said the government is committed to bringing women into the mainstream of development. "But it takes time", he added.

Lauding the efforts of the NWC in preparing the Bill, the PM said "the issue of Nepali women is not only the issue of the women in this country, but also the issue of men and at the same that of humanity.

The Prime Minister handed over a copy of Bill to Anuradha Koirala, the Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare, for a thorough study, while urging her ministry to come up with necessary recommendations.

Speaking on the occasion, Mayadevi Shrestha, honorary MP of the National Assembly, lauded the NWC for its efforts.

Home Minster Dharma Bahadur Thapa stressed the need for timely implementation of the Bill for the well-being of the Nepali women, who account for half the population.

Deputy Prime Minister Badri Prasad Mandal hoped that the Bill would empower women suffering from conflict and poverty.

Sponsored by a Canadian aid agency, several foreign diplomats and dignitaries were also present on the occasion.