Price escalation due to extraneous factors, explains PM to House

BY A STAFF REPORTER
Kathmandu, Dec. 20:Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai has said that the rate of average price rise in the current fiscal year (FY) is expected to remain within six to seven per cent while there is an indication of economic growth rate standing at double that of the previous FY.

Addressing the House of Representatives today, Bhattarai said, "In the backdrop of the economic trend of the past two years which was negative, this FY offers an indication of quite positive changes."

As we are not able to manufacture and produce all the essential commodities within the country, there is the compulsion to supply those goods by importing from foreign countries. Petroleum products and chemical fertilizers are the commodities whose supply is fully dependent on import. Referring to recent rise in the price of petroleum fuel, Bhattarai said price hike in the international market and increase in the dollar price adversely has affected our market price.

In the last 13 years, diesel price in Nepal has gone up by 207 per cent while that of kerosene has increased by 126 per cent. Similarly, our currency has been devaluated against the US dollar by 227 per cent. In the international market, the price of kerosene has increased by 63 per cent and that of diesel has shot up by 49 per cent.

However, there is still a subsidy of 3.37 rupees in per litre of kerosene even after the recent price rise. If we compare the diesel price with that of India, ours is still cheaper by Rs. 1.74 per litre, said Bhattarai responding to the resolution brought by the Main Opposition CPN-UML demanding the government to withdraw the decisions of price hike.

Nepal Oil Corporation buys raw petroleum products from the Arabian countries in dollars and sells them to India in Indian currency. The Indian Oil Corporation avails the refined products to Nepal from the nearest depots in Indian currency price.

While increasing the electricity tariff, the government has taken into consideration the conditions mentioned in the loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank on Kaligandaki ‘A’ Hydro Power Project, the Prime Minister told the House. As per the conditions, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) will have to bear 23 per cent of the project investment from its own international resources.

Increase in tariff was also necessitated to carry out rural electrification and to mobilise aid from donor countries for the development of hydro power. Power tariff has remained constant for the last three years and it was necessary now to increase tariff by about 27 per cent as the gradual increases were not integrated by the past governments. "If we take into account the postponed integration of the past, this year’s increase in power tariff has not exceeded the rate of the past," said Bhattarai.

Taking into account the adverse impact in the industrial sector with the increased tariff, that sector has been given some relief while domestic consumers using less that 20 units of power will have the increase of only ten rupees. With the view of minimising the tariff increase in the future, reform measures have been launched to boost the efficiency of the NEA, said Bhattarai.

In the past, the Agricultural Input Corporation was the sole dealer of the chemical fertilizers. However, in accordance with the 20 year Agriculture Perspective Plan (APP), private sector has also been encourage to deal fertilizers while subsidy given in this product is gradually being decreased.

However, the fertilizer transportation grant for the rural areas is being continued and an arrangement of monitoring and testing has been made to prevent the supply of low quality fertilizers, Bhattarai said.

On the one hand, the government has concentrate its attention on the long term strategies for the economic consolidation, there is also equal responsibility to provide relief to the general people as pledged to the voters. There is a need to end the tradition of running corporations in loss by giving staggering amount of grants and also to evolve reform in the dependency on the foreign aid for development.

If the prices of petroleum products and chemical fertilizers are not increased, there is only the choice of giving subsidy which the government cannot practically bear. Also, if the budget is diverted towards subsidies, the amount on development will have to be curtailed, said the Prime Minister thanking the Main Opposition for showing concern on the issue of price hike.

Price hike irrational: Nepal

Kathmandu, Dec. 20 (RSS):Leader of the main opposition party in Parliament and CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal presented a censure motion proposed by his party at the meeting of the House of Representatives today.

This meeting of the House of Representatives directs His Majesty’s Government to reconsider and withdraw its recent decision to hike the prices of diesel, kerosene, fertiliser and electricity tariff which is irrelevant, unjustified, discriminatory and against the public’s welfare and to immediately bring about and implement necessary programme to relieve the people of the negative effects of the decision, it is stated in the censure motion introduced by the opposition.

On the occasion, Mr Nepal alleged that the motion introduced by his party being labelled irrelevant by the government shows the government was not serious about the burden of the price hike on the general people and people’s problems.

The leader of the main opposition told the House of Representatives that the incumbent government had hiked the prices of diesel, kerosene, chemical fertiliser, railway fares and trolley bus fares and other essential items of daily use by 30-63 per cent since mid-September and said the price hike did not have any relevance in the present context.

Whether the motion registered by the CPN-UML would be passed with necessary amendments or on the basis of national consensus is not mentioned in the amendment motion presented by the Nepali Congress, Mr. Nepal said.

He said rejection of the stricture motion introduced by the CPN-UML would amount to endorsing the price hike and its burden on the people.

Arguing it was not at all rational to hike the electricity tariff in the present context, Mr Nepal said the government would do better and the price hike would not be necessitated if the government only realised electricity arrears, utilised the equipment worth 2 billion lying redundant, cuts down expenses by doing away with foreign consultants, controlled the misuse of nearly 40 per cent of vehicles owned by Nepal Electricity Authority, laid off redundant staff and checked corruption said to be taking place in the awarding of tenders.

He said an amount of Rs 2.5 billion could be saved if the government could only plug 5 per cent of the leakage of electricity and reiterated that the logic given by the government that rise in the price of the American dollar in the international market having a direct bearing on the Nepal Electricity Authority did not hold any water.

There is no valid reason in support of the hike in electricity tariff considering the level of earnings in revenues which the Nepal Electricity Authority has been making every year, Mr Nepal said.

He said utilisation of Nepal’s natural resource would ground to a halt if the hike in electricity tariff continued at the present level because the electricity generated in Nepal would be expensive compared to other saarc countries and nobody would buy our electricity.

The price of diesel had decreased by 162 dollars per metric tons between 1997 and 1998, said Mr Nepal and asked the government to account for the profit accruing from the decline in the price of diesel for this period.

He also questioned the propriety of the Nepal Oil Corporation which has not got its accounts audited since fiscal year 2051/2052 to effect a hike in the prices of petroleum products exceeding the hike in the prices of the same commodities in India.

Meanwhile, CPN-UML’s Subas Chandra Nemwang taking part in the discussions on the resolution tabled by main oppoaition party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and the amendment proposals at the House of Representatives today said the recent price hike has made the rich richer and the poor more poorer.

NC’s Binaya Dhoj Chand said the government had no choice but to increase the prices but now it should initiate measures to provide relief to the people.

CPN-UML’s Dr Dilli Raj Khanal said there is no propriety behind increasing the price of chemical fertilizers at a time when the price of chemical fertilizers has gone down in international market, it is because of the inefficiency of the Nepal Electricity Authority that the people are compelled to bear the brunt of the elecricity tariff hike, he added.

NC’s Gopal Rai, Bharat Kumar Shaha and Homnath Dahal said there was no alternative for the government other than to increase the prices of petroleum products and electricity.

CPN-UML’s Pradip Gyawali stressed the need to enhance the efficiency of the Nepal Electricity Authority, recover the over due bills and plug the leakage so as to reduce the electricity tariff, while Asta Laxmi Shakya of the same party criticized the government for putting extra burden on the poor.

CPN-UML’s Prem Bahadur Singh, Jagannath Khatiwada and Raghu Ji Pant criticized the government for making the people poorer instead of alleviating poverty, failing to check irregularities and corruption in Nepal Electricity Authority and Nepal Oil Corporation and ignoring the plight of the people.

NC’s Krishna Kishore Ghimire, Ram Bahadur Bista, Mahendra Yadav and Dilli Raj Sharma said the government was compelled to increase the prices but it is making every effort to minimize the burden on the people through various reform measures.

CPN-UML’s Suresh Kumar Karki, Mangal Siddhi Manandhar, Gokarna Bista, Birodh Khatiwada, Mahendra Prasad Yadav and Rajendra Pandey accused the government of working in the interest of the rich and the donor agencies, failing to check irregularities and corruption in the Nepal Electricity Authority and Nepal Oil Corporation, acting against its election manifesto and totally ignoring the interest of the people.

Thule Rai free, joins office

BY A STAFF REPORTER
Kathmandu, Dec. 20:A senior police officer, who went missing from his duty station in Rukum three months ago, has been found, government officials said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Thule Rai, believed abducted by Maoist insurgents in late September, has been discovered in good health, Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka broke the news to the House this afternoon.

"DSP Rai has reported to the police headquarters and resumed his duty," Khadka said in a brief statement to the special session of the House of Representatives that initiated discussions on a resolution motion moved against increases in fuel prices.

"I thank the police department for its contribution to the search of the missing officer and to all those who expressed their concern over the hostage," said Khadka.

The Home Minister said police had launched an exhaustive hunt of DSP Rai, whom the insurgents had lifted from Mahat police post in Rukum.

Although sources were unsure of where DSP Rai may have been kept all these months since the abduction, some believed he could be in Gorkha before he was released on Saturday. "He reported to the police headquarters himself today."

DSP Rai is believed to have been released by a faction which is in favour of dialogue, sources said.

DSP Rai’s release proves that the government has access to the inner circle of the Maoist leadership, sources close to the government said on condition of anonymity.

Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai on December 13 said he had established contacts at a "certain level" with the Maoist leadership in an attempt to tackle the insurgency.

Of late, the government has launched a double pronged strategy to deal with the insurgents, which broke out in early 1996 with an attack on a police post in Rolpa.

The government is ready to reconcile or crush insurgency, Bhattarai said on December 13 to journalists assembled at his residence as soon as the ruling party candidates won from all three constituencies, which went to by-election on December 9.

Over 1000 people have been killed in encounters so far. Police maintain more than 900 of the dead were insurgents, many of them senior rebel commanders. Only last week police killed over 10 insurgents in shootout and took control of a training camp situated in the middle of jungle in Rolpa.

Sources indicated the police operation in the recent past had weakened the insurgent’s organisational strengths and the leadership level remained divided over whether they should continue with armed struggle from hideouts or offer to reconcile.

Two weeks ago, the government formed a high level six-member committee headed by former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to submit a report recommending measures to tackle the Maoist activities by initiating dialogues with a cross section of society and political parties. The committee included Home Minister Khadka, former Speaker Ramchandra Poudel, Nepali Congress’s General Secretary Sushil Koirala, Local Development Minister Chiranjivi Wagle and Works and Transport Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka.

The government has also introduced a package named after Supreme Leader Ganeshman Singh, who headed the joint movement in 1990 aimed at restoring democracy, to encourage insurgents to lead a normal life.

‘Press still faces crisis of credibility’

BY A STAFF REPORTER,
Kathmandu, Dec. 20:A day-long seminar on the Role of Media in the Democratic Society and the State of Nepalese Press was organised by Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Tribhuvan University Nepal Association of Media Educator with support from Freiderich Ebert Stiftung. Participated in by journalists and media educators, the seminar focussed on the current state of Nepalese Press in view of the importance of freedom of Press and Right to information.

The paper presented by Kashi Raj Dahal meanwhile stated that the freedom of Press cannot be unbridled and stressed that appropriate statutes on the right to information, right to privacy and on the Contempt of Court be enacted at the earliest.

"While in developed countries mere mention of Freedom of press and the right to information in the Constitution is enough to ensure the desired atmosphere of a democratic press, considering our background we need more detailed specifications.

Talking about the need to define the limitations on the Freedom of Press, Dahal said the rationale behind these limitation is to protect national and public interest and it is not to be used as a tool to have the government survive.

"Professionalism on part of the fourth estate alone is not the answer. Ill health of one organ of the State reflects on the well being of the other organ, he said. Calling press the conscience of the nation, Dahal said press moulds public opinion remaining in the role of ‘adversary’.

"Even if there are spokesmen in existence they may not have answers and there is a tendency to get information through personal contacts, he said. "It is not practical to go to Court every time information is denied, therefore we need a clear policy on part of the government."

"The press is not yet free from the crisis of credibility. While private media has to face scarcity of resources, government media works under duress.

"Right to Information guaranteed by the Constitution must be translated into statute but enacting a law alone will not suffice. There are practical constraints in the way the flow of information from the government to the journalists works, said Gyan Bahadur Rai, commenting on the paper.

Talking about the beginning of post graduate course in journalism, another commentator, Tri Ratna Manandhar said a different kind of package for journalist with long experience is being planned.

Amendment proposal tabled

Kathmandu, Dec. 20 (RSS): Separate amendment proposals were presented at the meeting of the special session of the House of Representatives today expressing disagreement to the resolution presented by leader of the main opposition party Madhav Kumar Nepal.

Presenting an amendment proposal on behalf of the Nepali Congress, whip of the party’s parliamentary party Tek Bahadur Chokhal expressed gratitude to the CPN-UML for making an effort to solve the problems of the people and country through the parliament.

Pointing out the need to add to the resolution matters relating to the improvement of management and providing relief, Mr Chokhal said the Nepali Congress government is also concerned with the current hike in market prices which was made due to compulsion.

Stating that the price of diesel in Nepal is still Rs. 1.75 less in comparison to India and the government has been providing a subsidy of Rs. 3 per litre in kerosene oil, Mr. Chokhal pointed out the need for the government to improve the management of Nepal Electricity Authority, give priority to cheaper hydroelectricity projects and increase the supply of fertilizers.

Likewise, Nava Raj Subedi of Samyukta Jana Morcha shed light on the effect of price hike in the entire economy and its effect on the poor people.

Pointing out the need to adopt an economic policy suitable to the financial condition of the country, Mr. Subedi said rampant irregularities, leakage and debt in the country indicates that the government has no intention of providing relief to the poor people.

Presenting an amendment proposal, Pashupati Shumsher J. B. Rana of rpp said the people cannot sustain the prevailing market price and this has made public life difficult.

Similarly, Hridayesh Tripathi of Nepal Sadvawana Party said the people crippled by skyrocketting market price are hoping for something concrete from the current special session of the parliament.

Stating that none of the eight to ten resolutions presented so far in the parliament have been implemented, Mr. Tripathi said the party has given a time of seven days to the government to withdraw its decision to increase prices.

MP Lilamani Pokherel said the decision of the government to hike market price is against the promise it made to the people and that the decision would make the people poorer.

Presenting the per capita income and electricity tarrif of different countries, mp pokherel said it is irrelevant for a country with the lowest per capita income to have the highest rate of electricity tarrif.

UNDP increases its allocation to PDDP, LGP

BY A STAFF REPORTER
Kathmandu, Dec. 20:Nepalese government and the United Nations Development Programme signed an agreement today for an allocation of an additional 8.2 million US dollars in to further strengthen the capacities of the existing decentralised governance structures.

Finance Ministry’s Joint Secretary Madhav Ghimire and UNDP’s Resident Representative Hanning Karcher signed the revision documents to increase the UNDP contribution by over four million US dollars each to the ongoing Participatory District Development Programme (PDDP) and Local Governance Programme (LGP) and extend them up to December 2001, stated a UNDP press release.

With these revisions, the support from UNDP to these programmes will stand at 16.83 million dollars. In addition to this, NORAD has contributed 3.01 million dollars for the implementation of the Village Development Programme under PDDP.

These revisions have been prepared in order to build upon lessons learnt over three years during which the two programmes have been under implementation and to institutionalise participatory planning and sustainable processes for management of local development initiatives, the release said.

Both programmes have been working towards realising a ‘national system’ of participatory, decentralised planning and management of local development through micro-macro linkages. With the additional inputs, the programmes will be extended from 40 to 60 districts.

NPC and MLD are the executing institutions of PDDP and LGP respectively. At the district level, programmes are implemented through DDCs and the Local Trust Fund that has been established by DDCs to implement the Village Development Programme through social mobilisation. The VDP covers 5-20 VDCs in each district. The VDP supports Community Organisations to evolve into self-governing institutions that can lead and manage local development themselves.

In accordance with the spirit of the Local Self Governance Act, the future focus will be on building the capacity of local authorities to enable them to assume sectoral responsibilities and enhance the participation of communities, VDCs, and DDCs in decision making and implementation processes. Initiatives on local taxation will also be undertaken to increase revenue collection, according to the press release.

SDC aids IUCN for nature conservation

BY A STAFF REPORTER
Kathmandu, Dec. 20:The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Nepal Country Office signed a three-year agreement to provide continuation and extension of nature conservation activities initiated and being implemented since July 1997. As per the accord, IUCN Nepal will be facilitating conservation activities for protection of Siwalik area in Ilam district; conservation of rhododendron forest in Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale in Tehrathum, Sankhuwasabha and Taplejung districts, conservation of non-timber forest products in selected VDCs of Doti district and assist IUCN partners in developing environmental policies and regulatory framework.

During the agreement signing ceremony, Anton Hagen, Resident Coordinator of SDC in Nepal, said that SDC would be working with IUCN Nepal for the conservation of nature and natural resources in the country. While thanking IUCN Nepal for developing an excellent programme for the coming three years, he expected that this three-year project will assist in gathering more information, experiences and implementing conservation measures in the field which will ultimately integrate conservation with poverty alleviation through participation of local people in general and women in particular.

Karl Schuler, Assistant Resident Coordinator, SDC Nepal said that the development of and finalisation process of this three-year project has developed close relationship between these two institutions.

Dr. Ambika Prasad Adhikari, Country Representative of IUCN Nepal on behalf of IUCN Nepal and the IUCN Asia Regional Office expressed gratitude to SDC for their continued and consistent support. He mentioned that for IUCN Nepal, SDC’s support has been pivotal. He expected that SDC’s support would enable IUCN Nepal to upscale its field level activities and diversify project portfolio.

Awareness vital to control AIDS

BY A STAFF REPORTER
Kathmandu, Dec 20:Minister for Health Dr. Rambaran Yadav said today that media could play an important role to control the spread of HIV/AIDS and disseminate appropriate information about the disease in the community. "Ignorance and poverty are the main hurdles to prevent the increasing cases of HIV/AIDS in the country," Yadav said.

Dr. Yadav made this remark at a seminar on "HIV/AIDS and the Role of Media" organised by Association of Professional Journalists (APROJ) and sponsored by National Centre for AIDS and STD Control under the ministry here this morning.

Dr. Yadav further said that since the media people are more informed than the people of other sectors, they should disseminate useful information and advanced technology to the target groups living in the far-flung areas of the country.

Dr. Yadav emphasised the need to forge co-ordination among the Ministry for Health, Education, NGOs and the media for controlling the global menace through the mobilisation of the resources available in the country.

Emphasising the advocative and preventive approach in the health sector, he said that the ministry is ready to work with the media people in this direction.

Health secretary Shrikant Regmi said that since there was no cure for the disease, it was only through awareness generating programmes they could contribute in controlling the disease.

Media should sufficiently highlight the negative impacts of HIV/AIDS in the social and economic front, he said.

Terming the disease as an "undeclared war," he said that media should disseminate the messages that should be culturally and socially digestible.

National Centre for AIDS and STD Control Director Dr. Taranath Jha said that the people aged from 15 to 45 mostly suffered from HIV/AIDS and the age group constituted an economically viable population.

He said that there existed negative attitude among the public towards sex education, which had further aggravated the problem.

Pointing out the crucial role of the electronic media in generating awareness against the disease, General Manager of the Nepal Television Tapanath Sukla said that there should be separate HIV/AIDS control programmes for rural and urban areas. "The method of treating the disease adopted by the health institutions in Nepal does not conform with our social structure," he said.

Mukunda Upadhyaya, Executive Director of Radio Nepal said that timely programmes directed towards generating awareness to cope with HIV/AIDS, stood as the main challenge of the 21st century.

APROJ President Bharat Bhurtel said that Nepalese media could contribute significantly to control HIV/AIDS provided that they were given the required resources.

APROJ Vice-President Dilip Bhattarai said that media people should accept the challenge of this global epidemic.