Koirala urges to make B.P.’s dream come true

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, July 20: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said that he is moving ahead with a new vision for all round development of the country.

"I am going to take stringent measures to make success my campaign of good governance, corruption control and maintenance of peace and security situation in the country," Koirala said at a talk programme ‘B. P. Thought and Democratic Culture’ organised to mark the 18th B. P. Koirala memorial day by Nepal Students Union central committee here this afternoon.

PM Koirala said that ministries should be self-functioning for good governance. "I will fire any of his cabinet members if proved corrupt," he said. "They will not stay in the post even for a minute if anyone proves their corruption with evidence."

He said that he had chosen five areas as the highest revenue collection centres, namely Morang, Birgunj, Butwal, Tatopani and Kakarvitta. "This is aimed at collecting a large sum of revenue needed for development activities so that we will not have to depend on the international donors alone for national development," he said.

"If the revenue is not collected as targeted, all the staff, including the police personnel will be removed from there," he said.

As a means to contain the Maoist insurgency, Koirala said that he would visit the violence-affected areas and create public awareness against the rebels. "I will go there with development packages," he said. "This will lift people’s support from the Maoists."

"Arrangements regarding my visit have already been made and I will start the campaign before Dashain," he said.

Hinting at the stalled peace dialogue with the insurgents, he said, "I wonder why the talks have not proceeded even after I have given full authority to the committee."

A few weeks back, former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who heads a high level committee formed to recommend strategies for the solution of the four-year insurgency had said that he could not proceed the proposed peace talks with the rebels because the government curtailed his power.

Lauding late Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala for his role in Nepal’s democratic movement, PM Koirala said that everything he learnt about politics, he learnt it from the "great leader who was not only a politician but also a literary figure and a statesman".

He asked all the party workers and NSU members to support him to make B. P.’s dream come true. "He had a vision of democratic socialism under which everyone would be entitled to equal opportunities."

Referring to the recently freed bonded labourers, he said that the government would arrange for their settlement, employment and their children’s education.

Parliamentarian and Nepali Congress General Secretary Sushil Koirala said that it was everybody’s responsibility to materialise late leader B. P. Koirala’s vision of democratic socialism.

"The nation is suffering from problems of corruption, peace and security and governance," he said. "We have to unitedly fight them."

He asked the students to participate in the government’s campaign to restore peace in the country by ending the Maoist insurgency. "The government has opened the door for dialogue but you can create public awareness against the rebels and their activities," he said.

Earlier Bishwa Prakash Sharma had welcomed the guests and participants at the programme chaired by NSU Central Committee President Govinda Bhattarai.

RSS adds, in Nepalgunj, Minister of State for Agriculture and Cooperatives Baldev Majgainya has said that the revivalists who are attempting to finish off democracy will never see a success.

Speaking at a colloquium on the relevance of B.P.’s thoughts in the present context organised by NC Banke district committee here today, he said the NC government is making effort to control corruption and reform administration.

Banke DDC chairman Omprakash Jung Rana called on all NC workers to dedicate themselves to helping B.P.’s dream to materialize.

NC district president Krishna Man Shrestha presided.

Privatisation only way to boost efficiency: Mahat

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, July 20: Economists, economists-turned-politicians, and others today said that poverty and unemploment, corruption and lack of efficient management, and the gap between economic objectives and policies were the factors barring the development of the nation.

"The government has been spending a lot in the public sector but the return is negligible," former Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat said. "Poor resource management is the cause behind this," Mahat told a talk programme on ‘Challenges of Nepalese Economy’ here this afternoon.

Maintaining that the public enterprises had been a platform of politics and corruption, Mahat said, "Privatisation is the only way to improve their efficiency and contain corruption."

Mahat said that tourism, civil aviation, banking and export trade witnessed substantial growth during the last ten years with the involvement of the private sector. "Private sector education has expanded a lot but it has added little to the state coffers due to poor management ability of the government."

Corruption and misrule are the main causes of low economic growth rate and slow development, Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s lawmaker Pashupati Sumsher JB Rana said.

He said the Nepalese economy had failed to take off, as the investment in agriculture was gradually going down. "The share of investment in agriculture, irrigation and forest has fallen from 27 per cent to 17 per cent during the last five years."

Rana said that politicisation and lack of a proper monitoring system affected the development works and stressed on peace and security, good governance and corruption control.

Nepal Rastra Bank’s chief economic advisor Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that gap between the economic goals and the policies and lack of resources hindered Nepal’s development.

There is a gap between what the government says and what it does, Khatiwada said. "The executive aims at reducing poverty by developing the agriculture sector but the investment in this sector is gradually declining."

People’s lack of access to productive assets and absence of interlinkage among various spheres of the economy are other problems, he said.

Nepal is lagging behind other South Asian countries because she has not been able to attract the investors. industrialist Banbari Lal Mittal said. "The bureaucratic hassles discourage the investors."

Stressing on thinking and vision on part of the leadership to devise appropriate policies, Mittal said that the government should see that such policies are truly implemented.

Water resources exert Surya Nath Bastola said that hydropower sector held good prospects and stressed on honest and decisive leadership for the development of the nation.

The programme was organised by Kantipur News Club.

Experts hopeful of overcoming obstacle in Nepal-India trade

BY RAJKUMAR K.C

Kathmandu, July 20 - The forthcoming official visit of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to India, according to notable economists, prominent industrialists and well-known planners and trade analysts, bears much economic significance in that it is the most opportune time to iron out the existing complications in trade sector. Besides, the Prime Minister’s visit could lead to the reinvigoration of the provision of the 1996 Trade & Transit Treaty, thereby propping up the country’s dwindling exports and giving the necessary fillip to the tourism sector.

However, they say that they are still in the dark as to the economic agenda that the Prime Minister is going to parley with his Indian counterpart, Atal Bihari Bajpayee and other prominent Indian officials.

In view of former acting vice chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr. Raghav Dhwoj Pant, the government itself should be clear about the agenda and let the people know what issues would figure in the Prime Minister’s talks with his Indian counterpart. ‘Apart from other issues, the PM should go with a concrete economic agenda so that a new avenue in trade and investment could be paved", he said.

In course of exporting and importing goods, a number of complications, of late, have cropped up in the trade and transit sector. On the one hand the volume of Nepal’s trade with India is increasing while, on the other, India seems reluctant to give access to Nepalese goods into the Indian market.

According to trade figures as provided by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the export of Nepalese goods in India has dipped by more than 25-35 per cent in the past two-three months due to the four per cent ( around 4.5%) additional charges levied on Nepalese goods.

The PM’s forthcoming visit should tackle such problems being faced by the Nepalese traders and industrialists, Dr. Dilli Raj Khanal CPN (UML) lawmaker said.

On top of these issues like eliminating such tariffs, non-tariff barriers and various transit complications, he said that Nepal should ask India to reinvigorate the provision of the 1996 Trade and Transit Treaty.

The 1996 Trade and Transit Treaty signed in November 1996 in Kathmandu has the provision of providing access to Nepalese goods in the Indian market.

The treaty also provides for the facilitation of trade and transit between Nepal and India. But against the provision, additional charges have been slapped against the Nepalese products. ‘At least India should respect the provision of the 1996 Trade and Transit Treaty,’ Dr. Khanal said. Though there are a number of issues between Nepal and India, experts say the key areas like hydropower, tourism and information technology in which Nepal can reap more benefits, should be focused.

Former Finance Minster Dr. Devendra Raj Pandey also accords priority on rectifying the setback that has surfaced in the 1996 treaty. Besides, the forthcoming visit should attract Indian investment that would help generate employment to Nepalese manpower. However, Dr. Pandey affirms that Nepal should be in a position to enjoy more benefits from its water resources.

But FNCCI President Pradip Kumar Shrestha who is also one of the members of the PM’s entourage in the forthcoming visit, expects the visit to help promote export of Nepalese goods in Indian market to expedite bilateral trade.

In the view of Shrestha the PM’s visit should not be entangled by trifle matters. Rather, the PM’s visit should be goal-oriented. The visit could be optimally utilised for promoting Information and Technology (IT) and tourism in Nepal. Shrestha is also hopeful that the Indian chambers of commerce and industry like the ICCI would help identify the problems in trade and transit and resolve them.

However, Dr. Raghav Dhwoj Pant is not optimistic about the inclusion of the IT in the agenda. He asks whether Nepal has accorded priority to develop IT manpower in the country. "How can Nepal promote IT in the existing situation", he queried. Dr. Pant said the government should come up with concrete economic agenda for discussion with its Indian counterpart. "The economic agenda should be made public before the PM’s India visit", he said.

Regarding tourism industry, Bhola Bikram Thapa, President of Nepal Association of Travel Agents (NATA) is of the view that the forthcoming visit of the PM to India should win the confidence of Indian tourists by assuring that Nepal is a safer and cheaper destination.

‘Take up environment conservation’

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, July 20: The past few years have witnessed no dearth of Acts and Regulations related with environment conservation but the issue has not still been dealt with seriously, Professor Santa Bahadur Gurung said, today.

"The glaring shortage of skilled hands in the conservation front coupled with poor monitoring are shortcomings that have given way to sheer negligence in the environment impact assessment (EIA) for development projects," Gurung said.

Gurung, Executive Chairman of the School of Environment Management and Sustainable Development (SchEMS) said that environment and development were two faces of the same coin, which need to be dealt with concurrently.

He said landslides, floods and drought were some of the after effects of the negligence shown at the time of preparing the EIA, which stand out as the stumbling blocks for sustained development.

"The mandatory provision stipulated in the Environment Conservation Act which requires formulation of EIA for any development project has been confined to formality," Gurung told the inaugural function of the third EIA training programme being organised by SchEMS.

SchEMS, established only a year ago under the Pokhara University Act, 1995 aims at meeting the demand of skilled human resources in area of environment management and EIA.

It has so far disseminated EIA training to 53 individuals representing government and non-government agencies. There are 21 individuals being trained in the third programme in the series.

This apart, SchEMS has also been conducting the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Hon) programme in Integrated Environmental Management course. It looks forward to conduct the Post Graduate Diploma in Environment Management leading to a Masters in Environment Management starting this month.

Minister of State for Population and Environment (MOPE) Shiva Raj Joshi lauded the role played by SchEMS in generating the required human resources for EIA and Environment Management.

He said following the inception of MOPE in 2052 B.S. the Environment Conservation Act 2053 B.S. and Environment Conservation Regulation 2054 B.S. had been enacted. EIA has been made an integral part in both the laws, Joshi said.

He said that the third EIA training should give the knowledge to the trainees regarding the different Acts and Regulations related with environment.

MOPE Joint Secretary Ananta Raj Pandey said as EIA is a multidisciplinary subject, the social and economic aspects of any development projects need to be given due consideration in order to ensure sustainable development.

Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation Sushil Bhattarai said, unlike a decade ago environmental issues have been receiving due priority.

He said despite the attention received by the environmental sector, the national forest cover, which stood at 37 per cent five years ago has come down to 29 per cent.

The people’s participation sought to preserve the national parks has yielded positive results and the community forestry introduced a few years ago has been a success story in the region, Bhattarai said.

Dr. Stefen Gorzula, Environmental Advisor to the Department of Electricity Development said EIA is a multidisciplinary subject that demands knowledge of both the social and physical sciences.

Dr. Ram Bahadur Khadka, Dean of the School of Environment Management and Sustainable Development said as agencies and individuals with little understanding of EIA had been involved in preparing EIA for development projects, there are many shortcomings in the multidisciplinary subject demanding wider study.

Bhattarai calls for unity in NC

Kathmandu, July 20 (RSS): Leader of the Nepali Congress and former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai organised a discussion programme with ex NC MPs at his residence at Bhainsepati today on the role to be played by ex MPs in the present national context.

During the discussion, Mr. Bhattarai said the gathering was called to see how the experience of ex MPs some of whom have gained experience in ministerial posts can be utilised in the government and the party, realising that no discussion has been held previously in government or party on their possible role in the government and the Nepali Congress.

Leader Bhattarai said the need of the hour is to bring about new thinking and full unity in the party and the government so as to remove the confusion seen in the country as well as reverse the deteriorating law and order situation in the country.

Most of the ex MPs speaking during the discussion heartily thanked Mr. Bhattarai for organising the gathering and expressed the view that it has given them new energy at a time when they have been finding no role at the centre and in the districts.

Most of the ex MPs also said the country is in a grave situation, they have not been able to return to their districts because of the law and order problem, and there is an increasing tendency to sideline genuine party workers who are honest and have made a contribution as only one group has been at the helm of the party and government.

They said they have realised that the NC is heading towards disintegration at a time when there is a need for them to unite to resolve present day problems and that no unity will be maintained only through agreement between two leaders. They pointed out the need of unity at the grassroots.

Similarly, they pointed out the need to evaluate the property and contribution of those who have served as HMG ministers continually whoever happened to be the Prime Minister.

During the discussion, a proposal for opening a separate institution of ex MPs to be run under Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was passed unanimously.

At the discussion, 29 ex MPs including ex deputy prime minister and NC central member Shailaja Acharya and other central members were present, according sources at ex PM Bhattarai’s residence.

Suggestions called for electoral reform

Kathmandu, July 20 (RSS): An interaction meeting was held here today in the context of collecting suggestions for electoral reforms between officials of the Election Commission and the management act and rules reforms suggestion sub-committee constituted under the high level committee headed by the Prime Minister.

At the meeting, the electoral reforms committee of the Election Commission said that attention should be focused on important aspect of election reforms, alternatives searched only after undertaking studies of legal, administrative and financial provision of other democratic countries, the activities performed by the commission regarding electoral reforms reviewed, the suggestions report widely discussed in public before giving final shape, and for this purpose the term extended if necessary.

During the course of interaction, the sub-committee also collected opinions and suggestions regarding consolidation of the election commission’s organisational structure and fixing of polling booths.

The interaction with the Election Commission will continue, according to sub-committee convenor Ishwar Pokharel.

Sub-committee convenor and MP Ishwar Pokharel, MP Surendra Pandey, Chief Election Commissioner Bishnu Pratap Shaha, Election Commissioners Prof. (Dr) Birendra Prasad Mishra, Achyut Narayan Rajbhandari, Ramesh Jung Thapa and Bishwa Man Shrestha were also present at the interaction programme.