40 business firms to take part in IITF

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Nov. 17: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) today said that some 40 Nepalese business firms are to take part in a turn-of-the-year business fair to be held in eastern Indian city of Calcutta.

NCC's President Rajesh Kaji Shrestha said that Nepal would participate as a 'Partner Country' in the 14th Industrial India Trade Fair (IITF) to be held in West Bengal capital from December 22 this year to January 1 the next.

"Nepalese firms will showcase carpets, pashmina shawls, readymade garments, handicrafts, agro and food products plus the items that help promote tourism," Shrestha told a press meet here this evening.

As a 'Partner Country', Nepal will also organise Nepal day, Nepalese food festival and cultural programme in the fair to be organised by West Bengal government and Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI). Nepal has been participating in IITF for the last five years.

"Nepal's participation in Culcutta fair will indeed be mutually beneficial and advantageous," BNCCI President Sushil K. Bagla said.

Bagla who is presently in the capital to extend invitation to Nepal's Commerce Minister Ram Krishnna Tamrakar said that India offered a good market to Nepalese products, adding participation in the Culcutta fair would substantially promote Nepal-India trade.

India has been a major trading partner of Nepal. During the fiscal year 1998/99, Nepal's export to India amounted to 144.82 million US Dollars, up by 50 per cent from the earlier year.

The major items exported were jute products, rice bran oil, oil cake, pulses, tooth paste, noodles, ayurvedic medicines, soaps, vegetable ghee, leather and hides.

The fair is expected to bring together over 600 companies form India, Nepal and other countries in the region.

Lukewarm response to voluntary retirement scheme

By Sunil K.C.

Kathmandu, November 17: The government's voluntary retirement scheme has received a lukewarm response from the civil servants. Until today, the Ministry of General Administration has received a little more than 2,500 applications for taking voluntary retirement. The last date for the submission of application was October 5, but the Ministry is still receiving a few applications sent by post.

In the 2,500 plus list, there are only 93 applications from gazetted officers, which are section officer, under secretary, joint secretary, and none from the special class - that is the secretary level.

Among the non-gazetted staff, most applications have come from peons and drivers. There are 700 applications from the peon- the lowest wrung in the bureaucracy, 620 from non-gazetted first class and 517 from the non-gazetted second class. Presently, there are about 35,000 peons, about one-third of the total strength of the civil service.

Meanwhile, the number of applications received so far for the voluntary retirement scheme is almost disappointing. "When we receive all the applications, it may not be more than 3,500 - far less than what we had estimated," said Bharatmani Risal, spokesman of the Ministry. When the scheme was launched after the presentation of the budget this year, it was estimated that about 10,000 civil servants would go for the scheme.

The budget had taken voluntary retirement as a principle tool towards down-sizing the bureaucracy. According to this year's budget, 'Civil servants willing to retire, who have completed 20 years of service and has crossed 50 years of age, will receive a lump sum pension of seven years.Vacancies created from such retirements will be automatically eliminated.'

The bloated bureaucracy has been seen as a major stumbling-block towards making it more effective and efficient. Presently, the total strength of the bureaucracy is 103,000 with 7,000-8,000 posts remaining vacant. The government's projection is to reduce it by 20 to 25 per cent in a few years' time but in a gradual way.

The Administrative Reform Committee formed in 1992 had recommended for downsizing the strength of the civil service by 33 per cent. This, according to the recommendation, was to be done by reducing the number of posts, through non-renewal of the temporary and contractual staff, stopping the creation of new posts and, if necessary, by the abolition the offices which are deemed as unnecessary. It had only made a passing reference to the voluntary retirement scheme.

Risal said the posts of those who have opted for the retirement would be scrapped and the posts, which should be kept, will be adjusted. He also said the Ministry has calculated the cost of the scheme as Rs. 2 to 2.5 billion. The money will not be a problem because apart from the government providing some funds the Asian Development Bank is also assisting in the scheme.

The Ministry will start processing the applications after a few days time after it has received all the applications and it will take a few months' time. Although the spokesman says they will consider the interest of the institution rather than of the individuals, but with only a small portion of the estimated number of civil servants going for voluntary retirement the chances of denying them retirement is very less. However, Risal said this scheme should be run regularly under some kind of quota system to make it effective and purposeful.

Meanwhile, what could be the reason of so few civil servants taking a chance of the voluntarily retiring?

According to Dr. Madhunidhi Tiwari, an expert in public administration and also a member of the Public Service Commission, this meagre response may be explained, firstly, as the government may have thought that it has provided enough incentives for the civil servants to voluntarily exit from their jobs but the response shows otherwise. And, secondly, our society still thinks 'leaving one's job could invite misfortune'.

More than that, he said, the lack of confidence and spirit of entrepreneurship in the civil servants could be a reason for the low response to the voluntary retirement. The training, knowledge and skill our civil servants gained in their long stints as public servants are hardly enough to give them confidence to succeed outside the bureaucracy, he said.

According to Dr. Tiwari, mainly those who think they can also succeed outside the civil service grab such an opportunity. For others, the cost-benefit ratio weighs heavily in favour of sticking to the prestige and security of the government service till the day of their mandatory retirement. Again, for people, who are over 50 - targeted by the voluntary retirement scheme - may think they are too old to start all over again.

Thus, he said, this scheme alone is not the way to reduce or to right-size, according to a new public administration parlance, the bureaucracy. It could only be one of the means at the most.

Rotary Club of Damauli holds meeting

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu,Nov17: Rotary Club of Damauli, Vyas Municipality, in a meeting held the other day under the chairmanship of its president, Ram Chandra Pokhrel, passed a resolution wishing for the success of the 39th anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund being marked throughout the Kingdom of Nepal with various programmes.

Similarly, the meet also appreciated the active participation of World Wildlife Fund's president Ruud Lubber and its director-general Claude Martin in the international organisation's ongoing programmes for the protection and preservation of nature in Nepal and the world.

Likewise, the meet, while congratulating His Holiness Rimpoche Nawang Chhiring and Min Bahadur Gurung, the two Nepalese who have been working at the grassroots level for the preservation and conservation of environment and cultural heritage, on being honoured by the WWF for their works, also extended thanks to the world conservation organisation for honouring the two Nepalese.

The Rotary Club of Damauli, in collaboration with Educational Society, Tanahu district, has been working for the preservation of Tanahu district's bio-diversity and the protection of its natural and cultural heritage. As such, the ongoing WWF's conference is expected to give impetus to the club in the future as well.

Govt aims to increase tea production to 46.1M kg

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Nov 17: With the Tea Development Policy 2057 coming into immediate effect, the government aims to increase the annual production of tea from the existing 8.3 million Kg to 46.1 million Kg in the next ten years, which is expected to bring a profit amounting to Rs 14 billion annually.

Of the targeted production, preliminary estimates show that within the next ten years, nearly 12.4 million Kg of tea will be consumed in Nepal while the rest will be exported to markets abroad, government officials said.

The land area for tea cultivation, which is presently confined to five districts Jhapa, Ilam, Terathum, Dhankuta and Sankhuwasabha will be expanded to other districts like Bhojpur, Ramechhap and Sindhupalchok.

The government will have to pool resources worth two billion rupees in order to meet the envisaged target of production, officials said.

Nepal exported 838 thousand Kg of tea worth RS 30 million in the fiscal year 2055/056, according to Mukti Raj Sharma, Executive Director of National Tea and Coffee Development Board.

He said that some four to five million rupees was presently being invested in tea cultivation and the present cultivation had been able to meet eighty per cent of the domestic demand for tea.

Nepal has been exporting tea to countries like Japan, Germany and India.

The government in the course of next ten years aims to increase the cultivation of orthodox tea to 65 per cent of the total production.

"We expect to increase the land area to 40,875 hectares in the next five years and generate employment for 79,310 Nepalese," Minister of State for Agriculture Baldev Sharma Majgaiya told a press conference here today.

He said the government was giving a thought towards raising the custom tariff for tea coming from abroad and thereby check the unhealthy competition.

"Tea of low quality has been coming to Nepal through the open border, which has been affecting the tea market here in Nepal and we are strictly for checking the illegal entry of tea," he said.

He said that the new policy seeks to give many incentives to the local farmers in order to boost tea production.

Under the new policy, the farmers will be given loans at low interest rates, farmers will be able to get loans covering eighty per cent of their total investment in tea farming.

A grace period of seven years to pay back the loan has been fixed for orthodox and green tea for the hilly areas while a grace period of five years has been given fixed for CTC tea grown in the Terai.

The interest imposed on the borrowed amount will not be capitalised during the grace period. Farmers will not have to pay tax during the grace period and they will have to pay back the loan within ten years.

The other incentives to be given to the farmers are: seventy five per cent of the registration fee on the land bought for tea cultivation will be waived, the Tea and Coffee Development Board will recommend for the waiver of revenue on the land being used for tea cultivation, the farmers will be given loans while purchasing pipes and other items required for irrigation and tax incentives on machinery purchased for the processing of tea will be given to the farmers.

The fuel needed for operating a tea factory will be given directly by the concerning Forest Products Supply Committee ensuring that it does not affect the local supply.

The line Ministries along with the Board will identify the land feasible for growing tea both in the hills and the Terai, which will be leased out to private parties for a period of fifty years. Permission will be given to import the fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides needed for tea farming.

"The government will give priority to build the basic infrastructure like roads, irrigation facilities, communication and education facilities in areas recommended for tea cultivation," Majgaiya said.

The system of auction will be introduced with the involvement of private party in order to promote the export of tea to the international market, he said.

He said that the new policy aims to increase the participation of the private sector in tea cultivation and thereby bring about quantitative as well as qualitative enhancement in tea production.

Kyrgyz film to be screened

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Nov 17: The Inter-Cultural Film Society will be screening a new film from Kyrgyzstan entitled "Deshkempir: Growing Up in Kyrgyzstan" at the Russian Cultural Centre tomorrow (November 18) at 4:30 P.M.

The film, directed by Aktan Abdikalikow of Kyrgyzstan, explores and highlights the travails, doubts and hopes of young Azate who has been given up by his parents for adoption. With young Azate's adoption, his life undergoes a sea change for the better.

The Inter-Cultural Film Society (ICFS) has been organising film shows from different countries for some months at the Russian Cultural Centre.

According to ICFS's Ms. Susi Gioli, a Swiss national who has been living in Nepal with her engineer husband for many years, the main aim of the Society is to develop critical appreciation of and love for films of different genres among the Nepalese as well as the expatriate community residing in Nepal.

TU exam system in limbo

BY SURENDRA UPRETY

Kathmandu, Nov. 17: It happened once again. The supposed-examinees of Tribhuvan University for the second time were hanging around in front of the Padma Kanya College gate till late afternoon on November 15. Their eyes fixed at the closed-gates, the students were whiling away their time even as their exam-time was already over.

These students had not dropped their exams. Nor were they expelled from the exam-halls. Of all the reasons, an unusual happening had left them in limbo.

The Free Student Union in the campus had locked the main entrance thus keeping the students from taking the exams. The reason: Too many exams "hosted" by the campus at the cost of its regular classes.

With no choice left, the students went back to their homes without even getting a chance to enter their exam halls. Forget about their question papers.

This is not the first case of its type. Two annual exams -- one including the Master's degree -- of the TU could not take place in the scheduled dates this academic year alone. The exams, for now, have been postponed for later this year. The unexpected postponement adversely affected 1,700 students.

Amrit Science Campus, earlier this month, had faced a similar protest from its Free Student Union that resulted into the closure of college-gates during the exams.

Having studied for good one year, students naturally would like to take examinations. The University accordingly prepares its annual examination calendar. But, interestingly, it is the same day slated for the examination that is embroiled in dispute resulting into no exams at all.

What goes wrong? Fingers are pointed at the way TU conducts its exams. "We suppose the liability of the TU is not only to conduct the examination disturbing the regular classes," says Pratima Gautam, President of the Free Student Union at Padma Kanya College.

"Our campus hosts different exams of the university for above six months in a year," she says. Of the remaining days, what occupies the major chunk is the holidays including the winter-vacation, student election, Dashain-Tihar holidays. This is too much for our studies an therefore our protest."

Another culprit hampering the campus-classes is the ad-hoc academic calendar of the TU -- which has been squandering the prime academic time in running the examinations only, according to Chirika Shova Tamrakar, Principal of Padma Kanya College.

"Since the Office of the Controller of the Examination has not been informing us the date of exams in time, we have failed to manage both the classes and the exams simultaneously in our college," she adds.

Pointing out the latest example, she says: This is the peak season to run the classes and it was only few days back our college was declared as the examination centre. This means trouble for us.

"All that is needed to solve this problem, is a separate hall of the TU to conduct its exams."

Science students are hit worse in the TU's exam-episode as their practical classes get further postponed due to the stretched-exam duration.

"Disrupting the examinations is our compulsion. Science students like us of who have to undergo practical classes are badly affected from the ever lasting exam schedules," says Nabaraj Roshyarea, Secretary of the Free Student Union of Ascol Campus.

Office of the Controller of Examination, however, claims it has no choice.

"We are very sensitive for the smooth running of the campus study. But, we have no options, either. We cannot send our students elsewhere for their exams," says Badri Nath Shrestha, Controller of the Examination, Balkhu.

But, the official dismiss the allegations that the TU does not have its academic calendar fixed in advance.

"We do have a fixed calendar but we need to conduct exams at different times since there are different levels," he says. "And this is where we have the complications."

So, is there no way out. There could be, according to the TU officials. "We are planning to conduct all the exams during the winter vacations in a bid to let all the classes run undisturbed."

Melamchi loan to be signed today at ADB headquarters

BY NAVIN SINGH KHADKA

Kathmandu, November 17: Government officials are signing an agreement tomorrow (Saturday) at the Asian Development Bank's Headquarters in the Philippines for a 120 million US Dollars loan the multilateral agency has assured for the Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP), a senior official confirmed today.

Madhav Raj Ghimire, Joint Secretary at the Finance Ministry, will sign the loan agreement with Brian Fawcett, the Nepal Desk Chief at ADB Headquarters, as his counterpart, tomorrow.

"The negotiations went all well. Since the ADB is positive on the project, we will sign the agreement tomorrow," Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel, Executive Director of Melamchi Water Development Board, told The Rising Nepal over the phone from the Filipino capital Manila late night today.

"The conditionalities from both the sides were discussed in great details and there has been no hitch at all."

Once the agreement is signed tomorrow, both the sides will be forwarding the agreed MWSP document to their higher-ups for final approval.

The Nepalese official team will bring back the agreement paper to be endorsed by the Cabinet while the ADB officials will be handing over the document to the ADB's Board – which will give the final words on the 120 million US Dollars loan on December 21.

If the ADB Board nods its head – which is highly likely – the loan will need another three months to be effective. Meaning, it will be the first quarter of 2001 next year when the project will actually receive the ADB money – to be funded on the bulk-distribution of the project.

Government officials presently at the ADB Headquarters are pinning their hopes on a positive outcome considering ADB's way of steering the negotiations. The bank, according to Pyakurel, has focussed its concern on environmental and land acquisition issues.

And these are the issues on which the officialdom has already won ADB's confidence. It was on environmental grounds – as pointed out by the ADB – the government had scrapped off the idea of including a hydel plant in the project earlier this year.

The exclusion of the hydropower plant from the project also led to the change in the design of the project's Melamchi water- diverting tunnel – as prescribed by the ADB's consultant.

As a sweet topping to all these ADB-chosen dishes, the government speeded up the process of the Resettlement policy and the Environment Impact Assessment of the project.

"Going by their response, they are satisfied with all the developments regarding the project," Pyakurel, one of the official team members visiting the ADB Headquarters, said.

The team, also including three joint secretaries from Finance, Law, Housing and Physical Planning Ministries, had reached Manila on November 15 for the loan negotiation at ADB Headquarters.

The officials reached the ADB's head office after receiving an invitation from the multilateral agency. The bank's latest move followed after it last month decided to increase its loan component for MWSP to 120 million US Dollars from its earlier commitment of 100 million US Dollars.

Amidst all these positive postures of the Bank, its signing of the loan agreement tomorrow will come as a significant confidence- building step for other Melamchi donors – who, according to MWDB officials, are waiting for the ADB to take the lead.

The Japanese Bank of International Co-operation, for instance, has already stated its readiness to fund 54 million US Dollars for the Water Treatment Plant component of the project.

Nordic Development Fund has assured an aid of around 10 million US Dollars by December next month while Swedish International Development Agency and Norad (Norwegian Aid Agency) will jointly okay a 50 million US Dollars grant for the tunnelling part of the project by January next year.

Tied with the assurances of all these donors, however, is a big "if" – that involves the lead role of the ADB to endorse the project. Given the co-ordinating role of ADB in the Melamchi-aid scenario, the other donors have been reasonable to follow the multilateral agency's foot-trails.

The foot trails, whose direction as of now, appears to be heading toward materialising the 340 million US Dollars MWSP -- that aims to initially divert 170 million litres of water everyday through a nearly 27 kilometre long tunnel from Melamchi River in the north-east Sindhupalchowk District.