Local bodies main basis of democracy, says Koirala

Lalitpur, Oct l7 (RSS):Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said that local bodies should be made still stronger, more capable and duly empowered for the sake of democracy’s stability and sustainable development.

The Prime Minister was inaugurating the seventh council of the District Development Committees Federation Nepal here today.

Mr Koirala said local bodies are the main basis of democracy and all political parties as well as all others concerned should cooperate with the government in making such bodies still more capable and effective.

Commitment and preparedness on the part of those involved in development in this area are indispensable for making the role of local bodies more decisive and result oriented with a view to bringing about the balanced development of all sectors in Nepal from the economic, social and political points of view, he said adding that the role of any unit or entity should be determined on the basis of the needs and challenges facing the country.

In view of the fact that the process of nation building in the new context would be incomplete without the active participation of women who constitute half the total population, the need of the day is to bring about a tremendous increase in the participation of women at the level of political leadership and decision making, he observed. That is why legal arrangements have been made for compulsory representation of women at every level of the local bodies, and our efforts towards bringing about equality through reinforcement in these arrangements should be given continuity, he further said.

As arrangement has been made for the decisions of the local bodies to reflect those who are weak, the significance and responsibility of local bodies when it comes to the balanced political and social development of the country has grown, he said.

Pointing out the need to initiate a system of making decisions with the focus on the real aspirations of the ethnic communities and women who have not had any opportunity for becoming competitive socially, educationally and economically, the Prime Minister said the need of today is to mobilise the means and resources available from the central to the local level towards the goal of poverty alleviation.

Grants made available to the local bodies should be channelled into concrete measures for achieving goals determined by the districts on the basis of local needs and a proper analysis of available means and resources, he said.

Follow up and evaluation have a big role in developmental effort and as fiscal discipline also can be brought about through this effort, the Federation should make its role in this direction more effective, he said.

He also gave assurances that the meaningful suggestion thrown up by the disscusions of this council with regard to the development of local bodies will be taken positively by His Majesty’s Government and properly implemented.

Leader of the main opposition party and CPN UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said that national development is not possible without first making local bodies capable, strong and replete with the means and resources and HMG should pay serious attention to this.

Remarking that the DDC Federation is playing a significant role in making local bodies strong, capable and effective, he said democracy will not meet with success until local bodies have an active part in national development and construction.

Pointing to the tendency of not delegating authority as the main obstacle here, he said no unit in the country has been able to make its work dynamic and prompt, adding that the pace of the bullock cart will not do when it comes to facing the challenges of the 2lst century.

There is delay and foot dragging in every sector, and if our country is to become competitive in the world there should be dynamism in all our work, he said.

Stressing the need for refinement in the Local Autonomy Act and laws, General Secretary Nepal said the country will not make strides until there is an end to the tendency for laws to over rule the constitution, for regulations to over ride laws and for orders to counterremand regulations.

Pointing out that much politicization had taken place in the Bishweshwar with the poor, the women’s awakening and Ganesh Man Singh peace programmes, he said local bodies should be given powers and abuse of authority should be punished.

He also said the Maoist problem shoud be tackled not through force and repression but through talks.

Director the World Bank South Asia Bureau for Social Development Lin Bennet said if local bodies are to be made financially strong, the funds generated by such bodies should be used for the benefit of the local community.

Democracy will be weak if local bodies are not sufficiently capable, MP Rajendra Prasad Pandey said and pointed out the need for equiping such bodies with the means and resources to consolidate democracy.

President of the Federation Krishna Prasad Sapkota, from the chair, said that autonomy cannot be granted to local bodies nor democracy safeguarded in the absence of decentralisation.

Vice chairman of the Federation Rishi Raj Lumsali, spokesperson Krishna Prasad Joshi, ex-president Krishna Lal Sapkota, Madhav Poudel, founder member Ramchandra Pokharel, VDC federation president Mahin Limbu, Municipality Association Chairman Dormani Poudel and representatives from donor agencies also expressed their views at the function.

Smuggling goes unchecked in a secret trail to Barabise

BY NAVIN SINGH KHADKA

Bigu, Dolakha, Oct. 17: A rarely-used and almost non-policed trail traversing through towering mountains’ cliffs in the remote northern part of this district is serving as a safe passage for smugglers dodging the custom point at Tatopani — near the Nepal-China border.

The smuggling activities are evident at broad day-light as businessmen hire porters and local people to carry their goods through the secret route that leads to Barabise Bazaar in Sindhupalchowk District. At least six such groups used the route to smuggle in imported goods from the Tibet Autonomous Region of China during the first week this month.

On October 2, a group of such porters carrying electronic goods including TV sets, VCR, among others arrived at Dolangsa. After hardly resting in the village for few minutes, these porters vanished in the nearby rhododendron jungle with their smuggled goods.

"This has become a routine feature here. Sometimes they even bring big refrigerators," said Zangbu Sherpa, a local at the village. "In the beginning, the locals used to be inquisitive about the goods they brought. Now everyone knows what is going on."

After the smuggled goods reach the Barabise Bazaar, they are whisked off to Kathmandu in vehicles — most of them are either carried by containers or by hired professionals disguised as passengers in buses and lorries.

Two huge rocks — known as Devdhunga atop a hill — that can be sighted from here is through where the locals enter into this Valley that hosts a village Bigu — renowned for its Bigu Monastery with 60 Buddhist nuns.

After a stiff down-hill climb, the route passes through places like Tewa, Kedorji, Dolangsa and Karthala before finally reaching Barabise.

This was the same route Nepalese businessmen used to trade with Tibet in the not so distant past. The trade-route continues to be here — but with illegal activities. "Smuggling is quite frequent in this route," said Nanorbu Sherpa, Chairman of Ward Number 1 in Dolangsa Village of Gorthali Village Development Committee.

"Before it used to happen only in the night, nowadays the smugglers do not hesitate to transport the smuggled goods even at day time."

So frequent smuggling has become in this route that some locals in the villages enroute have even begun to rely on the smugglers to earn their livelihood. These locals hike to the northern mountains and carry back the smuggled goods to Barabise for businessmen.

And what makes smugglers so daring to carry out their activities even at day-light is the virtually non-existing policing in the route. With not a single police post in the area, smuggling simply goes on facing no obstruction. The last police post in the area was at Bighu till last year.

"We have no idea what is happening in the route since there is no police movement there," said Subash Chaudhary, Deputy Superintendent of Police at the Barabise Police Station. "We cannot monitor the area because of the Maoist problem."

That is the reason, according to locals, why police-patrolling has been confined to the Barabise town in the west and in Charikot in the south of this valley.

Not that the local administration is unaware of the situation. Bhanubhakta Pokhrel, Chief District Officer of Sindhupalchowk District admits of having heard about the smuggling activities in this route. "But this issue needs joint effort to be tackled. We have also held talks with the C.D.O. of Dolakha District. But it is the public who should inform us about the activities."

But even when information on smuggling has reached the authorities, nothing has been done. "Once we were tipped off about a smuggling route to Dolakha Bazaar," said DSP Chaudhary. "We discussed with the CDO’s office on whether to mobilise a monitoring team. But, we were told that there has been no information in this regard. Therefore, the attempt was abandoned."

Mobile teams of Revenue Investigation Department have time and again seized smuggled goods in the Arniko Highway — linking Kathmandu to Tatopani via Barabise. "Most of these seizures have been from passengers," confirmed Durga Prasad Rai, Deputy Director General at the Revenue Investigation Department.

And the majority of these passengers are no other than the hired ones of the smugglers trying to get the goods to Kathmandu. These "labourers" are readily available at Barabise — to carry the smuggled goods either from the Nepal-Tibet border through the smuggling route to Barabise, or to Kathmandu. "Businessmen often take these porters from here and smuggle in the imported goods," said a restaurateur at Barabise who has been residing there for the last twenty years. "There are many persons here who take charge of smuggling in the goods using porters and the businessmen use them to get their jobs done."

How much loss has the national exchequer incurred due to the rampant smuggling through this route is something unanswered to date. But going by the increasing import trade volume, the figure must be very high. The Tatopani Custom point collected 600 million Rupees as revenue from the imported goods last year — up from a little above 280 million Rupees in 1998.

In the last two months, the custom point collected a little above 55 million Rupees as revenue.

Relief distributed to flood victims

Nepalgunj, Oct. 17 (RSS): Nepali Congress general secretary Sushil Koirala today distributed financial assistance of Rs. 2,000/ each to 403 families of Holiya Village Development Committee in Banke district affected by the swollen Rapti river this year

The financial assistance was provided by Banke District Natural Calamity Relief Committee to the flood affected families of ward Nnos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9 of the VDC.

Speaking on the occasion NC general secretary and MP Koirala said development of Nepal is not possible without the development of the rural sectors.

He pointed out the need for generating awareness among the public against murder, violence, terror and corruption which has been barriers to development.

Reiterating his commitment to resolve the problems of the village, Mr Koirala said that the rural people should unite for this purpose.

Banke DDC chairman Omjung Rana said though the amount distributed to the flood vicitms is nominal it will provide some relief to them.

He pointed out the need to increase investment in checking soil erosion and taming the rivers.

NC Banke district president Krishnaman Shrestha, central member of the Nepal Women’s Association Uma Karki, nc bardiya district president Basudev Sharma, chairman of the district Landless Squatters Problem Resolution Commission Bishnu Prasad Sharma, Dr. Arun Koirala, Ram Thapa of the cpn-ml, rana Bahadur Singh of RPP, president of the Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Achyut Prasai, former mayor of Nepalgunj Municipality Bijaya Gupta and other speakers also expressed their views at the function chaired by Holiya VDC chairperson Saroj Kumari Yadav.

Fare for minibuses increased by 25 per cent

Bhaktapur, Oct. 17 (RSS): Transport entrepreneurs have decided to rise the fare for minibuses plying within the valley by 25 per cent effective from october 17 citing the increase in the price of petroleum products announced by the government few days ago.

A meeting held here Monday under the chairmanship of the president of Nepal National Minibus Transport Entrepreneurs’ Federation decided to rise bus fares providing if the government fails to increase the fare by october 16 or withdraw the price hike decision.

The price of diesel used in large quantity by public transportation vehicles goes up by 20 per cent or Rs. 4.50 per litre as per the recent decision of the government on rising the price of petroleum products.

Either the government sets a price reasonable both for the entrepreneurs and passengers or takes back its price decision, advisor of the federation and chairman of Bhaktapur Minibus Entrepreneurs’ Association Balram Twanabasu said.

Ten Maoists surrender

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Kathmandu, Oct. 17: Ten Maoist cadres affiliated with different sister organisations of the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) surrendered en masse before the Bara District Administration Office on the 1st of October.

Two of the ten Maoist cadres who surrendered before the local administration were women.

According to the Bara District Administration Office, the individuals decided to surrender as they wanted to desert the party and lead peaceful lives. Their decision to give in before the local administration came after they detested the killings, violence and sexual exploitation carried out by the Maoists.

Meanwhile, three more Maoist workers have surrendered before the Bara District Administration Office. According to the Office, those who have surrendered are Raja Ram Prasad Yadav of Mahespur VDC-5, Laxmi Raj Kumari of Irbasira VDC-3. Mishri Lal Mahato Koiri of Banjariya VDC-9.

"The Maoists who surrendered have given written assurance to the District Administration Office that they will not affiliate themselves with the Maoists anymore,’’ Chief District Officer Hira Mani Bhandari said.

Bhandari said that after the Maoists submitted in writing that they would desert the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) party they were handed over to their custodians who agreed to take u the responsibility of ensuring that they would not resort to violent activities.

Flower exhibit from Oct 20

Kathmandu, Oct. 17 (RSS): Floriculture Association of Nepal is to host flower exhibition-2057 from October 20 to 22, just a few days ahead of the Hindu festival of Deepavali.

According to the information given at a press conference organised by the association here today, various flowers and cut flowers will be the main attractions of the exhibition

Two hundred and thirty different kinds of seasonal flowers, flower plants and decorative plants will be on display and sale at the exhibition.

About forty flower entrepreneurs and organisations concerned with flowers will decorate their stalls with their products at the three-day exhibition.

Flower seeds, garden tools, fertilisers, vases and decoration items, apart from flower plants, will be available at the exhibition.

Convenor of the flower exhibition Kishore Pradhan said that the market for flowers in Nepal was expanding day by day but its production and marketing lacks professionalism.

Mr Pradhan said that it had been the main objective of the association to introduce professionalism in the production and marketing of flowers and raise the awareness of the people in this regard.