Artists to  study stone specimens of all districts

Butwal, Oct. 23 (RSS): A group of Nepalese artists has arrived here in the course of its study tour across the country.

The group aims to collect clay and stone specimens from all the seventy-five districts of the Kingdom for the study of their natural surrounding, historical and cultural background.

At a press meet held Saturday by the the group named "Dedication: Nepalese artist tour-2000," sculptor Bhuwan Thapa disclosed that a 30-foot structure built from the earth, stone and water collected 75 districts of Nepal would be built and unveiled on the premises of the Singh Durbar, Kathmandu .

According to him, the materials will be used to build a terracota depicting the coat of arms, the natural beauties and national heroes of the country in the centre of the structure.

In reply to a query, he made it clear that there was also plan to build a kilometre-long chain of stones to symbolise the world unity.

The team has so covered Jhapa, Ilam, Panchthar, Taplejung, Morang, Dhankuta, Terhathum, Sankhuwa Sabha and Bhojpur in the course of the tour.

Until now, it has also composed 9 poems out of 1601 words as a description of the places visited.

The team that has set out from Chandragadhi, Jhapa on August 1 will complete its journey on reaching Darchula on the first day of new year 2058 B.S.

Nepal should sign Ottawa Treaty on mines

Kathmandu , Oct. 23 (RSS): A need has been felt here for committment among the political parties and a public awareness campaign to check the problem of land mines in Nepal.

It has also been felt that Nepal should sign the Ottawa Treaty against Anti-Personnel Mines.

Land mines in Nepal has been found to be used by the Maoists groups and during elections.

In this connection, the Ban Landmines Campaign Nepal (NCBL) organised a discussion programme here today.

Speaking at the programme, CPN-UML standing committee member Jhalanath Khanal, who is also the convenor of the Maoists study task force constituted by the party, said as mobilisation of army against the Maoists will lead to use of more deadly weapons, the ruling party and the government should give serious attention towards this end.

Chief whip of RPP Parliamentary Party Krishna Charan Shrestha and whip Netralal Shrestha pointed out the need to ban land mines in the country.

MPs Chanda Shaha and Prakash Jwala, ex-MP Shanker Pokherel and other speakers also expressed their views.

Convenor of NCBL Purna Shobha Chitrakar disclosed that statistics of the past three years show that 50 per cent of the people affected by land mines in Nepal have died and the remaining disabled.

NCBL reports that residents of 10 districts in the country have described themslves as mine-affected while it has a list of 172 potentially affected villages in these districts.

Freed Kamaiyas in agitating mood, again

Kathmandu, Oct. 23 (RSS): With the government failing to speed up the rehabilitation programme even after three months of the July 17 announcement that freed the Kamaiya, the "Freed" Kamaiyas are once again in the agitating mood.

A recent meeting of the Kamaiya Liberation Struggle Mobilization Committee (KLSMC) and Kamaiya Liberation Action Committee (KLAC) has decided to launch an agitation once again demanding proper and speedy rehabilitation of the freed Kamaiyas and their families.

According to KLSMC coordinator Dilli Chaudhari, very much frustrated by the lackadaisical attitude of the government the ex-Kamaiyas have set the state for one more movement, which will be kick-started by submitting memorandums to the district administration offices in all five freed Kamaiya-populated districts on Oct. 23.

The two committees-KLSMC and KLAC- have decided to meet on Nov. 4 to finalize arrangements for a protest rally on Nov. 6 so as to give a new impetus to the struggle.

In course of the movement, cases will be field with the courts of law demanding legal action against exploitation and atrocities the ex-Kamaiyas are still undergoing, sit-ins will be staged at the district administration offices in all the five districts, and general strikes (bandh) will be organised in Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardia and Dang districts.

As part of the movement an interaction programme will be organised in Kathmandu involving the MPs, journalists and intellectuals, an orientation programme will be organised to educate the freed Kamaiyas about their rights and a sit-in will be staged in front of Singha Durbar, the central administrative complex in the capital.

Amidst complaints from NGO sector that the registration of ex-Kamaiyas is far from satisfactory, the government has completed the task of identifying land that can be distributed to the ex-Kamaiyas and registering the names of the ex-Kamaiyas. Distribution of identification certificates to the registered ex-Kamaiyas is also underway in some areas.

Land reform officers in Kailali and Kanchanpur say that the Dashain and Tihar festival holidays have caused some delay in the rehabilitation work. All the ex-Kamaiyas will be provided with identification certificates in about 20 days and then the distribution of land will follow, they say.

A total of 594 families are taking shelter in 17 freed Kamaiya camps in Kailali district. Out of the 5,697 freed Kamaiyas already identified in the district 2,647 are homeless.

Likewise, 2,727 freed Kamaiyas have been identified in Kanchanpur district. They are living in 10 camps.

The freed Kamaiyas and their families in the camps are living in miserable conditions. They have hand to mouth problem, their children are deprived of education and malnutrition has been a serious problem. The tents that they have received from government or non-governmental sectors are wearing out. The winter is drawing nearer and the ex-Kamaiyas do not have proper clothes to wear-not to talk of warmer ones.

They are in big confusion. The rumour that the government is planning to provide each family with only one kattha of land (equivalent to the size of a volleyball court) has very much frustrated them. Officials concerned say no decision has been taken as yet as to how much land the ex-Kamaiyas will be given.

Some ex-Kamaiyas are getting work and wage under the food for work programme. But the freed Kamaiyas in Kanchanpur have different kind of problem. The food for work programme launched there through the district development committee required them to go to the hill areas in the district to work under the programme. But they don’t have the courage and skill to work in the hills. They are refusing to go to the hills and consequently they don’t have any work.

This being the situation it is imperative on the part of the government to expedite the rehabilitation programme. Likewise, it would be better if the NGOs and other sectors concerned helped build an atmosphere of trust and reconciliation between the freed Kamaiyas and the farmers (former landlords) to see to it that the landlords invite the freed Kamaiyas to help them harvest their rice crop and pay them the fixed minimum wage.

Freed Kamaiyas in agitating mood, again

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Lalitpur, Oct 23: Lack of rural transportation is the main constrains the productive potentials of rural communities, experts said in a discussion programme here today.

There are still many villages which are near by the motorable roads but are considered as remote areas simply because no means of rural transportation connect these places with the main roads, they said.

The comments came during a discussion programme on major projects in rural sub-sector organised by Intermediate Technology Development Group.

Participated by 35 individuals from government offices and national and international organisations, the meeting discussed the importance of rural transportation as an easy access to the market and the constraint presently faced.

During the meeting, experts with Nepal Forum for Rural Transport and Development (NFRDT) shared experiences with one another discussed their activities in a bid to disseminate the successful policy-influencing technologies.

The forum claims of having played an effective role in developing the rural transportation potentials in Nepal.

Five different papers were presented during the session. Michel Green from Rural Access Programme, Dr Saroj Basnet from District Road Support Programme, D.B. Tamang from Rural Infrastructure Project, Jeevan Shrestha from Local Development Project and Bhupendra from Rural Infrastructure Programme were the paper presenters in today’s programme.

The programme was divided into two sessions. The first was chaired by Mandira Paudel, Under Secretary of National Planning Commission (NPC) and the second was by Surendra Lal Shrestha, another Under Secretary of the Commission.