63 teachers of Kanchanpur yet to submit their academic papers

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Mahendranagar, Nov. 19: Sixty-three teachers out of a total of 1,223 teachers working in various schools in Kanchanpur district have yet to submit their academic certificates to the district education office for investigation. Some of those teachers are believed to be holding fake certificate.

A certificate probe committee, headed by the Chief District Officer, (CDO) has been probing the certificates of teachers of the district. The other members of the committee are District Education Officer and district public prosecutor. The committee has been collecting and investigating the certificates since the last three months. The committee is in the process of investigating the certificates of 120 high school, 191 lower secondary and 859 primary teachers.

The number of high school, lower secondary and primary level teachers in the district is 142, 204 and 877 respectively.

After an initial probe, the committee will send the certificates to the Department of Education for further investigation.

32 underprivileged students given away scholarship

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Gaur, Nov. 19: Scholarships have been provided to 32 school students from the underprivileged and backward (dalit) communities of 21 Village Development Committees (VDCs) in the constituency No. 4 of Rautahat district.

Instituted by social worker Sitaram Mudhbari under the social service fund to help children of Chamar, Musahar, Dusad and other lower caste communities, Rs. 600 is made available to each student annually.

The money were distributed by Sushma Mudhbari, central member of Nepal Women’s Association, amidst a function in the premises of Sublal Higher Secondary School at Santapur today.

Speaking on the occasion, founder of the scholarships Sitaram Mudbhari said that the scholarships have encouraged the students to continue their school education.

Govt for empowering children: Kharel

Kathmandu, Nov. 19 (RSS): Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Rajendra Kharel has said that HMG is committed to empowering children to build a prosperous nation.

In his message today on the occasion of the adoption of the convention on the child rights, Minister Kharel said that laws have been enacted in line with the convention on child rights and the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990, and appropriate strategies would be introduced in the Tenth Plan to face the prevailing challenges for the development of children on the basis of the enacted laws.

Stating that HMG was actively working to review the weaknesses and shortcomings in the prevailing act concerning child rights, he heartily called upon parents, guardians, social workers, intellectuals, teachers, civil servants and civic society for unity in this noble endeavour.

Minister of State for Women, Children, and Social Welfare Sushila Swanr, in her message, has stated that there are many problems in the development of children which are also problems in the development of the nation.

After the adoption of the UN Convention on Child Rights, the changed concept has handed over the responsibility of guaranteeing all child rights to the state, she added.

Minister of State Swanr said that a national campaign for children had been launched on November 20, the day the UN Convention on Child Rights was adopted.

Similarly, the secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare Rabi Bahadur Bista, in his message, said that HMG was committed to the all round development of children and accordingly, appropriate strategies would be introduced in the Tenth Plan.

Jagrit Club Nepal also published a statement today stating, let the day provide guidelines to everybody to think and extend cooperation in the education, health and rights of the child.

22,000 registered in VAT

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Nov. 19: Despite having several problems in its operations, the total number of VAT registrants has reached nearly 22,000 in the span of last four years and it is expected to be 25,000 in the Fiscal Year 2001-2002.

Similarly, the net VAT revenue collection in the year 2000-2001 is 11.850 rupees, according to the office of Value Added Tax (VAT).

However, the VAT that has been in the operation for the last four years is still facing a number of challenges owing to poor administration and lack of good faith and honesty, said businessmen, economists and politicians.

Speaking at a programme jointly organised by the Office of the VAT under the Ministry of Finance and VAT Project on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the VAT, they strongly pointed out the need to rectify the weakness in the implementation of the VAT. The VAT, in fact is a scientific method tax system, it has to be properly implemented, they said adding 'its success largely depends upon good faith and morale of the VAT officials and business community.'

While speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Finance Bharat Kumar Saha, underlined need for bolstering corrective measures to make VAT a success in generating revenue. He said that proper implementation of the VAT helps collect more revenue which has multiple effects on economic development of the nation.

Former Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari, stressed the need to identify the problems and take proper measures for revenue generation. The CPN-UML is always ready to support the government for economic development of the nation. But the efforts of the government should be for the country and countrymen.

He said that the VAT has been facing several challenges because of which it has failed to generate as much revenue as it was targeted before. Heightening corruption, irregularities have posed a great problem, he noted.

Another former Finance Minister and the leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Rabindra Nath Sharma stressed the need to double the tax ceiling.

MP Roop Jyoti underlined the need for taking several measures for the smooth operation of the VAT.

Finance Secretary Dr. Bimal Prasad Koirala asserted that the success of the VAT depends upon the effective tax administration and trustworthiness of the business community. The tax administration needs improvement, he said.

Director General of the Office of the VAT Bidyadhar Mallik spoke about the challenges in its implementation.

President of the Federation of the Nepalese Chambers of 'Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Ravi Bhatka Shrestha said that the government has to make the process more simple and service oriented.

Lene Wedinks while addressing the function underlined the need for taking measures for the improvement of the new tax system in Nepal.

Dr. Narayan Silwal, Dr. Rup Khadka, Navaraj Bhandari, Bipin Suwal, Rajesh Kaji Shrestha and Harendra Bahadur Shrestha also spoke on the occasion.