NC PP meet
NC to develop mechanism for govt-party coordination

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Oct. 21: The ruling Nepali Congress (NC) is likely to develop a separate mechanism for coordinating between the government and the party after Dashain festival.

A meeting of the NC parliamentary party held today at the Prime Minister’s residence Baluwatar approved the proposal regarding the formation of the mechanism. The party’s Central Working Committee meeting held earlier had forwarded the proposal regarding the development of the mechanism to make coordination between the government and the party.

"NC parliamentary party has approved the proposal to develop a mechanism to coordinate between the government and the party. The mechanism will be developed following the Dashain festival," Benup Prasad Prasai, secretary of the NC’s parliamentary party, told the journalists after the meeting today.

In today’s meeting, NC President and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and founder of the NC and former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai were absent as they were scheduled to attend formal programmes.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and General Secretary of the party Sushil Koirala had informed the meeting regarding the formation of the mechanism for the coordination.

Today’s meeting also passed four proposals—formation of draft committee to amend the existing statute of the parliamentary party, approval of the parliamentary party’s budget for the current fiscal year, collection of resources and the extension of best wishes on the occasion of Dashain festival.

The committee formed to make an amendment draft of the statute includes secretary of the parliamentary party, former secretaries, chief whip and whip. NC parliamentary party has passed a budget of Rs. 2 million for the current fiscal year. President Koirala will provide Rs. 2,000 to the party every month. Similarly, ministers will have to give Rs. 1,500 and lawmakers of the party will have to pay Rs. 1,200 to the party each month.

Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Deuba said that many capable personalities have not been included in the recently reshuffled cabinet. He further said that the cabinet would be reshuffled after six months and personalities will be included or excluded from the cabinet on the basis of their performance.

General Secretary Koirala emphasized the need for coordination between the government and the party. "Since the formation of a large sized cabinet will not convey a good message to the people, the party will extend necessary cooperation to the government for smaller cabinet," he said.

He also said that the government has to maintain a clean image and it has to be alert against corruption.

Speaking at the meeting, former Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel said that the party and the government have to be saved from any kind of groupism considering the present complicated situation.

"If we involve in any groupsim, we will be unable to tackle the present problem of the country," Poudel said.

On the occasion, chief whip of the parliamentary party of NC Tek Bahadur Chokhyal presented a report of the issues raised by the party in the 20th session of Parliament.

Lawmakers at the National Assembly Shukra Raj Sharma and Bijul Kumar Bishwakarma complained that the members of the Upper House were not included in the cabinet.

There’s need to banish poverty, says Nepal

Biratnagar, Oct. 21 (RSS): Main Opposition Leader in the House of Representatives and CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has stressed the need to banish poverty, deprivation and unemployment so as to lift the country out of the existing crisis, enhance people’s faith in democracy and remove anomalies in the social, economic and political sectors.

CPN-UML general secretary Nepal, who was inaugurating the 10th Morang DDC meeting here today, spoke of the need to expedite the development process at local level and strive for the sincere implementation of decentralisation.

Institutionalisation of democracy hinges on spontaneous involvement of people in the country’s social, economic and political life, and the government should win the trust of the people if it is to rally them behind its development initiatives, he said adding that the Maoists might be able to gather people at gunpoint for some time but ultimately they will fail as extremism is not the solution to any problem.

Suggesting that given the country’s economic constraints a provision should be made to limit the size of the Council of Ministers to 27 members or 10 per cent of the 265 MPs in both Houses of Parliament, the opposition leader accused the government of increasing general expenditures by constituting a "jumbo" Council of Ministers.

He also stressed the need to impose progressive taxes on income and implement a progressive land reforms programme to do away with feudal ways.

MP Harka Man Tamang said that Morang DDC has given equal importance to development and construction activities and to increasing public awareness, while MP Lalbabu Pandit spoke of the need to make the spending of budgets more people-oriented.

DDC chairman Khadga Bahadur Basnet presented budget estimates of about Rs. 155 million for the current fiscal year.

A host of other speakers underlined the need to make the government-Maoist talks a success, protect the achievements of the popular movement and lift the country out of crisis.

Private sector’s role in economy lauded

Kathmandu, Oct. 21 (RSS): Newly appointed Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Purna Bahadur Khadka today organised a get-together programme with the office bearers of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce at his own office to hold discussions on various topic related to industries, commerce and supplies.

On the occasion, Minister Khadka said that the contributions of the business community and industrialists to the overall economy would always remain important and HMG would also respect it.

Stating that the economy of the country could be strengthened only by taking the private sector ahead and policy decisions in the past were also taken in consultations with the private sector, he said that this policy would be continued in the days ahead.

Minister Khadka called upon the private sector to provide useful suggestions in the interest of the country in the future also.

Assistant Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Prakash Bahadur Gurung said that the sharing of experience of those working in the field of business for a very long time would help the government fulfill its commitment to development in this field.

Participants of the meeting drew attention towards the difficulties faced in the industrial, trade and financial sectors and the problems likely to arise in future because of these difficulties.

Public pressure must to curb misuse of official vehicles

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Oct. 21:Owing to mounting pressure from the public and some political leaders, the chance of misuse of official (white and yellow plated) vehicles by the government officials themselves will be less during the Dashain holidays this year.

District Administrative Office, Kathmandu, has already informed district level offices of His Majesty’s Government in the capital not to use their vehicles during the holidays.

However, the notice of the District Administration Office (DAO), Kathmandu is not applicable to Ministries, the Royal Nepalese Army and Nepal Police. The DAO Kathmandu will monitor the government vehicles during the holidays in the Kathmandu valley, says Chief District Officer, Tulsi Prasad Bhattarai. ‘We cannot issue notice to the central level offices like Ministries in this regard.’ But, vehicles belonging to the office that provide essential service will be allowed, he says.

Asked whether District Administrative Office Kathmandu has that authority to control the misuse of any white plated vehicles, Bhattarai declined to say categorically. There are some government institutions which should not be brought under this regulations due to the nature of their job. He also appreciates the public response about controlling misuse of official vehicles.

However, an MP of Nepali Congress has already decided not to allow any official white and yellow plated) vehicles through Prithvi Highway during the Dashain holidays. He is going to establish a monitoring team at Naubise, Dhading, some 22 kilometres away from the capital, that will not allow any such vehicles to run through that highway.

Some other organisations have frequently shown their concerns about the misuse of official vehicles by the politicians, senior government officials, and senior officials of the Royal Nepalese Army and Nepal Police. Using official vehicles for individual purpose is considered as a matter of social prestige in Nepal.

It is said that misuse of white plated vehicles by the Royal Nepalese Army is quite rampant.

Despite the notice of the Home Ministry not to use official vehicles during the holidays in the past, the tendency of misusing them is still on rise. It is to be noted that misuse of official vehicles was controlled to some extent, when the student wing of the Communist Party of Nepal - Marxist-Leninist (CPN-ML) started taking street actions against the violators of the rules. But it was discouraged when concerned authorities failed to take any actions against the violators.

According to a survey, millions of rupees are being spent on fuel, which goes out the government coffer each year.

But social scientists, politicians and even some government officials feel the need of strong public pressure to check such aberrations. On top of that, social attitude also needs to be changed, they say.

Promoting tourism
Nepal to boost Indian tourists’ confidence

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Oct. 21: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Bal Bahadur K.C. said Nepal is ready to do anything to develop confidence of the Indian tourists. Speaking at an interaction programme on tourism promotion between Nepal and India, Minister K.C. said he also expects the cooperation of the Indian government as well as tourism entrepreneurs in India to build the confidence, which has dwindled in the last couple of years.

Addressing the conference as chief guest, Minister K.C. said the Ministry is also thinking of brining in tour operators from countries from where Nepal gets its tourists and holding an interaction programme on what can be done to promote Nepal in those countries. He also said the Ministry would also be holding a programme to ‘Honour Mount Everest’. For this, all the Everest summiteers will be invited to the country in a bid to promote Nepal. Minister K.C. also noted that and Nepal has three main assets – Mt. Everest, Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha and the unique culture and tradition. But all those involved in tourism should think whether we have been able to market Nepal in the international tourism market.

Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sarbadhan Rai said as the religious contact between the two countries is wide, this can be promoted as a potential tourism sector.

Ram Bahadur Gurung, former minister and executive member of Nepal-India Human Development and Friendship Association (NIHUDFA) also said tourism is Nepal’s major economic sector but as it has not been improving in terms of arrival of Indian tourists, Nepal should identify problems and seek solutions to them.

The conference and interaction was organised by Nepal-India Human Development and Friendship Association and Nepal Tourism Board.

Several Indian leaders such as Venerable Lama Lobsang, President of India-Nepal Human Development and Friendship Association (INHUDFA), Ms. Nirmala Despande, Secretary General of INHUDFA, Buta Singh, former Home Minister and executive member of the Association, P.K. Thungen, former minister of India and also INHUDFA executive member and Rajeshwor Pinuly, BJP leader of Uttaranchal State of India have come here to participate in the conference.

At the conference all the Indian speakers pointed that the two countries enjoy age-old ties in various sectors such as culture, tradition, language and geographically, and what is needed to promote confidence of the Indian travellers to Nepal is to have more people-to-people contact and this kind of interaction would be helpful in doing that.

Ms. Deshpande said conducted tours by surface transport from various Indian cities could benefit Nepal as well as Indian travellers who want to come to Nepal. These tours will especially be helpful for those who cannot afford to travel by air.

Buta Singh said Nepal has a lot of raw materials for the development of tourism and with the potential it has it should be the hub of tourists from all over Asia.

He also said when India and Nepal enjoy such a goodwill, there is no way we cannot build confidence.

Similarly, P.K. Thungen said more people-to-people would help to ward off fear and build up confidence of the Indian travellers who like to visit Nepal. Another Indian speaker Painuly also said if the Indian religious tourists could be converted into pleasure ones it would benefit Nepal a lot.

Pradeep Raj Pandey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nepal Tourism Board CNTB said despite the decrease of Indian tourists, India is still the largest market for Nepalese tourism and the Board is trying to carryout activities in
India. He said the Board has organised familiarization trips and brought more than 100 Indian journalists.

Pandey further said that NTB has also reached to Indian tour operators in India.

He said Nepal is still one of the safest tourist destinations in the world and Indian tourists get a better value in Nepal. He added that Nepal is trying to facilitate Indian tourists as much as it can.

At the programme, Mani Lama President of NIHUDFA, extended the vote of thanks. During the interaction programme various persons of the travel and tourism sector had queried about the way and means to attract Indian tourists to Nepal and also on how to build up the confidence of the Indian tourists.

HMG, ADB sign porverty reduction deal

Kathmandu,Oct. 21 (RSS) : His Majesty’s Government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today signed a poverty reduction partnership agreement.

The agreement on poverty reduction partnership was signed by Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat and ADB Vice President Myoung-Ho Shin on behalf of HMG and the ADB respectively.

The agreement set out a shared vision for reducing poverty in Nepal and the priorities for joint development cooperation.

The partnership agreement focuses on the government’s objective in poverty reduction in line with the interim poverty reduction strategy and the Ninth Plan (FY 1997-2002).

The agreement aims to address HMG’s goal to reduce the proportion of people living in poverty to less that 10 percent from the current level of 38 per cent by 2017.

To achieve this paramount goal, HMG and ADB have set specific time bound medium term as well as long term targets and these are subject to revision based on the outcome of the forthcoming Tenth Plan.

ADB will provide consessional loans to Nepal totalling about US $ 102 million per year in next three years based on Performance Based Assessment (PBA). In addition to the above, about US $ 4 million will be provided as technical assistance in the form of grants to prepare different sectoral projects and assist capacity building.

HMG and ADB recently finalised the ADB new Country Strategy and Programmes (CSP) for Nepal after mutual consultation. The CSP places high importance on sustainable poverty reduction by generating jobs and increasing rural incomes through faster and broad based economic growth.

Core poverty and poverty intervention projects constitute 75 percent of the total programme for Nepal during the period 2002-2004.

His Majesty’s Government has expressed its sincere appreciation to the Asian Development Bank for the continued cooperation extended in the socio-economic development endeavour of Nepal.

Maoists stillusing force, says Wagle

Kathmandu, Oct. 21 (RSS): Minister for Physical Planning and Construction Chiranjivi Wagle has said that although the government is resolved towards creating an environment for peace talks the Maoists have not stopped incidents of use of force, calling on the Maoist side for restraint for resolving the problem.

Minister Wagle, who was releasing the Myagdi-Kathmandu telephone directory at a programme organised by the Myagdi Chautari here today, said the government is committed towards resolving the Maoist problem through peace talks.

The Maoist side too should think that the Maoist problem is our own country’s problem and move ahead accordingly with a feeling of this responsibility, he added.

People who are at the planning level should formulate plans as per the geography of the country and development potentialities of a particular area, the Minister for Physical Planning and Construction said, pointing out the need for the people of Myagdi to publicise the cultural and tourism importance of the district at home and abroad.

MP Tanka Prasad Sharma Kandel complained that the government has not given attention to the development of the Dhaulagiri area which is rich in terms of tourism and natural resource development.

At the programme presided over by chairman of Myagdi Chautari Nara Bahadur B.C., president of the Samyukta Janamorcha Amik Sherchan and others spoke on the religious, cultural and tourism importance of Myagdi district.

Govt-Maoist talks
HMG ready to hold talks at any time: Gachhadar

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Oct. 21: Minister for Water Resources Bijay Kumar Gachhadar said that the third round of the government-Maoist talk would most possibly take place after the Dashain festival.

"However, the government is ready to hold talks at any time if the Maoists are willing for the same. The government is ready to sit for talks tomorrow or even during the Dashain holidays," Gachhadar, who is also a member of the team to hold talks with the Maoists on behalf of the government, was talking at a press meet organised here today.

He clarified that it was not because of the government that the much talked-about third round talks could not take place before Dashain.

He said that the government had clearly put its views regarding the talks but it was the Maoists who did not come up with clear opinions for holding the Third Round talks.

He also informed that the government was taking initiations to make the talks a success as per the understanding reached between the government and the Maoists representatives in the Second Round talks held in Bardiya district some weeks ago.

For creating a cordial atmosphere for the Third Round talks, the government released Maoists’ leader, Matrika Yadav, a top-listed demand of the Maoists, Gachhadar added.

On the Maoist demand to release of all their detainees from the custody, the Minister said that the government had honestly taken initiatives to free all their cadres.

However, the government has to do this through certain legal procedures, he said, adding, "The government must respect the rule of law, which the Maoists need not do."

He further said that the Maoists have still been keeping a large number of policemen and people as captives whom they have to release as per the understanding to create congenial environment for the next sitting.

"The Maoists have violated the agreement as they have not freed the captives and have continued with violent activities such as killing, kidnapping and extortion among others," said Gachhadar.

It is the responsibility of the both parties to create cordial atmosphere for the talks, he reminded.

He also clarified that the government had already launched reform measures to meet the social and economic demands of the Maoists.

Minister Gachhadar also disclosed that the Maoists had shown their interest to concentrate on their political demands in the forthcoming Third Round talks.

On the political demands of the Maoists, he said that government, in the Second Round parley, had outright rejected their demands of the abolition of the present Constitution and the establishment of the Republic regime in the country.

However, so far the demand of forming the interim government is concerned, the government could think over it if the formation of such government would provide guarantee to resolve the Maoist problem, he said.

"If there would be the amendments of the Constitution or if the elections to be held, the interim government could be formed."

But the Maoists, themselves lack clarity on their political demands, he said. Now they are talking about the people’s Constitution and the people’s government, which are their big shift from the earlier standings, he remarked.

Nonetheless, the government is confident that the Maoist problem would be resolved through the dialogue, not by resorting to violence, he said.