MPs stress priority to road construction

Kathmandu, Sept. 12 (RSS): The House of Representatives at its meeting today continued discussions on the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works under the Appropriation Bill-2058.

A total of 17 MPs took part in the discussion.

Lalbabu Pandit of the CPN (UML) proposed a reduction of Rs 100 from the amount allocated for the ministry.

Taking part in the discussions, MPs of the ruling party demanded that agriculture roads be constructed in each district for the management of agricultural production and market, road construction and its black-topping work not be carried out in summer season, road projects which are not feasible from the technical point of view not be implemented, development programmes aimed at people's welfare be prioritised and more funds allocated for the Ministry so as to build infrastructures.

Those expressing their views on the occasion were NC MPs Sabitri Bogati Pathak, Ram Nath Adhikari, Ram Kumar Chaudhary, Hridayaram Thani, Dilliraj Sharma, Bharat Kumar Shah and Krishna Kishore Ghimire.

Similarly, opposition party MPs complained that the entire nation is now in the grip of the problems of road transport and drinking water, works of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works have not been effective for lack of regulations suitable to the present times, commission-mongering tendency has surfaced even in small projects, loans are received keeping in mind not our needs but the interests of donor agencies and the tend of shifting to cities and Terai from the hilly regions has increased for lack of development there.

They also drew the government's attention to the need of contructing highways for the development of hilly region, postal or Hulaki roads in Terai districts and providing clean drinking water across the country including the capital.

Those speaking on the occasion were CPN (UML) MPs Tirtha Gautam, Ganga Prasad Nepal, Tukraj Sigdel, Kamal Prakash Sunuwar, Rajendra Prakash Mainali, Prakash Jwala, Bhadra Bahadur Thapa and Ratna Prasad Sharma Neupane and RPP's Netralal Shrestha.

The discussion will continue tomorrow also. The House will meet at 11 am tomorrow.

Deuba lays emphasis on pro-poor technology

Kathmandu, Sept. 12 (RSS): Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that in the context of over 85 per cent of our total population being rural poor mainly dependent on agriculture we have to increase the production and productivity of our agriculture ensuring generation of productive employment for the benefit of the poor masses.

Prime Minister Deuba said this in his inaugural address of the national seminar cum consultative meeting on technology for rural deveopment here today.

Stating that rural development is one of our fundamental objectives towards attaining the goal of poverty alleviation, he said technology certainly plays a crucial role in achieving such an objective on an equitable and sustainable basis.

Stressing the need to proliferate local enterprises based on agricultural products and local natural resources to create productive job opportunities in the rural areas, he said new models are required to create new rural micro enterprises which are able to add value and generate employment and income for the benefit of the rural poor.

All these call for innovative technologies that are scale insensitive and that are affordable, sustainable, socially acceptable and economically viable, said that Prime Minister, adding we want to give new impetus for the development of such technologies and their dissemination for pro-poor, pro-nature, pro-women welfare that promotes a job-led economic growth in the rural areas.

He urged the scientific community to come forward to take up this intellectual challenge and provide the nation with practical solutions.

Noting that our approach of top-down planning has met with mixed success, he said participation of local institutions through the use of new technology needs to the emphasised.

Furthermore, considering the rugged terrain and inaccessibility of our villages, new technologies should be promoted to provide better access to technological information and service to the rural districts for rural development, he observed.

Earlier business-as-usual approach has not been able to make necessary breakthrough for the rapid socio-economic development as desired by the people, he said adding integration of scientific and technology considerations in our development planning has to be inculcated to exploit the new opportunities that can be available through appropriate technological interventions.

A number of initiatives are already being undertaken to enhance the access of rural people to technology through different projects with the support of various national, bilateral, multilateral and international organisations, he noted.

He hoped that today's forum would provide all those concerned with an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience in this regard and also help to avoid duplication of efforts.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has initiated this commendable task and should continued to play a pro-active role in promoting technology for rural development, he said.

He also expressed confidence that the outcome of this meeting would provide valuable inputs for the government as well as to all the development partners in formulating a new intervention strategy in the area of technology for rural development.

Vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Prithvi Raj Ligal, who was the chairman of the inaugural function, said that there were about fifty thousand conventional water mills in Nepal and if Rs 6,000 was spend on improving a mill technically, its capacity could be raised by three to five times.

He further said that the NPC and the Ministry of Science and Technology were eager to extend cooperation in this regard.

NPC member Rameshanand Baidya said that Nepal had been stressing employment-oriented, production-oriented and time-saving technology.

Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology Mahesh Man Shrestha said that at present, more than eighty thousand biogas plants and more than ten thousand solar energy plants were under operation in Nepal.

Advisor to the Ministry Prof. Dr. Kedar Lal Shrestha noted that though rural development is the only goal of our projects the life in the villages is still difficult, while resident representative of the Asian Development Bank Mr Richard Vokes spoke of the need to provide the people right to select technology.

Chief executive of ITDG Mr Cowan Coventry observed that rural poverty is the worldwide phenomenon spoke of the need of suitable technologies to improve the lot of some 2000 million people living in the villages around the world.

Country director of ITDG Dr K.B. Rokaya remarked that social justice is not possible without the development of the villages.

The consultative meeting will submit various suggestions and recommendations after discussing various aspects of intermediate technology development.

Civil aviation security meeting held

Kathmandu, Sept. 12 (RSS): The National Civil Aviation Security Committee met today under the chairmanship of committee chairman Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Bal Bahadur KC.

The meeting reviewed the decisions made so far for consolidation of civil aviation security and also decided to beef up security at all airports including Tribhuwan International Airport in view of the present context.

Maoists burn cooperatives office in Nuwakot

Nuwakot, Sept. 12 (RSS): Activists of the underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) have set ablaze a cooperatives office building located at Ward No. 7 of Bidur municipality.

The building was used as a police-post until some time ago, but there were no security personnel inside when it was set afire.

The damage has been estimated at around Rs 300 thousand, Chief District Officer Modraj Dotel said.

Teachers' certificates to be scrutinised

Sindhuli, Sept 12 (RSS): A three-member investigation committee has been formed under the chairmanship of CDO Ganga Prasad Luintel with the objective of scrutinising fake certificates of the teachers working in all public schools of Sindhuli district.

District education officer Bishnu Dev Shah has been designated member secretary and public prosecutor Gopal Prasad Rijal as a member of the committee.

A circular has been issued to all the public schools of the district to submit academic certificates of the teachers by October 5.

Currently, a total of 1,448 teachers are working in various public schools of the district.

Similarly, academic certificates of all the public schools in Jhapa district are to be scrutinised, according to district education office, Jhapa.

B.P. Memorial Day marked

Dhangadhi, Sept 12 (RSS): Eight persons donated blood at a blood donation programme organised by the Nepal Women’s Association Kailali on the occasion of the 88th birth anniversary of late leader B.P. Koirala.

On the occasion, patients of the Seti Zonal Hospital were distributed fruits by the Nepal Trade Union Congress Kailali.

NC district president Dirgha Raj Bhat, DDC chairman Narayan Dutta Mishra and district president of the Trade Union Bhakta Bahadur Karki distributed fruits on the occasion.

Similarly, the NC district working committee also distributed educational materials worth Rs. two thousand to students of Saraswoti Primary School, Dhangadhi.

The Nepal Students Union also conducted clean up at the premises of the Kailali Multiple Campus.

Minister Bhandari inspects hospital

Gulariya, Sept 12 (RSS): Minister for Health Sharat Singh Bhandari took stock of the health condition of the patients while inspecting the Bardia District Hospital, yesterday.

On the occasion, hospital chief Dr. Braja Kishor Thakur apprised Minister Bhandari about the deaths of four patients out of the 35 who had come for treatment of encephalitis this year, and that four have been receiving treatment at present and 27 patients returned home after treatment.

Dr. Thakur also said there is only one doctor working at present despite vacancies for six doctors in the district hospital.

Also yesterday, Minister Bhandari while addressing NC workers said the government has sought the resolution of the Maoist problem through talks but has been looking with seriousness the activities of the Maoists such as collecting donations forcibly and taking action to people.

Rupandehi has no sizeable excess land to redistribute

BY KRISHNA SHARMA

Bhairahawa, Sept. 12: Just when the government is resolved to bring about revolutionary land reforms for massive socio-economic transformation, the Land Reforms Office, and Land Tax Office (LTO) of Rupandehi district say the proposed ceiling of 10+1 bighas of land per family in the Terai leaves very little land above that ceiling.

Citing the example of the Rupandehi, Bijay Govinda Shrestha, an official at the Land Tax Office of the district, said the district has a total of 109,461 bighas of land registered in the name of 150,860 people. "There are 165 families, who own more than 12 bighas (1 bigha equals 0.68 hectares or 1.67 acres) of land, possessing a total of 3,162 bighas. And there are 128 families who possess between 10 to 12 bighas of land."

Land reform measures

The government can take away excess land from 165 plus 128 people if the new land ceiling of 10+1 bighas is brought into effect.

However the problem is, if the people are still living in joint family then they have the right to get their inheritance according to law.

In that case, Shrestha said, if any of the 165 people have not ‘divided’ their parental properties, including land, amongst the lawful inheritors, they have every right to claim their rights. "Then, there may be no excess land remaining."

"If the proposed ceiling of 10+1 bighas is passed by the Parliament, apart from the little land from other families, the government might find land excess from only those who do not have any child," Shrestha told The Rising Nepal.

Despite the fact that the government lifted the ban on land transaction from August 31, there are very few people who have been visiting the Land Tax Office at Bhairahawa for selling or transferring the ownership of their respective lands.

According to Shrestha, visiting the Land Tax Office are only those for coming for banking transaction or for depositing or withdrawing their lands. But there are very few who visit for personal transaction such as buying, selling or division of land.

As per the proposed reform measures, the government plans to take the excess land from the landlords and distribute it to the landless. A bill has also been brought to the Parliament. The proposed bill has reduced the land ceiling from the existing 25+3 bighas to 10+1 bighas per family in the Terai. Under the Land Reform Act of 1964, a family could keep 25 bighas for farming and 3 bighas for homestead.

For the effective land reforms in the country the government has not allowed the transferring of the ownership or registered the land of those who possess more than 12 bighas," said Shrestha.

Likewise, the LTOs are also not allowed to make the transactions of the land lying between 10 to 12 bighas.

Meanwhile, keeping in mind the need of colossal task to gear up the land reform, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, through his address in the Parliament on August 16, put a complete ban on any kind of land transaction. The ban was lifted after 15 days with some conditions after the government registered a bill in the Parliament. However, the provisions of the bill are still being debated both inside and outside the House.

There have surfaced several controversies regarding the pros and cons of the government’s move on the reform measures and cases are also filed at the Supreme Court. The Court is scheduled to give its decision next week. People, especially farmers want these confusions to be cleared up as soon as possible.

Even Dhruba Bahadur Baidawar, a farmer of Makrahar, Rupandehi says that the government should end the confusion as soon as possible by bringing in the new Act on land ceiling. "The confusion on land ceiling has done more harm than good to both the government and the public," he said.

However, one major problem for implementing the proposed land reform is finding out the total land possessed by the people and the number of landholders. The government has instructed all district-level Land Reforms Offices to incorporate and prepare the record of the land possessed by the people. Only after the record is completed, it will be known how many landowners have excess land and how much land the government can pull.

Considering the increase of population and the fragmentation of land due to inheritance and other factors the amount of land that could be pulled might have reduced drastically from the past.

However, finding the actual number and the size of the landholders could be the most difficult task.

After the Land Reform Act was brought to effect in 1964 with the ceiling put at 25+3 bighas in the Terai, the government had found only a total of 1,037 bighas as excess land. Taking the maximum of Rs. 250 rupees per bigha the government then had distributed 392 bighas of land to 459 tillers. Likewise, about 328 bighas of the excess land were distributed to 672 landless squatters and about 29 bighas were distributed to government and quasi-government organisations.

According to the government records, of the 1,037 bighas of the land 289 remained undistributed and should still be with the government. But the land is still missing and its whereabouts unknown to the government.

Terrorists can't shake American spirit: Bush

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Sept. 12: US President George W. Bush, in a statement to the American citizens, after the horrifying terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on Tuesday morning, said that his first priority is to get help to those who have been injured, and to take every precaution to protect the American citizens at home and around the world from further attacks.

According to a press release issued today by the American Centre of the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the US President has said that the search was underway for those who are behind these evil acts.

"I have directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbour them," the US President said.

Saying that America saw evil, the very worst of human nature, President Bush said, "America was targeted because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining."

Meanwhile, Larry Dinger, Charge d’Affaires, a.i., at the US Embassy in Kathmandu in a message today has said that there is no reason to believe that there is any specific threat in Nepal from the terrorists who committed the crimes in New York and Washington.

Still, in the message Dinger said, he is grateful to the Nepalese authorities for volunteering to increase assistance to the American community as required.

Saying that Americans and all world citizens are in a state of mourning, but the US Embassy is focusing on the safety, as always, of the American citizens in Nepal.

The press statement said the Consular Section remains available to provide citizen services.

Appreciating the countless condolence calls and messages from all sectors of the Nepalese society, the US diplomat said the entire American community in Nepal appreciated those sentiments of mourning and loss.

Quoting President Bush’s statement as saying, "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve," the US Charge d’Affairs said the US government would continue to make the world a better place.