Scholarship scheme in 15 districts

Pokhara, Sept 23 (RSS): Nepal Scholarship Programme has been implemented in 15 districts with the objective of providing scholarships to the orphaned and disabled children of the backward communities and improving their standard of living.

The Nepal Scholarship Programme is being jointly launched by USAID, Save the children of U.S.A. and Nepal National Dalit Samaj Kalyan Sangh (NNDSKS).

The scholarship program initiated in 2049 B.S. by incorporating the hilly and Terai areas of all the development regions is being implemented in Jhapa, Dhankuta, Udayapur, Nuwakot, Bhaktapur, Chitawan, Kaski, Parbat, Rupendehi, Dang, Bardiya, Surkhet, Kailali and Kanchanpur districts.

Deputy Mayor of Pokhara Sub-Metropolis Man Bahadur Gurung gave away scholarship stipends amounting to Rs. 34,450 to 32 Dalit children of Kaski district here yesterday.

At the function chaired by president of Kaski NNDSKS Dharma Nepali, NNDSKS central vice-president Sammar Bahadur Mitrakoti, Krishna Bahadur Nepali of Nepal Dalit Jatiya Mukti Samaj, Dhana Bahadur Nepali, Tuk Lal Nepali, Nara Bahadur Pariyar, students Baburam B.K. and Bharat Pariyar and others expressed the view that the Dalits should educate themselves to end the practice of untouchability.

Govt firm to implement policy, programmes of budget

Kathmandu, Sept. 23 (RSS): Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat assured the House of Representatives today that His Majesty’s Government will make every effort for the successful implementation of government policy and programmes as mentioned in the budget statement.

Finance Minister Dr Mahat, who was furnishing replies to questions raised in course of discussions on appropriations head pertaining to the Ministry of Finance at the Lower House of Parliament, described poverty alleviation as the overriding goal of this fiscal year’s budget and said that all economic and social activity will be carried out bearing this goal in mind.

The budget has emphasised the commercialisation of the agricultural and forest sectors, promotion of investment in industry and the service sector, export promotion and implementation of various programmes for the promotion of information technology, he said adding, successful implementation of these programmes would help generate more employment opportunities and contribute substantially to poverty alleviation.

He also informed Parliament about the arrangements being made to provide concessional loans through banks and other financial institutions for launching various programmes aimed at commercializing agriculture and improving the living conditions of the poor.

Stating that institutional development of the poverty alleviation fund and implementation of various programmes through employment promotion commissions are some of the important initiatives towards this end, the Finance Minister said as per the government policy of developing information technology as a major sector for employment, programmes have been formulated to train 50,000 youths in different aspects of information technology within three years.

Likewise, arrangements have been advanced to select and implement development projects which contribute significantly to poverty alleviation, development of infrastructures and socio-economic development, he said.

Responding to MPs’ displeasure over the government plan to run some of the financial institutions on contract, Minister Dr Mahat said as managerial weaknesses especially at two commercial banks run in the government sector have resulted in very low loan recovery, increased incidence of bad loans and fiscal indiscipline thereby making it difficult for the banks to even protect the capital of small depositors and posing a danger of the collapse of the entire banking system, the government is considering giving out the management of these two banks on contract for some time as part of its financial reform measures.

He also informed the House about the deteriorating condition of many corporations whose total loss is estimated at about Rs. 740 million and spoke of various contributing factors including managerial inefficiency, irrational increase in employee salaries and perks, deteriorating quality of service and lack of competitiveness.

Pursuant to the policy of encouraging private sector involvement in industry, trade and other commercial sectors with minimum possible government intervention, only the corporations recommended by experts concerned and the privatisation committee have been privatised after fulfilling the procedures specified by the committee, he said.

Reform measures are already underway to make revenue administration more practical, tax payer-oriented and simple, bring all economic activities within the tax net, expand the tax base, and rectify the weaknesses in VAT and make it a major source of internal revenue, Finance Minister Dr Mahat said.

He also informed the House about the measures being taken by the government for reforms in financial administration.

MPs Bhadra Bahadur Thapa, Ram Kumar Chaudhari, Netra Lal Shrestha, Urmila Aryal and Dilli Raj Khanal sought clarifications from Finance Minister Dr Mahat.

The House of Representatives meets again at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow.

Govt showing lot of restraint, says Khadka

Birgunj, Sept. 23 (RSS): Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka has said that if the talks between the government and the Maoists derail, the government will not remain a silent spectator.

Home Minister Khadka, who was speaking at an interaction programme organised by the Reporters, Club Nepal here today, said the government believes that the Maoist problem will be resolved through dialogue and towards that end it is ready to be liberal to the extent possible.

Stating that despite the perpetration of violence, lootings, vandalism and assaults by the Maoists against democratic norms, he said the government is showing a lot of toleration and restraint simply because it does not want to see the peace talks derail.

However, patience and tolerance also have their own limits and once they cross the limit, the government will do what it needs to do. It does not remain a mute spectator, the Home Minister said.

The government is fully aware of the strength of the Maoists, he added.

Noting that all political parties are serious about the Maoist problem, he said terrorism is in no one’s interest.

Book released
Judges should prove worthy of office: CJ

Kathmandu, Sept. 23 (RSS): Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya has said that if judges could prove worthy of their office through conduct, behaviour, working style and competence, it would be a service to the country and society.

Inaugurating a day-long workshop organised by SAARC Law Nepal here today concerning the role of the Judicial Council in maintaining the good conduct of Judges, Chief Justice Upadhyaya said it is the duty of judges also to protect and promote Judicial independence and they should be dedicated to their duties if they are to make responsible use of that independence.

Stating that legal practitioners should abide by the code of conduct issued by the Bar Council and judges should show the conduct expected of them, he pointed out the need for an effective system of follow-up on whether the code of conduct has been complied with or not.

In one context, he said, "The task of taking disciplinary action and controlling and evaluating the judges should be kept within the judiciary itself. If other organs of state have any impact on these things, the independence of the judiciary will be adversely affected."

On the occasion, Chief justice Upadhyaya also launched a book on the working papers and procedures of the Eighth SAARC Law Conference.

Chairman of SAARC Law and Supreme Court judge Laxman Prasad Upadhyaya said that there should be a unit within the judiciary to take action against judges resorting to irregularities.

Supreme Court judge Kedar Nath Upadhyaya was on the chair.

At the second session, Supreme Court judge Krishna Jung Rayamajhi and advocate Prakash Basti presented separate working papers.

Judicial Council secretary Kashi Raj Dahal also expressed his views at the programme.

‘Draft of strategies for water dev ready’

Kathmandu, Sept.23 (RSS): At the meeting of the House of Representatives today, Minister for Water Resources Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar said that a draft report of the 5-year short term, 15-year mid-term and 25-year long term strategies for the development of water resources have already been prepared after discussions with the individuals or agencies concerned, experts and politicians.

Gachchhadar, responding to questions raised by MPs concerning his ministry under the appropriation bill, 2058 today, noted that His Majesty’s Government has pursued the policy of favourable use of water by bringing irrigation, hydropower, waterways, drinking water, etc under the concept of river watershed.

Stating that there is also a programme for minimising the water-induced disasters and preparation of a national water resources management plan will begin the next year and it will be completed in two years, the Water Resources Minister remarked that review of the existing hydropower policy has now reached the final phase with the objective of attracting native and foreign investors and advance the integrated water resources development efforts on the basis of bilateral and regional cooperation concept by keeping the national interests uppermost.

Though we possess the total hydropower potentials of 42,000 mw, we have been able to generate only 393 mw and 57 mw thermal power so far, Gachchhadar said vis-a-vis the estimated demand of electricity at 440 mw by 2002, 144 mw Kaligandaki "A" and 20-mw Chilime Hydropower Projects are nearing completion and once the Indrawati Hydropower Project, (7.5 mw), the Damarkhola (5 mw), the Upper Modi (14 mw) and the Marsyangdi Hydropower Project (70 mw) are completed, demands for domestic consumption till 2005 can be fulfilled.

The Saptakoshi High Dam Multi-purpose Project is one of those projects identified by JICA in the eighties in the master plan of the watershed area and its preliminary studies shows that if we build 239 m high dam near the Baraha area across the Koshi river, it will generate 3,300 mw electricity and the water reservoir will provide irrigation facility both in Nepal and India and also help control floods, he said, adding that as desired by His Majesty’s Government of Nepal, India, at the Third Nepal-India Joint Technical Team meeting held in New Delhi in Chaitra last year agreed to conduct jointly the feasibility study of the Sunkoshi-Kamala Diversion Project and the Saptakoshi High Dam Multi-purpose Project.

Stating that it seems that the Sunkoshi-Kamala Diversion Project will help irrigate 175,000 hectares of land in Terai and 61 mw from Sunkoshi river and 32 from the Kamala river can be also generated, Minister Gachchhadar remarked the Nepal-India joint project office is carrying out survey and study works to prepare the detailed project report of the Pancheswor Multi-purpose Project.

Since the projects like Karnali Multi-purpose Project needs a huge amount of money, efforts will be made to ensure private sector participation and since the project is unlikely to take off unless and until the downstream benefits are decided, talks will continue with the Indian government regarding this, he noted.

In accordance with the policy of attracting the private sector for the West Seti Project and turning hydropower projects export oriented, a memorandum of understanding was already signed between the government and the Snowy Mountain Corporation of Australia in 1994 and the project has the potential of generating 750 mw, he said, adding that negotiations are underway with the Power Trading Corporation of India Ltd for power purchase agreement.

A total of Rs. 143 million will be made available by the World Bank under the Electricity Development Project and actions are already underway to set up an Electricity Development Fund with the help of the World Bank which is to provide to His Majesty’s Government US $ 70 million in loan, said the minister adding, the amount from the fund will be used for strengthening the Nepal Electricity Authority and small scale hydropower development projects.

Noting that four local fiscal institutions were preliminarily selected last year for the board of directors of the fund as per the agreement reached with the fund and proposals were demanded from these institutions in July, 2001 the deadline for which is September 28, 2001, Minister Gachchhadar expressed the hope that this will attract the native investors and help in developing small and medium-scale power projects.

Gachchhadar also provided information about the Bheri Babai Hydropower Project, Riddi Khola Power Project and the Upper Karnali Hydropower Project and the government is considering developing the Arun Third Hydropower Project as an export-oriented project through private sector investment.

Disclosing that the number of people having access to electricity facility still stands at only 18 per cent, he noted that the programme and the budgets for the rural electrification and system consolidation project (eighth electricity project) to be launched with the loan assistance of the Asian Development Bank has already been presented in Parliament. The project will be enforced in 22 districts chosen by the ADB and 15 other additional districts.

The electricity leakage last fiscal year was 23.6 per cent and the unauthorised leakage and control bill, 2058 has already been presented in Parliament and in the next five years, the power leakage rate will be reduced to a mere 5 per cent, he added.

The recent changes made in the electricity tariff rates with an increase of Rs. 2 for up to 20 unit per month of 5 ampere capacity thus making it Rs. 80 is likely to have a very minimum impact on about 50 per cent of customers receiving such services, said the minister, noting that the optimum increase in tariff rates is 11 per cent.

Stating that the policy of handing over the projects to consumers once the projects are completed will continue, Gachchhadar said though 1.766 million hectares out of 2.641 million hectares of arable land is irrigable, infrastructures for irrigation development are in place only in 1.118 hectares of land.

The government aims to provide irrigation facility to additional 39,539 hectares of land in the current fiscal year, he further said.

The second irrigation sector programme has been in operation in 35 districts of the Eastern and Central Development Regions and the Nepal Irrigation Sector Programme in 40 districts of the three Western Development Regions, he said adding, the irrigation programme launched with the help of European Union in the districts of Banke, Surkhet, Dailekh and Kalikot is continuing and necessary actions have been also carried out for operating the third irrigation sector programme with the loan assistance of Agriculture Development Bank from the next fiscal year.

The task of preparing a master plan of different rivers for short- as well as long-term resolution of the problems such as flood control and washing away of land and foreign aid, if need be, will be also sought in this regard, he said, adding, a detailed survey and analysis of all rivers including the boundary rivers will begin this fiscal year and concerning the boundary rivers, efforts will be made to resolve the problems through discussions at diplomatic level with India.

Those demanding clarifications were MPs Buddhiman Tamang, Dilli Raj Khanal, Urmila Aryal, Ram Kumar Chaudhary, Netralal Shrestha, Tukraj Sigdel, Yadav Bahadur Rayamajhi, Sohan Prasad Chaudhary, Bhadra Bahadur Thapa and Prakash Jwala.

Dashain Mahotsav to begin Oct 12

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Sept. 23: The Dashain Mahotsav 2001 is to kick off on October 12 at Bhrikuti Mandap. The cultural and entertainment event to be organised by the House of Rajkarnicar will last for nine days.

The attractions of the event include international fair for arts, crafts and consumer products, international food festival, music concerts, Nepalese folk dance festival. It will also feature cultural shows, baby shows and kennel shows.

Besides craft bazaar, body of the year, kennel show, archery championship, baby and toddler show and Nava Gayan Shandhya as in the past, the event will have new programmes as Mr. junior show, Ms. junior show, gandharva summit, duet dance contest for the first time. The Mahotsav also offers cooking and beauty make-up workshops, the organisers said in a press release.

The organisers expect about 175 companies to participate in the festival. They said the Mahotsav will host numerous international participants and the exhibitors’ list includes Golchha Organisation, Chaudhari Group, Phillips, Whirlpool, Emami, Revlon, Personi, Florina, Century Masala. The other participants are Wai Wai, LG TV, Yamaha, Daewoo, Samsung, DTI Group, Hamdard, Nepal Lever and Dabur Nepal.

Over 100 thousand people are expected to visit the Mahotsav.

Lower House reply
Infrastructure vital for tourism, says Gachchhadar

Kathmandu, Sept 23 (RSS): Minister for Water Resources Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar who is looking after the portfolio of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said that His Majesty’s Government had given priority to tourism industries with the objective of developing the rural economy and alleviating poverty.

Replying questions pertaining to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation raised at the House of Representatives today, Minister Gachchhadar said that His Majesty’s Government has not formally declared any area as a tourism region but is always ready to develop necessary infrastructure and promote tourism at places considered important from the tourism point of view.

Mere declaration of any place as a tourism region will not help to develop tourism, he said, adding that tourists can be attracted to any place by developing necessary infrastructures and carrying out widespread publicity.

Stating that the Visit Nepal Year 1998 had helped to improve hospitality and tourism related services, Gachchhadar said that the Destiny Nepal Campaign (2002-2003) will be initiated to make use of the experiences gained from the Visit Nepal Year for tourism development in the coming years.

Gachchhadar said that slackness has been seen in the tourism industry as a result of the hijacking of the Indian Airlines aircraft in December, 1999, the frequent bandhs, chakka jams and strikes taking place and the widespread publicity being carried out by the international media in connection with tourist security in Nepal.

Informing the House that the government and private sector will launch a participatory campaign to enliven the badly affected tourism sector, he said the government is making efforts to make the stay of the visiting tourists happy and comfortable by providing security to the tourists, improving the environment by checking air pollution and developing tourism infrastructures in the country.

Gachchhadar said that His Majesty’s Government is moving ahead with the policy of giving priority to rural tourism by developing existing tourism infrastructures and facilities.

The Second Tourism Infrastructure Development Project being launched with the loan assistance of the Asian Development Bank for development of tourism infrastructure would be completed within the current fiscal year, the minister said that preparations are being made to implement the eco tourism project with the loan assistance of the Asian Development Bank to provide continuity to the cooperation.

Gachchhadar said that under the eco tourism project, tourism development works will be implemented in Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Barun, Dolpa, Palpa and Lumbini development regions. Proposals will be made for improving the airports of Simikot, Masinechour, Surkhet, Tumlingtar and Suketar which plays an important role in development of these regions, he added.

The minister informed that tourism model programmes will be launched in Dolpa, Lumbini and hilly areas of Chitawan district by His Majesty’s Government, UNDP and the Netherland Development Agency for alleviation of poverty.

Stating that RNAC had no regulations, rules and by-laws at present on scientific procedures and guarantees for making aircraft available in time while leasing or purchasing, he said that appropriate rules were being formulated in this regard.

As the flights operated by RNAC were unreliable and irregular, its reputation in the international arena had been affected considerably, Minister Gachchhadar said and added that it had to suffer losses in the European sector because of shortge of suitable aircraft, the arrival of tourists had also gone down, and the total debit of the airline was about to reach the two billion rupees mark.

Stating that RNAC with its tremendous role in the tourism sector had not been able to utilise its full potential on account of the limited number of aircraft, he said attempts were being made to enhace the efficiency of the management with a view to salvaging its reputation and credibility.

All possible measures would be taken to make civil aviation in Nepal reliable, safe and service-oriented, and priority had been accorded to increasing the facilities at airports in the country and installing communications equipment, he said.

He further said that the airports under construction at Mugu, Kalikot, Kamal Bazaar, Masinechaur, Thamkharka and Kadaledada would be completed and made operational within the next two to three years and budget provisions in this regard had been made through the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, while the idea of constructing the Gautam Buddha International Airport at Lumbini and an international airport at Pokhara had been taken ahead.

A programme for the production of high level manpower required for the tourism sector had already been initiated through the tourism and hotel management academy, and attempts were being made to raise the quality of training imparted, Minister Gachchhadar said.

The ministry had been protecting the cultural heritage of the country as far as means and resources permitted, but much more had to be accomplished in this sector, he said and added that the views expressed by MPs on the renovation, repair and maintenance of monuments of historic, religious and cultural importance had been taken positively by the government.

In the context of the pressure being exerted to remove some of the heritage sites of Nepal from the World Heritage List for failure to maintain standards, he said that more importance had been given in this regard in current fiscal year 2001-02 and proposals had been made to carry out conservation programmes.

He said that work was in progress in the Pashupati area as per the master plan and a target had been set to carry out conservation and improvement work at a fast pace.

HMG had made budgetary allocations for the developement of areas listed as world heritage and the conservation work at the Mayadevi Temple will be carried out in the current fiscal year, he added.

MPs Netra Lal Shrestha, Ram Kumar Chaudhari, Tuk Raj Sigdel, Urmila Aryal and Yadav Bahadur Rayamajhi had sought clarifications from him.

‘Strong local bodies consolidate democracy’

Biratnagar, Sept. 23 (RSS): Main opposition leader in the House of Representatives and CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has spoken of the need to strengthen local bodies so as to consolidate democracy.

Nepal, who was inaugurating the fifth town council meeting of Biratnagar Sub Municipal Corporation here today, stressed the need to give adequate powers to the local bodies making them entirely responsible for selecting and implementing their own development projects with maximum participation of the local people.

Local bodies have an important role to play in doing away with social malpractices like caste and gender discriminations and in preserving the rights of various ethnic groups, he said.

The government has not been able to implement a progressive land reform programme, end caste discrimination and uplift women’s socio-economic status despite its commitment to implementing these programmes, he said.

As the present democratic era has already ruled out any kind of authoritarianism, it is imperative that the Maoists lay down their arms and win the trust of the people by bringing themselves into the mainstream, he said.

CPN-UML standing committee member and MP Bharat Mohan Adhikari spoke of the need to develop a master plan for the all-round development of Biratnagar, while MP Lalbabu Pandit said that only development projects which are sustainable and in the interest of the people should be implemented.

A host of other speakers including representatives of various political parties presented various suggestions on development activities in Biratnagar.

Mayor of Biratnagar Ramesh Chandra Poudel presented the budget estimate of Rs. 290 million for the current fiscal year.

Women’s issues come up during Special Hour

Kathmandu, Sept. 23 (RSS): Taking part in the Special Hour at the House of Representatives today, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey of CPN-UML referred to a report about a girl, working at the house of RPP general secretary Pashupati Shamsher J. B. Rana, who was raped by Singh Bahadur Tamang, another servant of the same house.

He demanded that Minister for Home furnish details about the incident at the house.

He also pointed out that the conservative mindset of the people should be changed in view of the inhuman treatment meted against women on the charge of witchcraft.

Kamala Devi Pant of Nepali Congress expressed anguish that a bill on rights of women on parental property which under consideration at the House had not been presented till now when the 20th session of the Parliament was about to be prorogued.

Ramchandra Raya of RPP said the government should abide by the verdict given by the Supreme Court on the imposition of ceiling on land and asked about the views of the government on the issues of amending the constitution and citizenship problems.

Chitra Bahadur K.C. of Rastriya Janamorcha argued that no one should invite a situation that leads to punishment of all the innocent people throughout the world merely because the incident that took place in the USA.

It is a paradox that the MPs of the ruling party have come down heavily on the land reform programme announced by the government, he added.

Lilamani Pokharel of Samyukta Janamorcha objected to the issuance of a press release on behalf of the Ministry of Defence at a time when the country is not in the state of emergency.

He also criticized the USA for declaring all the countries who would not back them as terrorist-abetted countries as well as HMG for allowing airspace of the country for the U.S. air force aircrafts in contravention of Nepal’s foreign policy.

Ramkumar Chaudhary of NC expressed concern over the lackadaisical responses of the local administration on the unrestricted inflow of contraband medicines into Nepalese territory from medical shops located at border areas of India.

The government should take precaution of any untoward incident that disturbs the peace and security in bordering areas after the government of India enacted a provision for allowing office-bearers of local gram panchayat to keep pistols for their security, he added.