Panel presents report to Ojha

RSS

KATHMANDU, Apr. 4: The Higher Secondary Education Council Investigation Committee presented its report to Minister for Education and Sports Devi Prasad Ojha at his office at Kesharmahal, today.
The three-member committee constituted under the convenorship of ex-administrator Narayan Prasad Ojha with education expert Bhanu Timilsina and lawyer Borna Bahadur Karki with members was constituted on December 27 to present report with suggestions on the council's economic, technical and managerial weaknesses and irregularities.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Ojha said the report will be immediately implemented as the works and duties of the council will be clear from the report. Assistant Minister Rabindra Khanal said the report will be instrumental in increasing the importance and glory of the council.The report calls for amendment in the by-laws as irregularities were seen on its backing.

Courtesy call

RSS

KATHMANDU, Apr. 4: Australian Ambassador Keith Gardner paid a courtesy call on Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Kuber Prasad Sharma at the latter's' office today. Mutual cooperation and tourism development between the two countries were discussed during the meeting.

Loan for foreign employment delayed

RSS

LALITPUR, Apr. 4: The loan facility programme promoted with the objective of helping Dalits, dispossessed, down-trodden, nationalities and violence-victims in obtaining opportunities for foreign employment has still been in limbo.

The programme, which was to provide loan facility during the fiscal year 2059/60, had been declared last year under the government's policies and programmes. Although the government had formulated policy to send Nepalese youths to overseas employment via the Employment Promotion Commission, Lalitpur, no any achievements of the kind so far have been made.

According to the commission, the commission will provide loan to those who have received visa on their own efforts or via any man-power companies. The work of the commission has been delayed because of the confusion in delimiting criteria for listing the youths to be provided with the opportunity of foreign employment, says member-secretary of the commission Subarna Lal Shrestha. The programme will give priority to the youths of Mid-Western Region suffering from domestic violence, dalits and fire-victims of Manglung, Terhathum, he said.

The commission has already enlisted the names of capable man-power companies to bring quotas of employment and send the youths to foreign employment, but it has not been decided yet to whom to provide loan and what should be the concrete criteria to select them, he added.

Steps are being taken to select the right person who really deserves the facility, and for this all-side committees have been formed under the chairmanship of chief district officer in each district, he further said.There are 16 man-power companies which the government has selected from across the country to deal with foreign employment and they are to provide all the timely information regarding the nature of employment, salary, facilities and other details of the employee to the commission.
General secretary of Nepal Joint Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs' Association Nanda Ram Rai said that the issue of what type of employment is to be provided to the youths is more important rather than the issue of loan to be provided to them.

The government is said to provide a loan of Rs. 100,000 per employee to be sent to foreign employment at maximum.According to the commission, the loan received based in the aforementioned criteria should be re-paid within 18 months with an interest of 11 per cent.Such a loan can be received without any fixed deposit. Some 300 youths have been targeted to send to such foreign employment during the current fiscal year under the programme's pilot plan.

UML leader urges Maoists not to enter jungle

RSS

POKHARA, Apr. 4: General Secretary of Nepal Communist Party -UML Madhav Kumar Nepal has said doubts have arisen in the people on hearing the Maoist leaders say they will return to jungle again if the peace talk is a failure.

Speaking at meet-the-press organised by Press Chautari Nepal, Kaski branch here today, General-Secretary Nepal called for the Maoists not to enter the jungle again breaking the cease-fire, not to co-work and make consensus with reactionary forces and move ahead hand-in-hand with main political parties in the field of peace.

Pointing out the need for all to be co-operative and helpful in making the ongoing peace process triumphant, Nepal said the constitution of multi-party government is the present necessity and this is the key that opens the door for settling Maoist problem.

Emphasising the importance of peace to consolidate democracy in the country, general secretary Nepal said the country may be victim of war and terror again if we fail to understand and realise the past mistakes.President of the branch Jana Kalyan Parajuli presided.

Meeting reviews project status

RSS

KATHMANDU, Apr. 4: Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation and Land Reforms and Management Badri Narayan Basnet chaired the meeting of the Ministerial Level Development Problems Resolution Committee at his office today.

The meeting reviewed the progress reports of development projects and programmes carried out under the ministry during the second quarter of the fiscal year 2003/2004 and also discussed the problems seen in their implementation. According to the Ministry of Land Reforms and Management, six out of the ten projects carried out during that period had recorded 80-100 per cent progress and the average progress of the Ministry was 70.66 per cent.

At the meeting, Minister Basnet directed the officials concerned to conduct on site inspections on a regular basis to see whether physical progress as stated in the progress report has been met or not met. The Minister also gave instructions to implement programmes, including those lagging behind the target during the second quarter of the fiscal year 2003/2004 so that they would make progress as per the set target.

He urged all the employees concerned with development programmes and projects to immediately resolve any problems faced during the implementation stage of the programmes and inform the Ministerial Level Development Problems Resolution Committee in time about any topics that needs to be resolved at the ministerial level.

On the occasion, National Planning Commission (NPC) member Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the Ministerial Level Development Problems Resolution Committee should meet regularly to resolve any problems encountered in the course of implementation of the development programmes. He also suggested all the bodies concerned to inform the NPC on time on any problems that could not be resolved at the ministerial level to be forwarded to the committee.

Secretary at the Ministry of Land Reforms and Management Ananta Raj Pandey said that the ministry was making efforts towards carrying out all the development programmes as per the objective. Present at the meeting were the high-level officials at the Ministry of Land Reforms and Management as well as chiefs of the Department of Land Survey, Land Information and Records Department, the Land Reforms and Management Department and the Land Management Training Centre under the Ministry, Administrators at the Guthi Sansthan, projects chiefs concerned and representatives of various ministries and departments.