Message For Peace

AS religion refers to serving others, people of all the faiths should move ahead for peace among mankind by adopting this meaning of religion, observed Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand while addressing a foundation stone laying function-cum-religious discourse programme organised by the Kirat Religion Protection Central Working Committee at Chulachuli-2 of Ilam district and which was held to coincide with the Mahashivaratri Festival with the motto "World Peace and Unity: The Need of the Day". Lord Shiva, along with Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma, comprise the Hindu Trinity. It is for this very reason that Mahashivaratri-or the night to commemorate the birth of Lord Shiva-holds a very important place in the hearts of all Hindus throughout the world. Although Lord Shiva, as per Hindu tenets, is considered to be the Destroyer of the Hindu cosmogony as and when the time comes, he is also revered as the god who propounded the path of yoga which, in essence, is highly meditative and directed to the union of "jivas" (or individual souls) with that of "Shiva" (or the Ultimate or the Universal Soul). Apart from this, Lord Shiva is also viewed by all Hindus as the destroyer of all kinds of obstacles that could hinder the devotees trying to merge their souls through the path of yoga with the Universal Soul so that they would not have to endure the endless cycles of birth and rebirth. In other words, Lord Shiva is the god who always protects his devotees and helps them in their endeavours to attain the much-sought after spiritual state of "samadhi" through the path of yoga.

But then, for Lord Shiva's devotees-who obviously figure in the millions-to progress along the path of religious discipline espoused by Lord Shiva, a peaceful environment is most essential. That too, not only in the spiritual plane, but also in the social, economic and political planes. For, after all, Lord Shiva's devotees-be they sadhus who have renounced the materialistic world or lay persons still engaged in mundane activities-are also integral sections of the Nepalese society. As such, Premier Chand's observation during the function-that all the political parties and the civic society should extend cooperation to the government's efforts to ensure peace, law and order-should be viewed in this light.

Trace The Records

BIR Hospital, as per a news item carried by this daily the other day, does not have records of the hundreds of ropanis of guthi (trust) land donated to it since its establishment in 1959. That the nation's oldest general hospital could be owning vast landed property donated to it over these years by grateful patients or by philantrophists is hardly surprising. For, other hospitals in Nepal and abroad do also own landed properties that have been donated to them for various reasons by different people. But what is indeed surprising is to know that the concerned authorities of the Bir Hospital do not seem to have records of the hundreds of ropanis of land that had been donated to it by the grateful patients, their relatives or the philantrophists since 1959. If what the news is saying is true, then it looks to reason on the part of the hospital's concerned authorities to come up with relevant initiatives to not only ferret out the records of its vast landed property but also bring the donated property under their jurisdiction. Towards this end, the hospital's concerned authorities need to renew their efforts to scour all available avenues, especially the land tax offices throughout the country, to get hold of records of landed property registered in the hospital's name. Only then would the concerned authorities be able to ascertain the true worth of the bequeathed lands, particularly in terms of their areas, locations and outputs.

This, at a time when this oldest general hospital is said to be in dire need of additional resources to, among others, upgrade its existing medical services and facilities so that it could cater to the medical needs of a larger number of patients, could definitely come in handy for the resource-strapped hospital. More particularly for hospital's concerned authorities to embark upon the long-shelved but expected expansion programmes. For, of late, this oldest general hospital of the country, due to the lack of adequate funds, is reported to be passing through challenging times. Despite the yearly budgetary allocations by the government, the hospital's concerned authorities are reported as having a hard time in trying to meet the increasing demands for more medical services and facilities from the people and patients alike. As such, the hospital's concerned authorities, to generate the much-needed resources to upgrade the hospital's medical services and facilities as per the people's demands, should strive to consolidate all the hospital's landed property.