Parliament To Vote On Govt. Policy Today
Budget To Be Presented This Week

By Our Correspondent

The discussion on the policy and programmes of His Majesty’s Government ended Friday and today (Sunday) the parliament will vote on the government's policies and programmes after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala furnishes replies to the queries raised by the members of the parliament.

During the week-long discussion on the government programmes for the next fiscal year, all the opposition parties had criticised the government's programmes as lacking a clear vision and it being just a formality failing to give a new direction.

While the lawmakers from the treasury bench fully defended the programmes and policies, the opposition members emphasized on the amendments saying that it would be incomplete if the they were not incorporated.

Meanwhile, the government will have no problem in getting its programmes endorsed by the parliament.

Despite enjoying a majority in the parliament, meaning it can easily get its policy document through the parliament, the government has showed leniency towards the oppositions' suggestions. But the oppositions have denied that the government have shown any inclination towards incorporating the oppositions suggestions.

Speaking as the first speaker at the discussion Friday former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said urged all to review the strength and weaknesses of the last decade and prepare a common vision to lead the country towards development .

During their comment on the paper, opposition MPs also pointed out at several shortcoming in the proposal. One of the points raised by the opposition was that the Royal Address was silent about the Nepal Development Forum meet in Paris.

Now, after the passing of the government's policy document with a vote of thanks today, the focus will be on the budget for the coming fiscal year.

The budget is most likely to be presented this week, and economists and others, including the common people, are giving more than a casual interest to this year's budget. This is mainly because the government's policies and programmes have clearly stated that security will be a major focus of the government. This is taken as the spendings on security and in controlling the violent activities of the Maoists will be increased considerably.

And also, the coming fiscal year is the penultimate year of the Ninth five-year plan, and there will be considerable efforts to meet the main target of the plan, which is poverty alleviation.

There are speculations that the budget for the next fiscal year will see a significant rise in amount.

Meanwhile, economists and development planners have been suggesting that this year's budget will give a peep-hole to how the country shapes its economic policies in the new millennium.

But many of them seem concerned about the increased spending in security. They say, any increase of funds for security must not come at the cost of development expenditure.

HR Commission Formed

By Our Correspondent

Finally the government formed the much awaited Human Rights Commission.

His Majesty the King onFriday appointed former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Nayan Bahadur Khatri as the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission. The other members of the commission are Gauri Shankar Lal Das, Kapil Shrestha, Sushil Pyakurel and Indira Rana.

They are appointed for a period of five years.

The Human Rights Commission Act was formulated some four years back after Nepal signed the international convention on human rights. However the successive governments failed to constitute the Commission.

The formation of the Human Rights Commission was being seen by the human rights activists as a key issue in promoting and monitoring human rights situations in the country.

Even Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had made the formation of the commission a priority when he took over power two months ago.

The Commission will have a right to look after the human rights violation cases, recommend the authorities take actions against the guilty, recommend the concerned to ratify the the international agreement done by the International Human Rights Commission, inspect the jails and conduct various programmes.

SC's Order Gives Hope To Doctors

By Our Correspondent

The issue of almost five dozen students who have completed their medical courses but were denied recognition by the Nepal Medical Council may be nearing completion.

The Supreme Court last week issued directives in the name of the government to maintain certain criteria so as to forward the process of registering the doctors who have completed their medical studies in Russia and other republics of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

The court verdict has generated rays of hope among 60 plus doctors who were denied registration by the Council.

According to Kashi Raj Dahal, Spokesman at the Supreme Court, the apex court has separately directed the government and the Nepal Medical Council to take necessary steps for giving recognition to such doctors.

ÒThe court has told the government to prepare proper grounds for the registration. It has also directed the council to work after consulting with the government while starting the task of registration,Ó Dahal said.

However, almost one week after the Supreme Court giving its verdict, the Nepal Medical Council says it has not received the Court's order formally.

The Council had said that as these doctors have not studied basic science, i.e., completed the intermediate of science or higher secondary level, before pursuing the medical course, they were illegible for registration and thereby practising.

Nearly 50 doctors had filed 14 different cases at the Supreme Court demanding for registration and recognition as doctors equivalent to others.

All of them had gone to the Soviet Republics under self-finance after completing their schooling. After they returned home but were refused by the Medical Council, they had said it was the government's fault.

"When the government did not stopus then, but rather provided us with Forex facilities and others, how can the Council deny us now," they had argued.

It certainly would be a big loss of the resources the students have spent for their studies if the country fails to utilise them. The country suffers a chronic shortage of doctors with one doctor per every 33,000 people.

Presently, there are 2,417 doctors registered at the Nepal Medical Council.

AIC In Need Of Fertilizer

By Sunil K.C.

The Agriculture Inputs Corporation (AIC), the major importer and supplier of chemical fertilizer in the country, is running out of stock of chemical fertilizer, and it will take about five months for the Corporation to import fertilizer from abroad.

The Corporation on Thursday decided to call a tender for the supply of 15,000 metric tons of urea and 10,000 metric tons of DAP (Di-Ammonium Phosphate). The final decision on the tender will be taken tomorrow (Monday) and the tender notice will be published shortly.

However, there are scepticism whether the tender will be successful. Two tenders called by the Corporation in the last seven months had failed to attract any bidder.

The Corporation had published a tender notice in The Rising Nepal on Kartik 29, 2056 B.S. for the supply of 20,000 metric tons of urea. But it did not get any response. Similarly, another tender on Magh 5, 2056 B.S. for the supply of 7,000 tons of DAP also failed to attract any supplier.

Nitya Raj Koirala, General Manager of AIC said the major reason for not getting any response to the tenders was the government’s policy of transporting 25 per cent of the total chemical fertilizer imported through Bangladesh by the way of Kakarbhitta-Fulbari-Banglabandh route.

According to Chudamani Dhakal, Chief of Distribution of the Corporation, this policy of bringing in one quarter of the total fertilizer imported through the Banglabandh-Fulbari route makes the fertilizer expensive. Moreover, it takes more time and the goods will not get here on time because of the bad roads.

ÒBecause of these reasons no suppliers would go for that route,Ó he said.

Considering the impending shortage of fertilizer, the AIC recently asked the government to waive the route restriction in its latest tender.

But the government has refused to consider the request and the next tender, to be published very soon, may again include the same condition.

ÒIf that happens,Ó General Manager Koirala fears, Òthere may not be any bidder this time also.Ó

This may mean farmers may face a shortage of chemical fertilizer for the monsoon crops.

Already the demand for fertilizer is rising for the corn (maize), and it will start peaking up during the time of the planting of rice (paddy) in about a month’s time.

According to Koirala, the Corporation presently has a stock of about 26,000 tons of urea and 14,000 tons of DAP.

The country’s annual demand of chemical fertilizer is about 200,000 metric tons of urea and about 100,000 of DAP. The country needs about 70,000 to 80,000 tons of urea and about 20,000 to 22,000 tons of DAP for the monsoon crops alone.

With the uncertainly over the import of fertilizer by the AIC, farmers may have to depend wholly on the private sector for the supply of chemical fertilizer.

The AIC says its present stock may see it through Shrawan (mid-August) at the current rate of selling.

Even this stock would have gone had not the Corporation’s employees staged a strike and stopped selling fertilizer for about two and a half month demanding an increase in the price of fertilizer. The employees had even suspected that the fertilizer sold by AIC was not reaching the target group, i.e., the farmers. They had doubted that some private sellers were buying the fertilizer sold by AIC and stocking them.

The selling of fertilizer was resumed about a month ago after the Corporation’s board of directors decided to increase the entry point price of fertilizer to Rs. 8,940 per metric ton from Rs. 8,000. Even at this price, Koirala says, the Corporation is suffering a loss.

The issue now is that the government is gradually reducing the subsidy on fertilizer and by the next one year it will be stopped altogether and the Corporation will be privatised, changing it into a company.

The government had, about two years back (2054 Kartik 21 B.S. to be exact), decided to gradually reduce subsidy and also allowed the private sector to import and distribute chemical fertilizer. This ended the monopoly of AIC in the import and distribution of chemical fertilizer.

However, Koirala said, despite enjoying the same facility (of subsidy) and not having the restriction of the route, the private sector was selling fertilizer at about Rs. 1000 more than the AIC.

Meanwhile, according to AIC sources, the subsidy on chemical fertilizer will be completely stopped within the next year and the Corporation will be changed into a company.

Even the next import of fertilizer by the AIC will be without subsidy. That means, the fertilizer will cost even more.

There are now doubts that without subsidy chemical fertilizer could be beyond of the reach of many farmers.

Last year, Koirala said the Corporation suffered a loss of about Rs. 290 million rupees.

ÒWhile the government was giving subsidy the AIC was recouping the loss, but when there will be no subsidy, the AIC will have to compete with the private sector.Ó Moreover, it could be an uneven playing field, with the string of the route attached and AIC still having the responsibility of reaching to the remote areas.

ÒWhen the private sector is given an equal privilege as the AIC, the government should also tell the private sector to supply to the remote areas,Ó Koirala said.

Meanwhile, after the AIC is changed into a company, all aspect — import, sale and distribution — of chemical fertilizer will be left to the private sector, but the government cannot and should not forsake its responsibility on providing fertilizer to the agriculture sector, which is the mainstay of the country’s economy.

The problem at hand is how to make the fertilizer available for the coming monsoon crops. Still majority of the farmers depends on the Agriculture Inputs Corporation for the supply of the fertilizer. When the AIC runs out of its stock and no fertilizer coming in, they may either have to buy it from the private importers at an inflated price or go without it, meaning producing less crop.

Even if the private sector has enough fertilizer, but with its distribution network almost non-existent in the outlying places, farmers in those areas are unlikely to benefit from them.