madesh front meets for second consecutive day

MADESHBADI PARTIES MEET FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE DAY
Kathmandu, 7 Jan.: A front of Madeshbadi parties meets for the
second consecutive day Saturday.
The front of terai parties is dissatisfied with Prime Minister
Baburam Bhattarai and his UCPN (Maoist) for delay in
implementing a 4-point agreement that propelled the present
coalition to power more than four months ago.
Young Turks in the front was pressing top leaders to withdraw
from the front for not implementing assurances by Bhattarai to
enlist 10,000 Madeshi youth in Nepal Army and distribute
naturalized citizenship in the south bordering India.
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FOUR MEMBERS INDUCED IN CAN
Kathmandu, 7 Jan.: Four members have been inducted in Cricket
Association of Nepal (CAN)
Newly elected President Tanka Angbuhang nominated Keshav
Ghimire of Jhapa, Thakur Prasad Pahadi of Sindhuli, Thakur Pratap Thapa and Diwakar Ghale of Kathmandu executive members.
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DEUBA SAYS RECONCILIATION, AMNESTY MUST
Kathmandu, 7 Jan.:Nepali Congress (NC) leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, who was prime minister when the Maoist insurgency started (1996) and when it was at its peak, on Friday said there are no better alternatives to reconciliation and amnesty to ensure Nepal’s smooth transition to peace, Kamal Raj Sigdel writes in The Kathmandu.
Top leaders of the NC and the Maoist party had on December 15 agreed to grant blanket amnesty to all cases of crimes perpetrated by both the state and the Maoists during the 10-year armed conflict.
For the first time since the two-party agreement, Deuba spoke on the amnesty issue, which has now become a topic of heated debate among the political parties, civil society and human rights defenders.
Deuba also maintained that while it was not wise to drag one another into prosecution for whatever wrong happened in the past, the leaders should take moral responsibility for the past crimes.
“Prachanda and I should take moral responsibility for the wrong doings during the conflict,” Deuba told the Post as he attempted to justify the parties’ roadmap to peace. “In fact, we all should take moral responsibility.”
Drawing upon the South African model of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Deuba said that for a post-conflict society like Nepal, the best way to ensure lasting peace is to reconcile and not to prosecute.
Touching upon the ongoing row in the party, Deuba said he was hopeful that the party leadership would keep its end of the promise, including to make him the Parliamentary Party (PP) leader.
He claimed that party president Sushil Koirala had agreed to make him the PP leader in exchange for his support for the office bearers’ nomination and that Prakash Man Singh, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shasank Koirala were witness to that agreement. He said he is still the party’s official candidate for the post of prime minister for a consensus government.
Claiming that he has a majority vote to claim the PP leader’s post, Deuba said he will not remain silent if the party establishment went on “breaching its own agreements.” He claimed that the “signature campaign” launched ahead of the last PM elections had received support of NC lawmakers enough to unseat Poudel from the PP post and that it was withdrawn when the party agreed to field him as the PM candidate for a consensus government.
“My colleagues had rightly warned me not to support the nomination of Ram Chandra Poudel and Krishna Prasad Sitaula. Now, it looks like I misled my friends,” said a visibly upset Deuba. He said he had serious objection to the “unilateral” dissolution of the four sister wings of the party. “I have objection over his (Sushil’s) undemocratic working style,” he said. “You cannot dissolve any organisation without warning.”
Deuba resigned as the party’s central member following differences with the establishment faction on the dissolution of the sister wings some three months ago. The party has failed to call the Central Working Committee meeting with the Deuba faction boycotting it. The faction has been demanding Koirala address the causes that led to Deuba’s resignation.
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PARTIES TO RUN LOCAL BODIES IN ANOTHER MAOIST TWIST
Kathmandu, 7 Jan.: The Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) is making preparations to authorise representatives of the political parties to run local bodies—Village Development Committees, Municipalities and District Development Committees—once again holding them more accountable, The Kathmandu Post writes .
Considering that local elections cannot take place unless the parties wrap up the peace and constitution-writing processes, the ministry decided to institute mechanisms comprising representatives of the political parties for operating over 4,000 local bodies. “I consulted with political leaders, experts and ministry officials but we have no alternative to authorising the political parties to run the local bodies,” said Local Development Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi.
He said the ministry opted for this option, as it was not feasible to hold election due to timeframe. “We all know that election is the best option but we are not in a position to make it happen now. And, the civil servants cannot bear the responsibility,” added the minister. An MoLD official said the vacant local committee will be revamped forging an agreement among the political parties.
Minister Rayamajhi floated the proposal to pick local representatives of the political parties based on the votes they secured in the Constituent Assembly elections of 2008.
“We witnessed some problems at the local bodies as political mechanisms were formed without holding them responsible and accountable. Now, the mechanism will be held legally accountable and responsible,” said Ramesh Adhikari, the chief of Planning Division under the MoLD.
The ministry is likely to reactivate the recently dissolved All Party Mechanisms or hand over the authority to civil servants in case other political parties reject the ministry’s proposal to form local bodies by inducting representatives based on their political strength at the local level.
On Wednesday, the MoLD had dissolved the APMs following CIAA directives. The anti-graft body had directed the government and the ministry to dissolve APMs reasoning that they were found promoting irregularities in mobilising budget allocated for development.
Meanwhile, National Village Development Committee Employees’ Association has asked the government to hold elections of the local bodies and hand over the authority of
operating them to the people’s elected representatives.
Issuing a press release on Friday, the association termed the government’s recent decision as ridiculous. “The government decision to authorise civil servants to run local bodies
will only promote corruption,” said General Secretary Rajkumar Thapa in the release.
THE TIMELINE
2002: Term of elected people's representatives expires
2002: Civil servants authorised to run the local bodies
2009: All-party mechanisms (APMs) formed, inducting representatives of political parties
Dec 2011: CIAA directs government to scrap APMs
Jan 2012: MoLD scraps APMs and asks civil servants to fill in
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BAIDHYACAMPS MAINTAINS TOUGH STANCE
Kathmandu, 7 Jan.: Leaders of the hardline faction of the Unified CPN-Maoist have toughened their stance, saying they would not buy the party chairman’s ‘old techniques’ of trying to appease them any more. However, the establishment faction kept making efforts to convince them today as well, Tika R. Pradhan writes in The Himalayan Times..

As many as 129 central committee members aired their views at the party’s ongoing central committee meeting today. Though most of the leaders were aggressive during the meeting earlier today, the leaders speaking later in the day stressed on party unity and underscored the need to correct wrongdoings in the party.

According to politburo member Hari Bhakta Kandel, the ball is now in Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s court. “He has two options ahead. Either we should go for a conference to further discuss the two distinct political lines or Dahal moves forward with the spirit of the Palungtar plenum,” he said. “Hardliners are ready to wait for his next document if he is ready to address the change.”

On the other hand, politburo member Haribol Gajurel, a close aide to Dahal, said there was no possibility of Dahal coming up with another document. “We can now form consensus on work plan and programmes with a common bottom line, as Baidhya has already said they were for moving forward with peace and the constitution,” he said.

Dahal and Baidhya are scheduled to speak on the issues raised by CC members on Sunday.

Party Vice-chairman and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had reached Gongabu-based residence of senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidhya today to urge him to hold back all the differences and join hands for peace and the constitution.

Bhattarai had also requested Baidhya to take the differing views to the general convention.
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ANTI-FILARIASIS DRIVE WITH OUTDATED DRUGS
Kathmandu, 7 Jan.:: The health ministry today began its first phase of anti-filariasis campaign in 32 districts, but what has come to the fore bodes ill, The Himalayan Times reports.

Purna Maya Mali, a female community health volunteer at Bungamati, Lalitpur, today found herself in a fix when she realised the medicines for lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) she had been administering to people were already expired. She came to know about her fault only after her teenager son, whom she had given the medicine, told her that the tablets she had administered had already crossed the expiry dates. She had distributed medicines to more than 100 people in Bungamati from 9am to 1pm. The medicines, provided by the World Health Organisation, had August 2011 as the expiry date.

“I came to know about the shelf life of the medicine after administrating it to my son Rupesh and his friends Rakesh and Sunil Khadgi,” said Purna Maya, adding that she later returned all the medicines to the nearest health centre. Her son Rupesh said only one-fourth of the medicines that were at his mother’s disposal were found expired.

According to Purna Maya, she was even pressured by officials at the health centres not to tell about the incident to mediapersons. “The medicines were in stock for the last one year and a half,” she informed.

Last year, the ministry had recorded five deaths, while more than 500 were taken ill after untrained volunteers were deployed to administer the anti-filariasis medicines. The volunteers had failed to follow the recommended procedure.

Dr GD Thakur, Director, Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the ministry, said EDCD has already asked the district authorities to clarify why and how date-expired medicines were administered. He also pledged to take action against the guilty. Side-effects on the people to whom the medicines were administered today were yet to be reported.
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GOVT.NEED NO NEW INDIAN DRUG MAKER
Kathmandu, 7 Jan : Though doctors in the country mostly prescribe drugs manufactured by Indian companies, the government has decided to give continuity to a four-year-old ban on new foreign pharmaceuticals companies, mainly based in India, to curb unhealthy competition among manufacturers, Arjun Poudel writes in Republica.

Only those foreign companies which produce saline, anti-cancer drugs, vaccines, contraceptive and drugs used by people living with HIV/AIDS can get entry into the Nepalese market.

The Department of Drug Administration (DDA) said new foreign manufacturers that get registered in Nepal will not be allowed to import general medicine. Since 2007, the office has been refusing to register new foreign pharmaceutical companies seeking to sell general medicine in Nepal.

The Indian government had raised the issue of ban on entry of new pharmaceutical companies to Nepal during bilateral meeting held in December 5-6 in New Delhi while Nepalese producers complained India has not allowed any Nepalese pharmaceutical products to enter the Indian market.

They said Nepalese companies are able to produce most general medicines supplied by Indian companies.

"More than 68 percent of Nepalese drug market is controlled by Indian products. But, India does not give entry to any Nepali products," Hari Bhakta Sharma, executive director of Deurali Janta Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., said.

He said if the government allowed new foreign companies, the domestic pharmaceutical companies will collapse. He said Nepalese drugs are more reliable than those manufactured by Indian companies.

DDA, which is also a national regulatory body for drugs, however, has allowed manufacturers from USA, Canada, European Union, Australia and New Zealand to register their companies and supply drugs in Nepal. DDA said compliance to Good Manufacturing Practice as recommended by World Health Organization (WHO GMP) is the minimum requirement for applying for registration.

DDA said it has stopped new registration of Indian companies in particular to check unfair competition between pharmaceutical companies. The office said medicine imported by already registered foreign companies and output of Nepal-based companies is sufficient for the current Nepalese market. Forty-four pharmaceutical companies are manufacturing drugs in Nepal. More than 250 foreign companies registered before 2007 are also supplying drugs to the country.

“Due to rampant entry of foreign drug companies, we have found multiple instances of unfair practices,” said Shyam Adhikari, a drug inspector at DDA.

He said such unethical practices directly affect poor patients. “Foreign companies provide more bonus and incentive to pharmacists and they try their best to influence doctors´ prescriptions,” he added. Adhikari said domestic companies are compelled towards unfair competition.

“We have taken a decision to promote domestic industries,” senior pharmacist at DDA Pan Bahadur Kshetri said, adding, “No new Indian company can supply general medicine in Nepal.” Kshetri said among the registered foreign companies, most
are Indian.
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BFIs THAT MISUSED YSESF FUNDS TO FACE ACTION
Kathmandu, 7 Jan.: The Youth and Small Entrepreneurs Self-employment Fund (YSESF) has warned to take action against banks and financial institutions (BFIs) that failed to make use of the money made available by the Fund to generate self employment opportunities in the country, Republica reports.

The YSESF was established by the UCPN (Maoists) government three years ago as a vehicle to provide unsecured low-interest loans of up to Rs 200,000 to promote entrepreneurship among jobless youth.

So far, the Fund has distributed Rs 338.9 million among 18 BFIs by signing agreements with them. Of this, only 11 BFIs have utilized the money. And, even among those that have used the money, many have not been active in issuing credit to jobless people.

For instance, financial institutions like Western Rural Development Bank, First Microfinance Development Bank and Madhuban Savings and Credit Cooperative have not used a single penny from a sum of Rs 27 million given by the YSESF while commercial banks like Kist, which received Rs 50 million, has utilized only 5 percent of the total amount.

“We suspect many of the BFIs are only trying to hoodwink us by saying they have not been able to utilize the money. In fact, they may have channeled the money to sectors where yields are higher,” said Punya Prasad Regmi, vice-chairman of the YSESF while being grilled by lawmakers at the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday.

Currently, the YSESF has been giving away funds to BFIs at an annual interest rate of 7 percent. These BFIs, however, are not allowed to slap rates of more than 12 percent on credits they give away to unemployed youth.

“For institutions that are in the habit of giving loans at rates as high as 22 percent, the lending rate fixed by us would be certainly too low,” Regmi said, referring to Mid Western Rural Development Bank, one of the YSESF partners, which had officially sought freedom to fix the rates on its own citing “the institution has a practice of giving away loans at rates of 22 percent and 12 percent fixed by the Fund is too low”.

“Since the rural development bank has said it has not used any of Rs 6 million given by us, we have reasons to suspect it may have diverted the money to other sectors,” Regmi said.

Regmi, however, acknowledged that some of the BFIs, which have not made use of the YSESF amount, have genuine reasons for not being able to use the money. For example, First Microfinance Development Bank, a wholesale lender for microfinance institutions, which had received Rs 9 million, said it failed to distribute the money after the YSESF did not offer training to those seeking the credit amount.

As per the YSESF rule, all people, who apply for loans, must undergo training prior to getting the credit. “Since we have not been able to orient loan seekers for quite some time, mistakes on our part have also affected credit distribution,” Regmi said.
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CA AMENDS STATUTE WRITING PROCESS
Kathmandu, Jan 6, The Constituent Assembly Friday amended the constitution writing calendar by giving 25 more days to garner consensus on the contentious issues of the constitution.
CA Chairman Subas Nembang told the meeting that the calendar was amended as per the Constitutional Committee recommendation.
Now the CC will have time to settle the disputed issues of the constitution by January 29, in place of the earlier deadline of January 5.
According to the amended calendar, the CC will prepare the first draft of the constitution between January 30 and February 4 and issue an integrated draft by mid-February.
The meeting also formed a draft committee to amend the CA regulation.
Yekaraj Bhandari of UCPN-Maoist, Ramesh Lekhak of Nepali Congress, Agni Kharel of UML, Nilam Barma of Unified Democratic Madhesi Front and Jana Kumari Chalise of CPN-ML are members of the draft committee.
‘Speed up peace process’
The opposition lawmakers drew the attention of the government and the main ruling party, UCPN-Maoist, to the delay in pushing the peace and constitution writing processes forward at a meeting of the legislature parliament Friday.
Nepali Congress chief whip Laxman Prasad Ghimire demanded clarification from the Prime Minister on why the peace process was not moving forward as expected and why the Maoist party was creating confusion.
He said that the Maoist PLA commanders had threatened to obstruct the peace process by putting forth new demands even after the Army Integration Special Committee headed by the Prime Minister had decided on the matters.
Ghimire said that the 7-point agreement was not implemented.
Maoist sought group entry in the Nepali Army and promulgation of the new constitution under the shadow of weapons, he said.
CPN-UML lawmaker Rabindra Adhikari questioned why the process of army integration was halted, why the budget was not allocated for the combatants opting for voluntary retirement and why Maoists were bargaining for high ranks in the Nepali Army.
"Such bargaining was against the 7-point pact," he said.
He suggested to not interpret the pact at one’s own interest and not obstruct the peace process.
He also said Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai would have no moral ground to sit on the chair if he was not serious on the matters.
Maoist lawmaker Pampha Bhusal said the problem was not about delaying constitution writing and limited time but it needed to go through a democratic exercise.
She said the Maoists would not accept the parliamentary system.
Bhusal also said that the present government was not taking the issue of national sovereignty seriously even as the media policy was being formulated by a foreign agency.
Meanwhile, the meeting endorsed the intra-government level agreement

on Trans Asian Railways Network.
The proposal tabled by Minister for Physical Planning and Works Hridayes Tripathi was endorsed unanimously.
The meeting also endorsed the International Nuclear Energy Agency’s Law.
At the meeting, Minister for Science Kalpana Dhamala presented the regional agreement on Nuclear Science and Technology related research and instruction for discussion.
The bill on civil service presented by Minister for General Administration Ram Kumar Yadav was also approved. The next meeting of the House is scheduled for Sunday.
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EC REGISTERS 10 MILLION IN E-VOTERS’LIST
Kathmandu, 7 Jan.; Acting Chief Election Commissioner Neelkantha Upreti disclosed on Friday that the Election Commission (EC) has registered names of 10 million people across the nation in the electronic voters’ list, The Rising Nepal reports.
"It is their electronic voters’ identity card with photographs," he said.
Upreti made this remark speaking at an interaction on ‘Prospects and Contests of Voter Registration and Representation Model in the New Constitution’ organized by National Election Observation Committee (NEoC).
He said the concern that the well informed elite groups of city areas were found reluctant to enroll their names in the list. The Commission had reached 10,000 locations to collect the voters’ names.
Urging the civil society to play constructive role to make the EC’s bid to reform electoral process a success, Upreti said that the Commission wanted to enroll the names of all eligible voters in the voters’ list.
He said that the new identity cards with photographs would avoid duplication and fraud
voting in the upcoming elections.
Constituent Assembly (CA) member Agni Kharel said that the political parties had agreed on mixed model of electoral system. "However, the details are yet to be worked out in this regard," he said.
He said that the lack of sincerity among the political leadership had delayed the constitution drafting process.
Presenting a working paper, NEoC general secretary Dr. Gopal Krishna Siwakoti said that the voters’ list or names should be documented by considering the situation of migrated and internally displaced population, among others issues.
Urging the EC to review its voters’ registration process, he also lauded the role of media to ensure people’s fundamental ‘right to vote’ by making the voters’ registration process more scientific.
Former chief of the EC Bhoj Raj Pokhrel suggested that the election process should be simplified and economic so that the nation could easily hold the elections as per the need of the nation.
Former chief of the EC Surya Prasad Shrestha urged active participation of youths and intellectuals in the process of making the electoral system fair and scientific.
Civil society leaders Charan Prasain, Kapil Shrestha, Suresh Acharya, Ganesh BK, Pradeep Pokhrel, Bhawani Prasad Kharel, Dr. Netra Timilsina, Binita Yadav, senior advocate Krishna Bhandary, among others, participated in the discussion. Constitution expert Kashi Raj Dahal Presented a working paper on electoral system.
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