CHEPANGS PREFER DEVELOPMENT TO RELOCATION Kathmandu, 7 Sept : Chepang people, one of Nepal´s highly marginalized communities, have opposed the government´s efforts to relocate them to a developed area, Chandni Hamalwrites in Republica from Chitwan. Instead, the Chepang people have demanded basic amenities like drinking water, electricity, schools and health facilities in their own villages. “I was born here and I grew up here. I can´t live elsewhere,” says Ratna Bahadur Chepang, 70, a resident of Siddi VDC-7 of Chitwan district. “I don´t have skills to survive elsewhere. So, I don´t want to shift to any other place.” Around 30,000 Chepang people have been living in different VDCs of Chitwan district. While their forefathers mainly survived on the roots and bulbs found in the forest area, today´s Chepang people, apart from farming, make a living working as manual laborers in nearby towns. Most of the Chepang people do not possess land ownership certificates and their children rarely reach high schools. In Chitwan, only 25 Chepang students have passed out SLC examinations so far. Maternal and child mortality rates are also alarmingly high in the Chepang community. In August, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had spent a night in the Chepang-dominated VDC of Siddi. It is learnt that PM Bhattarai, after listening to the concerns of the Chepang people, had instructed government officials to relocate them to developed towns. Following PM Bhattarai´s instruction, a committee has been formed to figure out the best options to uplift the Chepang community. The committee led by Rajendra Yadav, chief of the Central Regional Forest Directorate, includes Indra Prasad Sapkota, chief of District Forest Office of Chitwan, Prabhat Sapkota, under secretary at Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation and Jeeva Nath Sivakoti, under secretary at Ministry of Land Reforms and Management, as members. The committee members are now busy collecting suggestions from the Chepang people in Chitwan, Makwanpur and Dhading districts. The committee has been asked to find out whether the living standards of the Chepang community can be improved by relocating them to developed areas. But the Chepang people have unanimously asked the committee members to allow them to live where they have been living now. “Instead of relocating us, the government should give land rights to us,” says Dal Bahadur Praja, who runs a cooperative of Chepang people in Shaktikhor VDC of Chitwan district. “If we are given our rights, we can make a better living in our own village. If we are shifted to some other place, most of us will have no options but to start again searching for roots and bulbs in the forest.” nnnn FOREST MINISTRY OKAYS CRITERIA FOR TRANSFER , PROMOTION Kathmandu, 7 Sept.: The Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) Thursday passed guidelines for the transfer and promotion of officials. The forest ministry is one of the most controversial ministries when it comes to transfer of officials, especially the district forest officers (DFOs), Republica reports.. “For every new minister, the first priority is the transfer of officials, and there is bargaining for money; so we have made a strong demanded with the minister not to repeat the same story this time, and he agreed,” said Bishwo Kafle of the Nepal Civil Servants Organisation at MoFSC. Trade union representatives, senior officials and the minister held a meeting Wednesday on managing the transfer of officials. “The ministry passed the transfer guidelines today and things will move accordingly,” said Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Yadu Bansha Jha. Bribery while transferring DFOs to the districts in the Terai has become chronic and every year sees the same process of bargaining for getting transferred to lucrative Terai districts. After close aides of the minister started preparing the list of staff to be transferred and started bargaining, trade union and high-level officials organized a meeting with the minister, where the latter promised not to violate the rules and regulations during transfer of officials. The 32-point criteria and guidelines for the promotion and transfer of forest officials mentions that those who are suspected of corruption or are under investigation will not be appointed as chief of any district forest office nor be allowed to handle financial transactions. The guidelines also mention that those with poor performance would not be allowed to continue in office nor be given the same kind of responsibility after their transfer. The districts in the Terai, where transactions in timber are very high, are regarded as lucrative and officials have to pay a high amount to get transfer to those places. Officials at the ministry are worried about the malpractices involved in transferring officials. “We need to be strict as per the new guidelines,” said Kafle. nnnn ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________