NC CWC MEET RESUMES WEDNESDAY Kathmandu, 5 Sept. NC central working committee (CWC) resumes Wednesday after three-day adjourned for three days. Extended discussions on a political report of General Secretary Krishna Prasad Shitaula will conclude Wednesday, Prakash Sharan Mahat said. The party is trying to adopt official position on major issues amid differences between President Sushil Koirala and senior leader and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Maoist Chairman Prachanda Tuesday firmly rejected main opposition NC demand it should lead a government. Both Prachanda and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai rejected the demands in the absence of parliament. There’s no way to ascertain respective strengths of parties after dissolution of constituent assembly (CA) and parties are forming fronts to strengthen positions. Maoists and Madeshbadi parties in government have formed an alliance of 21 parties; Madeshibadi parties have a front of five parties and opposition NC and UML thatoppose fronts have their own alliance of what is called democratic parties. nnnn/ ARMY SURVEY TEAMS LEAVE FOR CANTONMENTS Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: Survey teams of Nepal Army (NA) left for five of seven cantonments with six members each Wednesday on orders of secretariat of a special committee on integration, supervision and rehabilitation headed ex-officio by the prime minister to follow-up on the delayed peace process.. Each team comprises Nearly 3,100 plus former PLA commanders are awaiting integration and many have deserted cantonments amid frustration among fighters at the delayed process. The integration will be conducted to meet amid NA standards although opposition representatives agreed at a committee meeting to relax rules of age and education for entry into the state army. The teams are going to the cantonments to verify eligible fighters according to relaxed rukes. nnnn CIAA TO INVESTIGATE CHARGES OF MAOIST FINANCIAL IRREGULARITIES AT CANTOMNENTS Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) waiting to investigate the allegation of embezzlement of millions of rupees from state coffers, in Maoist cantonments, The Himalayan Times reports. “Since the UCPN Maoist is in government, it is the primary duty of the government to look into it,” Ishwori Prasad Paudel, Spokesperson of the constitutional anti-graft body told The Himalayan Times. According to the CIAA, it will begin investigation into the matter once the party investigating panels submit their reports to the party and the government responds to it. “The government may forward the case to us and we will perform our duty,” Paudel said adding, “We will even check whether a proper investigation was done.” When the party rank and file charged the leaders and cadres of embezzling the amount, the party formed two investigative panels. The party had entrusted a panel led by Amik Sherchan to look into the allegation of embezzlement by leaders. Another panel led by Posta Bahadur Botati was formed to investigate allegation of corruption involving the combatants. It is alleged that Maoist leaders and commanders embezzled millions of rupees from state coffers when the government released the amount for combatants who took voluntary retirement in February. CIAA officials have said the party’s investigation reports will be the preliminary sources for further investigation. During the meeting of the Special Committee for Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of former UCPN-Maoist combatants on Monday, the Nepali Congress and UML demanded investigation into alleged corruption in the cantonments. Special committee member and Nepali Congress leader Ram Sharan Mahat had demanded a probe because cantonments were under the control of the committee so a moral question was raised against it regarding irregularities in the cantonments. He demanded that the guilty be punished after investigating irregularities in the cantonments. Maoist leader Sherchan, who heads an investigation panel, said the reports will be submitted within three weeks. “We are in the final stage of our investigation, but I am not compelled to reveal the progress of the study,” he said adding, “Since it is an internal study of the party, it is not necessary for the public to be concerned about the matter.” Nnnn • GOVT. TAKES PEOPLE FOR RIDE Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: The subsidy policy in petroleum products and state-owned oil company’s incompetence have put consumers at the receiving end, but the government is completely oblivious to the plight of general public. Instead, the government seems to be socialising the loss of Nepal Oil Corporation and helping privatise profits to petroleum businessmen, Shiromani Dhungana writes in The Himalayan Times. A former chief of NOC says the government is ignoring other relevant options and trying to cover up its own and oil monopoly’s inefficiency. “The estimated loss calculated based on projection of fuel consumption by the corporation is exaggerated and wrong,” says Digambar Jha, former managing director of NOC. “The corporation’s projection that the market consumes around 65,000 kl of diesel every month is misleading. In rainy season, when most of the construction works are halted, the average diesel consumption stands at 35,000 kl.” Jha argues that NOC’s projection of consumption of petrol and liquefied petroleum gas, or cooking gas, is also fictitious. “The loss figure could be significantly low, almost half of what the NOC has been claiming, if its monthly projection were correct and real,” says Jha.Sunday’s decision to hike the prices of petroleum products once again has drawn fire from consumers and consumer rights activists who have been saying for long that the government and NOC are ignoring the rampant corruption in the corporation. The government has presented itself as a business entity by refusing to reduce the tax levied on petroleum products, and it is collecting monthly interest from the general public, says economist Chiranjivi Nepal. The government levies Rs 34.12 tax on each litre of petrol, Rs 15.70 on each litre of diesel and Rs 237.85 on each cylinder of cooking gas. “The government should lower the tax. It will be a great relief for the consumers with festive season just round the corner,” says Nepal, adding that dependency on petroleum products to meet the revenue target and run a corrupt and inefficient organisation is a wrong approach. The general public are also burdened with interest expenses and loan — Rs 2.67 on each litre of petrol, diesel and kerosene, Rs 4.17 on each litre of Aviation Turbine Fuel and Rs 37.93 on each cylinder of cooking gas — of the state oil monopoly. “It is absolutely ridiculous that NOC as a government institution is paying millions in interest to the Ministry of Finance every month,” says Nepal. Syndicate and cartel of transporters, dealers and cooking gas bottlers have also contributed to the hike in price of petroleum products. “The price of petroleum products can go down if the government takes initiative to calculate commission rates and transportation cost being provided to the dealers and transporters in a scientific manner,” says consumer rights activist Jyoti Baniya. “The government has been cheating consumers by providing 7-10 per cent less quantity.” The government itself is not sure whether the existing accounting system of NOC is ‘correct’. “The government had formed a committee led by the vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission to check NOC’s accounts system,” says an official at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, adding that the committee too failed to check the detailed account on time. The government should not put the agenda of reforming the oil monopoly on the back burner but the reforms plan seems to have gone up in the flame. nnnn