DETAINED POLICEMAN BREAKS JAIL Kathmandu, 20 Feb.: Policeman Khem Raj Praja broke district jail at Charikot in Dolakha overnight and escaped along with his nephew. Praja was jailed for investigation in alleged case of robbery. Nnnn CAPITAL’S WEDNESDAY MORNING TEMPERATURE 5 DEGREES CELSIUS Kathmandu, 20 Feb.: Capital’s Wednesday morning at seven was 5 degrees Celsius. Mercury is expected to rise of 20 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. nnnn STIFFER MONITORING, REGULATION OF SCHOOLS Kathmandu, 20 Feb.: The government is all set to implement the ‘Institutional School Criteria and Operation Directives-2012’ to monitor and regulate institutional schools across the county from the new academic session, The Himalayan Times reports from Bhktapur.. The directives will come into force in mid-April, said DoE Acting Director General Tek Narayan Panday at a press meet today. The registration of schools will be scrapped if they do not abide by the directives, he said. A minister-level decision had issued ‘Institutional School Criteria and Operation Directives’ on February 17. At a time when private academic institutions are reluctant to abide by the education act and regulations, the implementation of directives seem a bit challenging. However, the government should be able to implement it this time as it was drafted in the presence and with consensus of heads of private schools organisations. “As it is our responsibility to ensure the implementation of directives from the new academic session, we are firm to enforce the decision at any cost,” he said. The directives had halted the operation of new private schools in an arbitrary manner. New schools will only be permitted to open in a new location on a needs basis, he said. Meanwhile, only those schools with their own property will be allowed to relocate to a new location. He said,” A big playground, one toilet per 50 students, one drinking water tap per 50 student, one water filter per 25 students, one library per 500 students, quality food in hostel and monthly food inspection report, no sale of textbooks and stationery, no more than two sets of uniform for students are some of the guidelines for institutional schools mentioned in the directives. Representatives from Private and Boarding Schools’ Organisation Nepal (PABSON) and National Private and Boarding Schools Association Nepal could be invitee members in the District Education Committee, as per the directives. Two or more than two schools will be merged if they fail to meet the standard mentioned in directives. Meanwhile, PABSON President Babu Ram Pokharel pledged to support the government in implementing the directives. Nnnn UDMF IN DILEMMA OVER GOVT. FORMATION Kathmandu, 20 Feb.: The United Democratic Madhesi Front is on the horns of a dilemma — whether or not to push for delineation of elections constituency issue and repealing of the provision of citizenship-based voter identity cards, Ram Kumar Kamat writes in The Himalayan Times.. UDMF does want to raise these issues‚ but there is a catch: If it does so‚ it fears possible breakdown of ongoing political negotiations; and if it does not‚ it dreads facing Madhesi people’s wrath during elections. The population of Madhes has risen from 49 per cent to 51 per cent — an indication that Tarai districts like Jhapa‚ Morang‚ Sunsari‚ Rupandehi and Kailali are likely to have more constituencies. If citizenship-based voter identity card provision is applied‚ thousands of voters would be disenfranchised‚ leading to a probable reduction in Madhesis’ representation in the new Constituent Assembly. And UDMF is also looking at the fact closely that the number of voters has decreased from 17 million in 2008 to 11 million in 2012. “Elimination of double entries and failure to produce citizenship cards on the part of citizens in some cases are the reasons behind reduction in the number of voters‚” said Anil Thakur‚ Spokesperson for Election Commission. According to the new census‚ the total number of citizens above 18 years of age (or eligible voters) is 15.6 million (out of 26‚494504 million population)‚ meaning 4.6 million people are not in the voters’ list. In addition‚ a total of two million (1‚921‚494 to be precise) people are in foreign countries for work. Human rights lawyer Dipendra Jha said if polls were not held on 2008 election patterns‚ one in every three persons would be disenfranchised in Madhes districts. Former election commissioner Birendra Prasad Mishra said making citizenship cards mandatory to acquire voter identity card ‘is tantamount to committing crime against humanity’. Thousands of people in the Madhes region‚ despite being the citizens of this country‚ have not acquired citizenship for various reasons. “And under current provisions‚ two million Nepalis working abroad will anyway be deprived of their right vote‚” he added. Madhesi activist Tula Narayan Shah said if Madhesi forces’ compromise on delineation of election constituencies and citizenship issue‚ it could ignite movement against the interim government and pose challenge to fresh elections. “If a new deal fails to address Madhesis’ concerns‚ they could join hands with agitating indigenous nationalities‚ Upendra Yadav-led Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal and CPN-Maoist‚ which have already raised their voice against an election government that is in making‚” he said. Jha pointed at yet another bleak situation in the Tarai. “There are thousands of people in Madhes‚ especially the poor‚ still to acquire citizenship‚ and there are incidents of village or municipal secretaries denying them citizenship or marriage certificates asking them to prove first that they are Nepali citizens‚” said Jha. nnnn