22 TERAI DISTRICTS CLOSED DOWN FOR THIRD DAY Kathmandu, 6 June: Kamalaries and organizations behind them closed down 22 terai districts for the third consecutive day Thursday. The former Tharu child workers are demanding investigation into them, including murder. Two rounds of government, kamleri talks to address demands of the former child workers Tuesday\Wednesday were inconclusive. nnnnc DHARMA RAJ THAPA ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL IN SERIOUS CONDITION Kathmandu, 6 June; Dharma Raj Thapa was admitted in serious condition Wednesday To the Western Regional Hospital in Pokhara. He’s suffering high blood pressure and breathing problems, according to MahokAdhikari. nnnn . PRESIDENT HOLDS EXTENSIVE TALKS WITH PARTY LEADERS Kathmandu, 6 June: President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has sped up his initiatives to bring all political parties at one place to ease the process for holding election to Constituent Assembly, The Rising Neal reports.. Yadav Wednesday parleyed with the leaders of Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala, Rastriya Janamorcha chairman Chitra Bahadur KC, CPN-M general secretary CP Mainali, CPN-Samyukta Chandra Dev Joshi, Sanghiya Samajwadi Party-Nepal chairman Shook Rai and Terai-Madesh Loktantrik Party chairman Mahanta Thakur separately. During the meeting, the President inquired about the progress on the negotiations aimed to smooth the path to the CA poll. According to the Presidents' press Advisor Rajendra Dahal, President Yadav urged the attending leaders to build atmosphere for the election. “The President requested them not to disturb election” he said. The President asked chiefs of the big parties to take heed of the concerns of the agitating fringe parties. Dahal said that the President also requested the fringe parties to be flexible on their stances to make election possible as the poll offered them opportunity to canvass their agenda. “The President wanted to make it sure that the poll should not be disturbed by the postures of the fringe parties” Dahal said. The fringe parties' leaders also informed the head of the state about their concerns and positions. A few days ago, he met with CPN-UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal. Nnnn CALL FOR SPECIAL MECHANISH TO FIGHT UNTOUCHABILITY Kathmandu, 6 June: Various speakers Wednesday underscored the need of forming a special mechanism to battle the caste-based discrimination and untouchability prevailing in the Nepalese society, The Rising Nepal reports.. Speaking at an interaction programme organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), various stakeholders stressed the need of formation of a national level mechanism to take a proactive move against all forms of caste based discriminations. They said such mechanism must be formed so that it could deal with the problem by applying a holistic approach. To end the caste-based discrimination for economically equitable and prosperous society, the NHRC was said to be working to formulate a new strategic plan. The Commission has also formed a separate unit for protecting and promoting anti-discriminatory laws. Expressing his solidarity towards the movement against the caste discrimination and untouchability, chairman of NHRC Kedar Nath Upadhyay said changing the wrong and conservative mentality of the people was a must to end all forms of caste based discrimination. “Although the government has formulated numerous laws against caste based discrimination, promulgation of the anti-discriminatory law alone is not enough as it needs to be effectively implemented,” said Upadhyay. Admitting that NHRC and other concerned bodies were dealing the issues of Dalit only with reactive approach, Upadhyay said implementation of the existing laws and spreading awareness should go hand by hand. Bhakta Bishwokarma, chairman of Nepal National Dalit Welfare Organization, asked the government to make the police departments and the political parties more sensitive over the issue of dalit so that the victims could have access to justice. Sushil B.K, representative of dalit based organization, said, “The more we generate human rights defenders from the dalit community the more effectively we could battle against the caste based discrimination.” Saroj B.K, another representative of dalit based organization, said the government must make the issues of dalit as one of their main agenda. Political protection for the perpetrators of caste based discrimination shouldn’t be tolerated by the state, he added. The government must create such an environment where the people could easily accept the existence of the dalit people, said the participants. At the programme Upadhyay expressed his commitment to provide logistic and technical support to dalit movement. Nepal was declared free from all forms of caste based discrimination on 21st Jestha of 2063 B.S. nnnn