HELLO NEPAL

The Himalayan Times 25 April 2014 Decisiveness essential I am not so sure how to interpret the term “Political Hermit” used by PM Koirala for himself while receiving an all party delegation from Kalikot district at his office in Singh Durbar as reported in “I’m a political hermit, says PM Koirala” (THT, 23 April, Page 3). The real hermit does not have any mission or goal. If he is a real political hermit, he should have simply remained the NC President rather than ascending to the highest political helm. Is it because he owns only three mobile phones? Is it because that he returned his travel allowances accrued from his Myanmar trip to the state coffers? It was good to know that he does not intend to gain anything from politics and promises to serve the country and its people as much as possible. However, looking closely at the ongoing slow performance of his government, people do not seem happy the way he’s addressing their issues and concerns. They have been h...

The      Kathmandu Post 25 April 2014 SHERPA SAFETY Ngawan Karsang Sherpa’s article (“Russian roulette” 23 April, Page 6) should be an eye opener for the government and all other concerned bodies in terms of taking necessary steps to address the grievances of Sherpa guides-who are considered to be the back bone of mountaineering expeditions. The recent disaster on Mount Everest killing at least 16 guides was shocking. Though climbers have met such fate in the past as well, authorities were neither serious nor prepared to handle a disaster of the current scale. Sadly in Nepal , unless a major incident occurs, none of the concerned bodies shows any interest in taking precautionary measures. This time, Sherpas themselves have raised their strong voices about their safety on the mountain through a 12-point demand to the government. It was encouraging to see the government agreeing to address major demands of mountaineering and guides associations. Ti...

The Himalayan Times 22 April 2014 Move on fast track The mountaineering disaster on Mount Everest that occurred a few days ago killing at-least 13 guides was shocking. It had happened in the past also, but the authorities showed no concern and were not prepared to handle such disaster. In Nepal , unless major incidents occur, none of the concerned bodies shows any interest in taking precautionary measures.   Now, the Sherpas, who are considered to be the backbone of mountaineering expeditions, have raised their strong voice about the safety and social security. They have now put forward 12 point demand to the government and the other concerned authorities with a seven day ultimatum as reported in “Everest expeditions uncertain” (THT, 21 April, Page 1). Their demands are reasonable. It is now up to the government to initiate dialogue with the agitating Sherpas and other stakeholders at the soonest possible and create a conducive working environment convincing...

The Kathmandu Post 20 April 2014 IRRESPONSIBLE ACTS It was at all surprising to know that the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Janak Siksha Samagri Kendra (JSSK) have again failed to supply the school books on time (“Govt fails to deliver again; schools begin sans books” 14 April, Page 1) . Most of the public schools in the rural and remote areas fall victim to irresponsibility of the concerned authorities. As a result, the public school students lag behind in their studies. The Minister of Education had publicly announced that the books would reach all public schools before the beginning of the new academic year. It has turned out to be a lie. This situation will continue to arise until the JSSK prepares its working calendar and sticks to it. If possible, JSSK needs to decentralise its current printing works at the regional level or it should engage more private printing agencies to print the required number of text books so that all students have books in their...

The Himalayan Times 18 April 2014 No blanket amnesty It was indeed not encouraging to read the news “UN warns against amnesties for civil war crimes” (THT, April 16, Page 1) when the government is preparing to table the bill in the Parliament without not seriously considering the Supreme Court’s January 2013 verdict and not following the international standard norms for criminalizing serious human rights violations. Granting blanket amnesty to the gross human rights violators in the name of reconciliations is totally against the spirit of core principles of international law and weakens the foundation for a genuine and lasting peace and encouraging impunity in the country. It was not expected that the coalition government of two major parties would draft such a weak bill favouring the perpetrators rather than punishing the genuine culprits under the standard prosecution process. How come such a strong and democratically elected government could undermine the ru...

The Himalayan Times 11 April 2014 For plan, programme I have no ill intention while referring to I/NGO’s performance in Nepal considering their enormous financial and management inputs for many years. However, after going through Bihari K, Shrestha’s article “INGO’s performance in Nepal2 (THT, 8 April, Page 8), I want to share my experiences with the intention of enhancing I/NGOs performance so that the Nepali people would receive maximum benefits in the days to come. I am not so sure about the exact number of I/NGOs currently engaged in Nepal . However, my guess would be not less than in between nine to 10 thousand of such institutions are working here with or without registering with Social Welfare Centre (SWC). A few days ago, I had read that SWC does not have any proper monitoring mechanism to monitor the financial inputs and development performances of I/NGOs. If so, where does the government’s monitoring system lie with respect to curtailing I/NGOs develop...

The Kathmandu Post 11April 2014 NOT CONVINCING It was encouraging to read this report (“Referendum if no accord: PM” 9 April, Page 1) when the new Constituent Assembly is preparing to draft the new constitution within one year. The major political parties should have thought of holding a referendum during first CA itself instead of trying in vain to draft a new constitution without coming to consensus on major issues. This time, let the sovereign people decide. However, it was disappointing to hear PM Koirala saying that the local election may have to be differed until October/ November due to lack of preparation. If this is so, why do his ministers continue to publicly say that the local polls will be held within six months? And, if they were not sure about holding local polls within six months, why promise this during the election campaign? The people do not seem too happy with this government so far .    Rai Biren Bangdel Maharajgunj

The Himalayan Times 8 April 2014 Listen to the senior citizens The government’s apathy towards addressing the demands of senior citizens must have by now drawn the attention of all the people as reported in “Agitating elders remind state of promises not kept” (THT, April 7, Page 2). They have been peacefully staging their protest for the last one year in the premises of Department of Transport. It is heard that five members of senior citizen struggle committee have already passed away during this period of one year. Included in their demands are free medical treatment, separate wards in the hospitals, monthly allowance of 3000/- and 50 per cent discount in public transport fare. They have also demanded subsidy in essential commodities, 50 per cent discount in land and house taxes, drinking water, electricity and phone bills. It does not seem that unnecessary things have been included in their demands. However, whether it is possible to fulfil their demands depe...

The Himalayan Times 4 April 2014 Complete negligence The eyes of all the readers must have been on the news report “Valley on the verge of choking with air pollution” (THT, 2 April, Page 1). I was socked but not surprised to go through this news report. Looking at the air pollution increasing in the capital day by day due to lack of clear policy on combating air pollution, worst days for the Kathmandu residents are not far away. It seems very easy for the Department of Environment under the Ministry of Science and Technology to concede that it has failed to monitor the air pollutants. When are they going to realize this and act accordingly? According to the report, Kathmandu is the fourth worst polluted city with 101.05 points among other cities around the globe. This indicates that the air quality of the Kathmandu valley has deteriorated so much that do not seem easily controllable unless the government comes forward at the soonest possible with stringent la...