Kathmandu, May 27: Taking time from the chairman of the National Assembly Dr. Mohammad Mohsin at today’s meeting of the National Assembly, Ram Chandra Bhattarai of the CPN-UML said that no standard education has been provided despite the increase in the number of universities and added that the Prithvi Narayan Campus should not be amalgamated in the Pokhara University.
Kashinath Adhikari of the CPN-UML demanded that the Minister for Foreign Affairs provide proper information on the talks and progress made regarding the Bhutanese refugees in the ninth joint ministerial meeting held in Thimpu, Bhutan.
Devendra Ghimire of the same party said the government should exempt loans of the bonded labourers in order to end the Kamaiya system which remains as a residue of the slavery system and added that the system should be brought to an end.
Bir Bahadur Singh of the same party said the government has no information on the murders and cases of missing persons since the people’s war of the Maoists began and demanded information on the condition of kidnapped former assistant Minister Reg Bahadur Subedi and his son.
MP Mohan Raj Sharma Chapagain said there is a news of six Maoists being killed in the fighting between Maoists and the police in Kailali district and questioned that whether there were deaths only on one side. He demanded that the incidents of killings of any Nepali without any reason should be stopped.
Arvinda Kumar Thakur of the Nepali Congress said the municipalities in the country are in dire strait, there is a possibility of epidemics spreading and of the number of tourists decreasing and drew the attention of the government towards it.
Lal Bahadur Biswokarma of the CPN-UML said most of the VDCs in Kanchanpur district faced epidemics last year and there is a possibility of the same repeating and demanded that medicines be sent in time.
Bijul Kumar Biswokarma of the Nepali Congress said the recently formed human rights commission has representation from the women and the Terai communities but there is no representation from the nationalities and the Dalits and demanded their representation.
Bachaspati Devkota of the CPN-UML drew the attention of the government towards the lack of arrangement for the victims of last year’s flooding in Laprak of Gorkha district which was rendered unfit for inhabitation.
Omkar prasad shrestha of the Nepali Congress, quoting the minister for commerce and supplies of saying that Nepal will be a member of the WTO by the year 2001 after returning from WTO meeting in Geneva, said a clear position of the government should come in the parliament whether it is right or not for a country like Nepal to become the member of the organisation.
Jiwan Prem Shrestha of the same party said every one should welcome the right decision of guaranteeing human rights in the country by forming the human rights commission.
Likewise, MPs finished their comments on the government policies and programmes outlined in the royal address at the National Assembly today.
Taking part in today’s discussion on the government working paper, Surendra Prasad Pandey of CPN-UML said the working paper is silent about attaining the goals of the ninth plan, ensuring free and fair elections and nliberating the Kamaiyas.
Whip of the Nepali Congress Dil Bahadur Gharti stressed the need for discussions, consensus and similar approach among all political parties for the resolution of the problems facing the country. The government policies and programmes are aimed at enabling the people live without any fear, resolving the problems of corruption and poverty and gearing up the country’s development process, he added.
National Assembly chairman Dr Mohammad Mohsin then announced that all MPs finished their comments on the government policies and programmes.
Dr. Mohsin also set may 29 as the date for the Prime Minister to furnish replies to questions raised in course of the discussions on the government policies and programmes.