Kathmandu, Jan. 18: Nepali Congress president and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said in order to institutionalise democracy we should be able to make all the people and communities feel that they have an equally important role to play in nation building.

nc president Koirala, who was inaugurating a seminar on “consolidation of democracy: Nepali Congress, intellectuals and professionals” organised by nc coordination department in Lalitpur today, stressed the need to work in accordance with the decentralisation policy so as to help democracy reach down to the grassroots level.

Untainted moral conduct among those at the helm of leadership is also a must for institutional development of democracy since leaders devoid of good moral conduct and character can never win the faith of the people, he observed.

Calling on intellectuals and professionals to ponder how institutional development and consolidation of democracy can be ensured, he asked them to give serious thought to the geo-political situation of the country, the ongoing games of various forces and the reasons behind the continuing instability in the country.

He also called upon one and all to think why the terrorists in the guise of Maoists are only making the lower level nc workers their targets.

nc coordination department chief Krishna Prasad Sitaula said the seminar was organised with the objective of collecting the views and opinions of intellectuals and professionals associated with nc for consolidation of democracy.

Member of the nc coordination department and Nepal Trade Union Congress president Laxman Basnet expressed the belief that after fruitful deliberations, the seminar will come up with some substantial conclusions.

Senior advocate Harihar Dahal spoke of the need to organise such a seminar at regional level also.