Government urged to respond to needs of disaster survivors

Kathmandu, Aug 2: Speaking in a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) today, CPN (UML) Chief Whip and lawmaker Bishal Bhattarai demanded the government go for prompt collections of the details of losses caused by the recent earthquake with its epicentre in Khotang and compensate the affected.    

Airing his views in a special hour of the lower house session today, he expressed his concern over ' sluggish' progress in the loss collections. As he said, 475 houses in the district were partially damaged by the quake while some were fully destroyed. Besides, according to him, the quake had its implications on police posts, schools and government buildings    

It may be noted that the quake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale with its epicentre at Mattim Birta of Sakela rural municipality-5 in Khotang on July 31 and it was well felt in Kathmandu as well.    

Talking about the recent news reports about the government's preparation to take action against Biplav-led NCP, the UML Chief Whip advised the government to encourage the party to adopt a peaceful way bearing in mind the three-point agreement reached between the party and the then government.    

Meanwhile, taking time in zero hours of the session, Bhupendra Bahadur Thapa and Ram Bahadur Bist sought the government's intervention in reducing disaster risk in different parts of the country when the monsoon is active. They insisted on the guarantee of effective and prompt response in regard to the incidents of monsoon-related hazards including floods and landslides.    

Thapa apprised the House that Dalit settlements in the district are at high risk of the disaster and they required to be shifted to safety promptly while Mahendra Kumari Limbu called for providing proper relief and compensation to those affected by July 31 earthquake that occurred with its epicentre in Khotang, the district in Province 1.ss    
Mahesh Basnet drew the government's attention to increasing price risk, corruption, and cases of violence and crime.    

Meen Bahadur Bishwakarma, Rangamati Shahi, Meena Subba, Mohan Baniya, Mohan Prasad Pandey, Yashodha Gurung Subedi, Ramveer Manandhar and Renuka Gurung drew the government's attention towards various contemporary issues such as 'police assault' on student leaders, unequal access to education, delayed road projects, and so on.    

Call to make judiciary inclusive    

Similarly, speaking in the 'special hour' of the meeting of the House of Representatives today, lawmaker Anil Kumar Jha demanded making the judiciary inclusive. He said that out of the 80 judges appointed in the district courts in three years, none is a Madhesi whereas the constitution has stipulated that the judges' appointment should be inclusive.    

Sanjaya Kumar Gautam urged the government and park authorities to find out ways of reducing the wildlife-human conflict near the national parks while Suresh Kumar Rai called for taking measures for reducing the increasing rape incidences in the Udayapur district in recent years. He said a long-term solution should be sought for the overall reforms in the education sector through a new Education Act.    

Surendra Kumar Yadav drew the attention of the government towards removing the anomalies in the medical education sector while Prem Suwal wondered why the government was reluctant to reduce the fuel prices when the price of petroleum products has gone down in the international market.    

Yagya Raj Sunuwar expressed concern over what he called the dwindling academic environment in the country's oldest university, the Tribhuvan University, in recent days and drew the government's attention to infusing immediate reforms.    

Amaresh Kumar Singh expressed worry over the 'weak economic condition' of the country. (RSS)