Constitution needs a review for effective federal execution: Ex-CJ Shrestha

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June 17: Former Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha has said that the constitution needs to be reviewed for effective and time bound implementation of federalism. 

Right after the promulgation, the supreme legal charter of the nation should have come up with a clear mechanism to make sure that it is put into implementation in a smooth and effective manner, Shrestha said in a brief conversation with journalists at Gorkhapatra Corporation office on Sunday. 

Shrestha visited the Corporation to observe a historical photo exhibition ongoing at the corporation for nearly two months now. The exhibition, the second edition of last year’s similar event, is organised by the Corporation to mark the 124the year of the publication of Gorkhapatra and the Republic Day. Accompanying Shrestha to view the exhibition was Krishna Man Pradhan, Executive Director of Nepal Law Society.

The photos were taken with analogue cameras of those days, covering 30 years ranging from 2030 to 2060 Bikram Sambat. “The provisions in the constitution that pose hindrance to federal implementation should be cleared after a thorough review,” former CJ Shrestha said.  

Talking about the importance of Gorkhapatra’s historic photo exhibition, Shrestha said that this is a commendable effort on the part of the organiser Gorkhapatra Corporation to give public access to the rare historical images captured by photo journalists. 

These images represent and reflect the changing dimensions of the society, political system and development. They show both the positive side of things as well as some shortcomings in the development approach taken by the country, the former CJ said. “For instance, I saw a photo depicting cotton farming in Nepal long ago. We also used to have a textile factory. They are absent today.”

These photos tell stories about the sufferings of the people. In those days, Gorkhapatra was only the medium to capture the mirror of the society. It has recorded the presence of the state in pictures. Public trust is the capital of Gorkhapatra and it has established itself as the synonym to newspaper. It is as relevant as ever, Shrestha said. 

Executive Chairman of Gorkhapatra Corporation Bishnu Subedi, General Manager Lal Bahadur Airi and Chief Editor of Gorkhapatra Shiva Kumar Bhattarai shed light on the significance of the photo show which has collected, scanned and displayed rare journalistic snapshots from a vast trove of analogue camera films from the Corporation’s archive.