HoR special hour: Lawmakers air views on various issues

The members of the House of Representatives have, through the Speaker, drawn the government’s attention toward various issues concerning the public.

Airing views in a special hour of the HoR session on Wednesday, Dr. Chandra Bhandari of the Nepali Congress said the public was desperate for the fulfillment of basic needs when we are about to observe the 62 years of the restoration of democracy in the country.

He expressed his concern over the ‘classification’ of schools based on the economic status of the people.

Health facilities have turned unaffordable for people with low economic conditions due to the dominance of the medical mafia and cancer hospitals at home lack the diagnosis kits and equipment, he said, urging the government to address the issues.

Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai of CPN (UML) said road facilities caused a three percent loss annual loss to the Gross Domestic Product and the government should be serious towards the prevention of cases of road accidents. He advised the government to come up with the provision of an international-standard driving license.

“The report submitted by the Development and Technology Committee suggesting ways to minimize road accidents is yet to be implemented,” he said, highlighting the need for a separate authority to assess and verify the standard of roadways developed by the Department of Roads.

Purna Bahadur Gharti Magar of CPN (Maoist Centre) apprised the session that service delivery at the local levels had been hampered by the shortage of a required number of employees.

He pressed an idea for encouraging farmers to seek self-sufficient agriculture by addressing their strategic needs.

He urged the entire political forces to get unified in efforts to implement the Constitution despite their varied positions in the parliament.

Independent lawmaker Hari Dhakal said government grants meant for farmers rarely reach the target group. He sought facilitation at the ward level to provide grants to farmers. Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s Bina Jaiswal demanded the government revive the closed industries for job creation and to see a fall in imports.

Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal's Pradip Yadav said it was regrettable that the President declined to give assent to the Citizenship Bill twice even though it was endorsed by the House of Representatives and forwarded to the President for approval. He drew the attention of the Parliament towards the offspring of the Nepali citizens who have acquired citizenship by birth being deprived of citizenship.

CPN (Unified Socialist) lawmaker Rajendra Prasad Pandey said that the amendment to the provision of marks that one has to secure for passing the driving license test has created a situation in the country in which there are two standards for passing the test – the previous one of 100 pass marks and the amended one with 70 as the pass mark. He expressed concern that the loose provision of pass marks for acquiring a driving license might increase the risk of road accidents.

Janamat Party lawmaker Anita Devi complained about the perennial problem of farmers not getting timely seeds and fertilizers.

Call for making Lal Commission Report public

Loktantrik Samajbadi Party Nepal's Ram Prakash Chaudhary complained over the micro-finance institutions' 'terror' by raising exorbitant interest from the borrowers in the villages. He called for immediately putting an end to this trend. Chaudhary also demanded that the government promptly makes public the Lal Commission's report.

Nagarik Unmukti Party's Ganga Ram Chaudhary informed the House of the background of the 'Tikapur incident' and accused the State of discrimination against the Tharu community in regards to containing the Tikapur agitation. He said that many people from the Tharu community were jailed for trumped-up cases in the incident. He also questioned the government's intention of delaying making public the Lal Commission's report.

Chitra Bahadur KC of Rashtriya Janamorcha warned the parties in the ruling alliance to not involve in any activity that jeopardizes national sovereignty, integrity, and dignity.

Nepali Congress' Pradip Poudel said since it has been proved that the dissolution of the parliament in the past was an unconstitutional step, the present Parliament should be alert to that connection. He drew the government's attention to the urgent need of creating more employment opportunities within the country to check the exodus of youths going for foreign employment.

MPs call for resolving the problem of charging excessive interest on borrowers

Similarly, some lawmakers voiced against what they called the 'exorbitant interest' charged by the banks and financial institutions. They said that the people were facing economic and mental problems due to this.

They also called on the government to stop this practice through strict regulatory measures and resolve the problems of the landless squatters by putting in place appropriate measures. The MPs also called for making the health insurance scheme effective, providing accessible and affordable health care services to the poor, the increase in the price of aviation fuel making air travel costs for the people of remote districts

Those MPs raising this issue are Dig Bahadur Limbu, Kantika Sejuwal, Shanti BK and Ramnath Adhikari of the Nepali Congress, Rishikesh Pokhrel, Hem Raj Rai, Damodar Poudel Bairagi and Thakur Prasad Gaire of the CPN (UML), Asim Saha of Rashtriya Swatantra Party

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