Nepal

Kathmandu, August 7

Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties are divided over the governmentproposal to continue and legitimise official trade union of civil servants.

In todaymeeting of the Parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee, some lawmakers spoke in favour of the governmentproposal, while others were of the view that government employees were not workers and that their trade union should be scrapped. Some lawmakers suggested renaming ‘trade union& as ‘union&.

Lawmakers in opposition of the proposal put forth in the Federal Civil Service Bill said if government employees were to be considered as workers, who would then be the employers. They also said if civil servants were allowed to form trade unions, police and army personnel should also be allowed to form their trade unions.

Lawmakers of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), including Ram Kumari Jhakri, Navaraj Silwal and Jhapat Bahadur Rawal expressed differing views. Lawmakers of the main opposition Nepali Congress, including Amresh Kumar Singh, Dila Sangraula and Devendra Raj Kandel were also divided over the issue.

While Silwal and Rawal from the NCP spoke in support of trade union, Jhakri was opposed to it. Amresh Kumar Singh of the NC said trade union was not required, whereas Sangroula and Kandel said trade unions played vital role in protecting rights of the workers.

Nepal Workers and Peasants Party Lawmaker Prem Suwal said the proposal to continue and legitimise trade union was against the constitution.

Minister of Federal Affairs and General Administration Lal Babu Raut said the proposal to have trade union was in line with the constitutional provision.

Other lawmakers said the provision of trade union should be adopted whereby civil servants up to certain level were allowed to be involved in union activities.

NCP lawmakers including Pampha Bhusal and Khaga Raj Adhikari, expressed such views. While Bhusal was for allowing drivers and office assistants to be involved in trade union, Adhikari said government officials above officer level should be barred from unionism.

Amid differing views the meeting of the Parliamentary committee could not take a decision today.

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Kathmandu, August 8

After nearly four-and-half years of the 2015 earthquakes, about 60 per cent of total 891 heritage sites and buildings that were destroyed or had suffered damage await reconstruction across disaster-hit districts in the country.

While majority of monuments await reconstruction, the government has already spent Rs 2.126 billion to reconstruct 380 heritage sites. Majority of reconstructed sites are minor projects that had suffered partial damage compared to sites that still await reconstruction. Reconstruction of major sites is being undertaken with the support of foreign governments and agencies on their own expenses. The Department of Archaeology with the financial assistance from National Reconstruction Authority is looking after reconstruction of heritage sites. The NRA has offered additional Rs 5.10 billion for reconstruction of remaining heritage sites for the current fiscal. As the large amount of the pledged money is provided by foreign donor agencies and governments, the DoA needs to complete the tasks on time to claim the money.

Director General Damodar Gautam of DoA said, &Unlike previous years when we received money directly from the NRA, majority of the pledged amount will be provided to the NRA only after rebuilding is completed. So, we also get the money after the completion of reconstruction project.& Gautam expressed confidence over completing reconstruction within the stipulated time.Given the past trend of reconstruction process, it is unlikely that remaining heritages will be rebuilt on time to claim the money. The DoA has around two years left to meet the deadline to complete reconstruction of all heritage sites inside the country, according to Gautam. DG Gautam added they would need additional Rs 3.50 billion in the next fiscal to complete the reconstruction works.

The government had earlier said a total of 753 heritage sites in 14 most-affected districts required reconstruction. It later added 138 heritages sites in the list from additional 17 earthquake-hit districts. Gautam said reconstruction of heritage sites was tedious and required more resources compared to construction of modern buildings. &We have to keep in mind the architectural complexities of heritage buildings. Besides, they need to fully comply with archaeological principles, which increases time duration and expenditure.&

He added that lack of proper timber, skilled manpower and appropriate construction materials such as traditional bricks, mortar and lime-powder prolonged the reconstruction process.

Out of 380 restored heritage sites, 96 fall under the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 284 are in the 14 districts that were worst hit by the quakes.

Gaddhi Baithak, Krishna Mandir and Pratap Mallastatue are important archaeological sites at Basantapur area, Siddhilaxmi temple of Bhaktapur Durbar Square, main temple of Changu Narayan temple at Changu Narayan and Pratappur, Anantapur at Swoyambhu are some of the important heritage monuments reconstructed so far.

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Kathmandu, August 8

The government has started printing and distributing national identity cards without introducing a law, sowing doubts about safety of data collected from the public, while giving leeway to authorities to bypass public procurement rules.

The home ministry had registered the National Identity Card and Civil Registration Bill in the Parliament Secretariat on January 5. The bill was sent to the parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee for clause-wise discussion on February 3.

&The bill has been put on hold in the parliamentary committee since then, as it is not clear on many issues, such as data protection, and leakage of private information of people and businesspersons could threaten national security,& Dilendra Prasad Badu, opposition Nepali Congress lawmaker and shadow home minister, told the House of Representatives today.

&Even in the absence of the legislation, the Department of National ID and Civil Registration under the Ministry of Home Affairs has started distributing national ID cards,& said Badu, asking, &How can the government do this without enforcing a law?&

Badu was referring to the distribution of national ID cards in Panchthar district and to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his wife Radhika Shakya. &I heard those cards have defects as well,& said Badu.

The National Identity Card Project was launched in 2008 with the support of the Asian Development Bank. The purpose of the project is to provide biometric national ID cards to the public for which the government must collect personal data of citizens, such as name, date of birth, address, bank account details, telephone number and occupation. The government intends to use these data for several purposes, including keeping tabs on criminals and preventing people from changing their dates of birth and other crucial information for personal benefit.

Since the government does not have a law on national ID cards, it is relying on Cabinet decisions to perform most of the tasks, including procurement, according to Ministry of Home Affairs Spokesperson Ram Krishna Subedi.

&It is illegal to take decisions in the absence of appropriate law,& said Ram Narayan Bidari, a lawmaker of the ruling Nepal Communist Party and a legal expert, who heads the parliamentary Delegated Legislation and Government Assurance Committee. &Even the Cabinet should take decisions by referring to laws.&

Recently, the government awarded a contract of Rs 1.75 billion to a French company in the middle of the night to print national ID cards, according to NC lawmaker Badu. &The possibility of financial irregularity in this deal cannot be ruled out,& said Badu, asking the government to set up a committee to probe the matter.

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