NA members draw govt’s attention towards contemporary issues

KATHMANDU: National Assembly (NA) members have drawn the attention of the government to contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, textbooks for community schools’ students and the government’s clear viewpoint on the country’s foreign policy.

Speaking in the special hour of today’s NA meeting, parliamentarian Khimlal Bhattarai blamed the government was not responsible for the implementation of the constitution. He voiced that the students in public schools have not received textbooks although the new academic session has already begun.

He expressed his concern over the decreasing quality of the community schools, drawing the attention of the government towards taking forward the Bill relating to Citizenship Act (Amendment).

He also questioned why the Tribhuvan University was padlocked and accused that discarding the voices raised by the major opposition parties in the parliament has declined the glory of parliament.

Similarly, Suresh Ale Magar presented the fact that around 500,000 people were found to be abusing drugs in the country and lamented that there was no policy regarding rehabilitation centres for drug abusers. “The government should find an appropriate solution to this.”

Jitendra Narayan Dev argued that the foreign policy of Nepal does not change along with the change in government and reaffirmed that Nepal’s foreign policy is based on the Panchasheel principle (Five principles of peaceful co-existence) and the Non-Aligned Movement.

He viewed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should hold discussions with major political party leaders and forge a national consensus on the policies relating to national security, foreign affairs and water resources.

Likewise, Maya Prasad Sharma asserted that giving protection to the indigenous Raute community was the responsibility of the State. Nanda Chapagain rued over the lack of fertilizers for farmers and drew the attention of the government to provide fertilizer at the earliest.

Gomadevi Timalsina stressed on enabling the environment for the supply of raw materials for industries to be set up by the government in all seven states.

Jagat Prasad Timalsina demanded that the electoral system should be appropriate to the federalism set up implemented by the government. He argued that a fully proportional electoral system suitable for federalism would help reduce corruption.

Bhagawati Neupane asked for a clear concept of the incumbent government regarding Nepal’s foreign policy. She suggested adopting a balanced foreign policy by soliciting suggestions from all political parties.

Krishna Prasad Poudel was concerned about the weak condition of the education sector. He underscored skill-based, knowledge-based and productive education system to build a prosperous and equitable society based on social justice.

“The number of students studying technical subjects in higher education was negligible. The education system should be as per the need of the country”, he shared.