Nepal

Kathmandu, August 22

The National Vigilance Centre has issued a public notice, requesting all public post holders to submit their property details of fiscal 2018-19 within the stipulated deadline.

According to section 50 of the Prevention of Corruption Control Act, any person who joins public office should, within 60 days from the date of joining such office, and thereafter within 60 days from the date of completion of each fiscal year, submit the updated statement of property in his/her name or in his/her family members& name along with sources thereof to the body prescribed by the government.

Concerned body may extend the deadline for submission of such details for maximum 30 days. Concerned offices will be required to submit property details of their employees to the NVC in sealed envelopes, separately. It is compulsory to mention the name and surname, post, service/group, level, office and mobile number of each employee in the envelop.

If property details of any employees are not submitted within the stipulated time-frame, the NVC will refer the names and personal details of such employees to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority for legal action. Any employee, who fails to submit the statement of property even within the extended time limit, shall be subject to a fine of Rs 5,000 and an investigation into his/her assets, the NVC warned in its notice. Civil servants should submit their property details to the Department of Civil Personnel Records, Nepali Army personnel should submit the details to Army Record Office, police personnel to Police Record Management Department, school teachers to School Teacher Record Office, and other persons holding public office to concerned agencies.

The NVC had sent personal details of 19,134 persons including civil servants, teachers, Nepali Army personnel, Nepal Police personnel and Armed Police Force personnel to the CIAA for legal action in fiscal 2017-18. According to the annual report submitted by the NVC to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today, those 19,134 persons holding public offices in various government bodies had failed to submit their property details within the prescribed period.

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Kathmandu, August 22

Prime Minister and Co-chair of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) KP Sharma Oli and senior NCP leader Madhav Kumar Nepal traded barbs during yesterdaycentral secretariat meeting, indicating widening of the rift between the two.

Former premier Nepal has been annoyed with PM Oli ever since he was relegated to fourth position in the party hierarchy, behind another senior party leader, Jhalanath Khanal. Nepal has since registered a seven-point note of dissent at the partycentral secretariat, condemning the move taken on Sunday.

Soon after registering the dissent note, Nepal had shared its contents with journalists. Apparently, PM Oli was not happy with this act. &It would have been better if you had shared your concerns in the meeting rather than with the media,& an NCP leader quoted Oli as telling Nepal as soon as todaycentral secretariat meeting started. &I would like to request all central secretariat members to take decisions based on consensus.&

This is when Nepal became furious. &None of the decision so far has been taken on the basis of consensus. If the party wants to take decisions based on consensus then all the decisions made in the past need to be rectified,& Nepal said and accused the Oli-led government of not delivering as per peopleaspirations.

Todaymeeting was called several hours before Oli left for Singapore for a follow-up medical check-up. Most of those attending the nine-member central secretariat meeting said the meeting should be wrapped up by extending &wishes for the PMspeedy recovery&. But as soon as this proposal was tabled, Nepal said he did not want to extend those wishes to Oli.

Oli then snapped at Nepal, saying, &I don&t need your wishes.& Thereafter both exchanged caustic remarks for some time, according to the NCP leader who attended todaymeeting.

When Oli and Nepal were trading barbs, NCP General Secretary Bishnu Paudel tried to play the role of mediator to &cool both of them down&.

Later, Nepal extended wishes for the PMquick recovery, but Oli shot back saying he did not need them.

The meeting concluded by giving authority to another party co-chair, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, to conduct central secretariat meetings and take decisions on behalf of the party during Oliabsence. Earlier, both the co-chairs had to be present to carry out central secretariat meetings.

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Kathmandu, August 21

The Parliamentary Education and Health Committee today formed a team to study delay in construction of Suresh Wagle Memorial Cancer Hospital.

Construction project for the hospital was set to be accomplished in 2014.

A three member team has been formed with Lawmaker Anjana Bisankhe as its co-ordinator and lawmakers Ekwal Miya and Sarita Neupane as members.

The committee has asked the team to submit its report within five days. The building is being constructed on the premises of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.

The committee had discussed the matter with TU Registrar Dilli Ram Upreti, Institute of Medicine Dean Jagdish Agrawal, and officials from Ministry of Health and Population. The committee had also discussed the matter with the Ministry of Urban Development.

&The committee had earlier written to Tribhuvan University, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Population seeking information about delay in the construction work.

As the answers were not satisfactory it has demanded further clarification from the ministries and TU,& said Pushpa Prakash Khanal, Under secretary of Parliamentary Education and Health Committee.

Contract of building construction project was extended thrice but the construction work remains incomplete.

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Human trafficking continues in the guise of foreign jobs and studies

Kathmandu, August 21

Government has yet to effectively address exploitation and violence associated with human trafficking. The crime continues to thrive due to lack of sound coordination among non government organisations fighting against trafficking and governmentinability to crackdown trafficking rackets that operate under the guise of foreign employment and abroad studies. According to statistics provided by Nepal Police, it received 305 complaints of human trafficking in fiscal 2017-18 and as many as174 cases of human trafficking were filed with police until mid-February of 2019. The statistics showed that 200-300 cases of human trafficking were reported to Nepal Police on an annual basis. &As many as 13,678 persons went missing in fiscal 2017-18. Studies suggest that most of the missing persons were subjected to human trafficking, in circumstances others than conflict, militarisation and disasters,& said the National Human Rights Commission in its report, Trafficking in Persons-2019.

Various non government organisations active in anti-trafficking campaign suggest that they sent back home at least 10,000 persons in fiscal 2017-18 from international border points out of suspicion that they were being trafficked. Nepal Police barred 2,104 persons from going abroad during the same period.

&Though Nepal Police received only 174 complaints of human trafficking until mid-April this year, non-government organisations rescued 640 persons, which accounts for more than three folds of complaints on human trafficking registered with the law enforcement agency. Of those people, 266 were rescued from foreign countries,& the report read. The government also rescued more than 300 persons, who were being trafficked to third countries via India.

Cases of human trafficking are often trivialised by linking them to other aspects such as migration for employment. &It is claimed that trafficking victims refuse to come forward with complaints for action against their perpetrators. Lack of effective coordination among non government organisations working against human trafficking and governmentinability to crack down trafficking cases that have been thriving under the cover of foreign employment are the reasons whycases of heinous human trafficking often go unreported,& the report stated.

Previously, Nepali women and girls trafficked by organised crime syndicates used to end up in Indian cities.

Now, the web of trafficking for worst forms of slavery and sexual exploitation has gradually spread across China, Gulf, African and Latin American countries.

It is estimated that around 35,000 persons, including 15,000 women and 5,00 girls were victims of human trafficking in 2018-19, according to the report.

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