Nepal

Kathmandu, August 13

Police today used force against hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, who had gathered to protest the Federal Public Service Commissiondecision to recruit over 9,000 employees for local levels. Their major demand is that FPSC should comply with reservation policy as guaranteed by the constitution in its hiring process.

Tension rose high on the street outside prime ministerofficial residence in Baluwatar after police began arresting protesters who were leaving the site after the protest ended.

Suraj Maharjan, Chairman of Newa Pradesh, a sister wing of Samajbadi Party Nepal said police tried to arrest four of them as they were walking towards their motorbikes after the protest was over. &Seeing police personnel marching towards us other protesters came to our rescue, and a clash erupted,& Maharjan said. People representing indigenous nationalities, women, madhesis, Dalits, people with disabilities and people from marginalised communities have been staging protests against the FPSC after it published a job advertisement on May 29 to recruit 9,161 staffers for local levels. As per the Civil Service Act, the government is required to allocate 45 per cent of total vacant seats for people representing various marginalised groups.

Of the 45 per cent seats, 33 per cent should be allocated for women, 27 per cent for indigenous nationalities, 22 per cent for Madhesis, nine per cent for Dalits, five per cent for people with disabilities and four per cent for people from remote areas.

As per the law, total number of seats under reservation quota should have been 4,025, but FPSC allocated only 2,262 seats. Save Reservation Campaign, an alliance of organisations including Tarai Madhes National Council and Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, is supporting the protest. The agitators are adamant on their demand saying they will not stop until the government scraps the recruitment process.

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Kathmandu, August 13

The Department of Environment Management of Kathmandu Metropolitan City is set to launch ‘Recharge Kathmandu& programme from government offices and the houses of its employees soon.

According to DoEM chief Hari Kumar Shrestha, the programme aims to raise level of groundwater of the capital city. The groundwater level of the city is depleting and needs to be recharged. Groundwater recharge is a process in which water moves downward from earthsurface to groundwater.

He informed that KMC will be installing rainwater harvesting system in communities to meet growing water demands. Priority will also be accorded to hotels, hospitals, schools and apartment buildings for rainwater harvesting. According to KMC, the harvested water can be used for domestic use after necessary purification.

Water being supplied by Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited accounts for nearly 50 per cent of groundwater, which is extracted through deep boring. According to KMC, it is also contributing to depletion of water table in Kathmandu. Policies and programmes of KMC recently passed by municipal assembly for current fiscal 2019-20 have accorded top priority for water supply and sanitation, and climate change issues.

The policies and programmes stated that a policy will be adopted for supply of safe drinking water to Kathmandu resident by implementing water supply and sanitation projects in an effective manner. They also aim to achieve total sanitation of the city besides protecting and promoting traditional water sources.

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