INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:

Kathmandu, February 4 Lawmakers today drew the attention of the government to various issues of public concern. Speaking at the zero hour of

the House of Representatives, lawmaker Dila Sangraoula asked the government to inform the Parliament whether the private medical colleges

had refunded additional fees to the students or not

&The government, medical colleges and guardians had inked a tripartite agreement to refund the extra fees charged to the students. I want

the government to inform the lower house on the implementation status of the agreement,& she said. On November 25, the Ministry of Home

Affairs had decided to initiate action against medical colleges if they failed to return the extra money taken from students within 24

hours. Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa, Minister of Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel, Attorney General

Agni Kharel and other officials of stakeholder agencies were present at the meeting

Medical students had been protestingagainst their colleges for weeks demanding refund of extra fees. A Cabinet meeting, last year, capped

MBBS fees at Rs 3.85 million in Kathmandu valley and Rs 4.24 million outside the valley. Students, however, complained that colleges had

collected Rs 1.2 to Rs 1.5 million extra amount from them

MBBS fees for this year have been set at Rs 4.02 million inside the valley and Rs 4.44 million outside the valley. Lawmaker Dal Bahadur Rana

said most of the ministries had yet to develop their plans and programmes. &There are only five months left to spend the budget allocated

for the current fiscal

I would like to draw serious attention of the Ministry of Finance and the concerned ministries for proper utilisation of the budget

Poor spending of budget will lead infrastructure development plans to nowhere,& he said. Lawmaker Dil Kumari urged the government to stop

illegal sand mining from the rivers in Tarai to protect the environment. She also raised the issue of the January 10 killing of Dilip Kumar

Mahato, 26, of Mithila-5, in Dhanusha district and demanded the concerned authority to make public its investigation report

Mahato was crushed to death by a tipper for raising voice againstillegal extraction of river products. Lawmakers Durga Paudel and Dev Prasad

Timalsena called on the government to ensure that sugarcane farmers got their outstanding dues cleared by sugar mills at the

earliest. Farmers have been claiming that sugar mills owe them around Rs 1.5 billion

Hundreds of cane farmers from across the country were in the capital last month

They protested against sugar mills, demanding clearance of thedues

However, they have yet to get full payment from the sugar mills. The lawmakers also stressed on the need to provide support price and

subsidy for the farmers, besides initiating action against the defaulters. Lawmaker Nirudevi Pal praised the Ministry of Home Affairs and

Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens for its move to demolish chhau sheds in the Far-west and Mid- Western regions. According to

her, the local administration, in association with police, have destroyed 8,700 chhau sheds in 12 districts in less than two month period

In December, the MoHA had directed all district administration offices of the Sudurpaschim province to initiate stringent action against

anyone who encouraged or practised chhaupadi. The MoHA had directed DAOs to eliminate superstition and taboo associated with menstruation

The local administration was tasked to identify and destroy all chhau sheds. Though the Supreme Court ruled chhaupadi illegal in 2005, it is

still prevalent in some parts of Sudurpashim province. Lawmakers asked govt to provide subsidy, support price to sugarcane farmers The post

MPs raise issues of public concern appeared first on The Himalayan Times.