For Oli, Power—Not Governance—Is Priority, As Country Fights Virus Wave
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WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 107 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 37.7 C 11.7 C Saturday, June 05, 2021 | 22-02-2078 Bhairahawa Jumla For Oli, power—not governance—is priority, as country fights virus wave Thakur-Mahato faction joins government, inviting questions for themselves of being complicit with someone who they once opposed for his loathing for the Madhes. TIKA R PRADHAN Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party KATHMANDU, JUNE 4 Nepal had formed the government in Province 2. Days of hectic negotiations on Friday The Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum culminated in the entry of a section of was later renamed Samajbadi Party the Janata Samajbadi Party into the Nepal after its merger with Baburam KP Sharma Oli government, with as Bhattarai’s Naya Shakti party. many as 10 members from the Sanghiya Samajbadi Party, led by Mahantha Thakur-Rajendra Mahato Upendra Yadav and Bhattarai, had faction getting appointed ministers. merged with Rastriya Janata Party, Eight members were sworn in as led by Thakur, in April last year. ministers, with Mahato also getting The Thakur faction’s decision to the deputy prime minister post, and join the government follows Oli’s two were appointed state ministers. assurances to address its long-stand- Even though Oli was elected in ing demands, including constitutional February 2018 to govern for the full amendments, release of Resham term—what was seen as a semblance Chaudhary and making public the Lal of stability in the country, he has Commission report. thrown the country into uncertainty. The faction claims that the Oli gov- Observers say Oli has been ernment has already addressed some POST PHOTO: MANOJ POUDEL using all the tricks in the book to of its demands. Nuns and monks attend prayers at Royal Thai Vihar in Lumbini on Friday. cling on to power and the latest Friday’s reshuffle comes at a time move of inducting ministers when Oli’s May 21 House dissolution from the Thakur-Mahato faction move is being tested by the Constitu- is just a continuation. tional Bench of the Supreme Court. Friday’s Cabinet reshuffle is Even though his earlier December likely to have direct implications 20 decision to dissolve the House was INSIDE World is giving medical in Province 2, as the Janata overturned by the Supreme Court on Samajbadi Party that governs February 23, calling it unconstitution- the province is now vertically al, Oli repeated the act, which has Cases of Dalit discrimination goods to Nepal. Concern is divided. been criticised again for being uncon- After the 2017 elections, the stitutional. got worse during pandemic, Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum >> Continued on page 2 rights advocates say if they are fairly distributed KATHMANDU: As many as 80 cases of caste-based discrimination were reported in 2020, an increase by 50 Foreign missions say they keep track of what they provide, but percent compared to the previous year. Similarly, there was a sharp rise some observers do not rule out misuse of such assistance. in the cases of assault and murder of the people from Dalit community with 27 assault and 18 murder cases reported last year, which is over 200 percent more compared to 2019. Nepal was declared a nation free of caste- based discrimination and untoucha- bility 15 years ago, but the Dalit com- munity continues to suffer from dis- crimination and hate crime. Reports by various organisations advocating for Dalit rights show that the people from the community have become more vulnerable to discrimination during the pandemic. (Details on Pg 3) Indian panel warns partial vaccination ineffective against Covid-19 variant NEW DELHI: The coronavirus variant first identified in India is highly infectious and can be caught by peo- ple who have already had the disease POST FILE PHOTO or been only partially vaccinated, a China is the largest provider of pandemic aid to Nepal as it battles its second virus wave. panel of Indian scientists said in a report on Friday. Dubbed the “delta ANIL GIRI a senior Health Ministry official who variant” by World Health Organi- KATHMANDU, JUNE 4 looks after logistical and management zation, it is estimated to be 50 percent issues, told the Post. “We also send more transmissible than the variant When Nepal witnessed the peak of a them to the provinces as per our plan first found in Britain, researchers at devastating second wave of the pan- which is based on demand from them.” Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics demic last month with people dying Once medical assistance lands at Consortium and the National Centre from a lack of oxygen and almost Kathmandu airport, it is received by for Disease Control said. They every second test returning positive, either the health minister or senior warned that “prior infections ... and the world’s eyes turned to the country. Foreign or Health Ministry officials. partial vaccination are insufficient Much medical aid poured in. After the materials go through the impediments to its spread, as seen in From oxygen cylinders from China customs, they go to a warehouse near Delhi, and strong public health to antigen test kits from Switzerland, Tribhuvan International Airport response will be needed globally for from oxygen concentrators from Spain where the aid is logged into the elec- its containment”. The variant has to ventilators from the United States tronic logistic management informa- spread to over 50 countries, including and United Kingdom, Nepal received tion system (eLMIS) of the Ministry the Britain, where Prime Minister much in coronavirus relief. More than of Health and Population, helped set Boris Johnson has warned that its two dozen countries have extended up by the US Agency for International rapid spread could affect the reopen- support to Nepal during the last one Development, and stored at the ing of the economy. India’s cases have month alone to fight the pandemic. humanitarian aid staging area at steadily declined in large cities over But there were also reports of poli- Sinamangal. the past few weeks. (Details on Pg 4) ticians taking oxygen cylinders to The electronic logistics manage- their constituencies, bypassing the ment system provides real-time infor- government mechanism. mation on medical supplies and com- Nepal all set to sign fertiliser This has raised questions on wheth- modities across Nepal’s supply chain er the foreign aid is reaching places it which starts in Kathmandu and supply deal with India is needed the most and put the spot- includes the National Public Health KATHMANDU: Nepal is all set to sign a light on not only the government’s Laboratory, nine central medical long-term chemical fertiliser supply process of distributing aid across the stores, 39 designated Covid-19 treat- deal with India following the country but also donors’ scrutiny on ment hospitals, seven provincial ware- Cabinet’s approval in principle this the utilisation of their support. houses and public health laboratories, week in a move to avoid recurring “Accountability should be estab- 77 district health offices and 753 local shortages during the peak growing lished as we have heard that some government stores. season. Yogendra Kumar Karki, sec- politicians have misused these medi- Every week the Management and retary at the Ministry of Agriculture cal goods provided by foreign donors,” Supply Division of the Health Ministry and Livestock Development, told the Amod Pyakuryal, a medical sociolo- prepares a distribution plan as per the Post that a five-year govern- gist, told the Post. “The medical sup- demands placed by various hospitals ment-to-government agreement port should not be seen as the optics and provincial governments as well as would be sealed this month to ensure and their arbitrary distribution part of its own arrangement. uninterrupted supply of the vital should be discouraged.” “There is no chance of misuse of plant nutrients. As per the draft According to serving and former such foreign assistance because we accord, Nepal can buy up to 200,000 government officials that the Post have to later report each and every tonnes of chemical fertilisers, most talked to, there is a system in place to foreign mission about their aid,” said of it urea, from the southern neigh- disburse the aid and to audit the dis- Dhungana. “We do not keep records of bour annually without following glob- tribution system. the distribution of small stuff like al tender. A joint secretary-level team “We prepare a distribution plan masks or gloves but all items donated of the two countries will determine every week and as per the plan we by foreign missions are under our the rate before any purchase agree- distribute the medical equipment to auditing purview.” ment in a respective year. (Details on Pg 5) needy hospitals,” Upendra Dhungana, >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K SATURDAY, JUNE 05, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Health workers at Bheri Hospital call probe committee’s report unfair Medical fraternity in Banke says the committee failed to provide a fair investigation into all aspects of the incident since it has not addressed the issue of violence against women. THAKUR SINGH THARU, RUPA GAHATRAJ & ence to violence against women. of doctors and nurses present there, MADHU SHAHI “The report does not have a single claiming that the patient died due to NEPALGUNJ, JUNE 4 point referring to the violence we had the negligence of the medical team at to face on that day,” said Gurung. the Covid-19 ward. The brothers of the The probe committee—which was According to Shila Sharma, nursing deceased man, Man Bahadur Rawat formed to investigate last week’s in-charge at Bheri Hospital, women and Bharat Rawat, and son Lokraj attack on health workers at Bheri health workers have been feeling anx- Rawat, among other relatives, attacked Hospital—made public its report on ious and unsafe at work since the the health workers.