As Vaccination Resumes, Questions Arise Over Equitable Distribution
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WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 111 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 37.6 C 9.6 C Wednesday, June 09, 2021 | 26-02-2078 Bhairahawa Jumla As vaccination resumes, questions arise over equitable distribution Experts say frequent changes in decisions by officials in Kathmandu are confusing and they also increase the risk for those in rural areas where the virus is raging. ARJUN POUDEL lic health expert, told the Post. “But KATHMANDU, JUNE 8 how can the authorities give priority only to the Valley every time? Aren’t “Immature planners in the health sec- the people residing throughout the tor; the frequent changes in age country equal to the government?” groups for immunisation is just an Although the number of cases example,” Dr Guna Raj Awasthi, chief across the country and in Kathmandu of the Sudurpaschim provincial Valley has been coming down as pro- health directorate, wrote on his hibitory orders have been in place Facebook page on Tuesday. “How since April 29, the number of cases in many times do we have to lie to the rural Nepal has been increasing, people in the community?” according to doctors. Awasthi was referring to the On Tuesday, Nepal reported 3,870 announcement by the Ministry of new infections from 12,065 polymerase Health and Population on Monday chain reaction tests. The Health evening about inoculating people with Ministry also reported 1,283 positive the 1 million doses of the Chinese vac- cases from 5,611 antigen tests conduct- cine. Revising its earlier decision, the ed largely in rural Nepal. Despite the ministry said that in Kathmandu rise in number of cases in rural Nepal Valley, people aged 60-64 would be vac- of late, the government focus contin- cinated, but elsewhere, those between ues to be on Kathmandu Valley. POST PHOTO: PRAKASH CHANDRA TIMILSENA 62 and 64 years would get the jabs. And this is not the first time that Passengers who arrived from Doha, Qatar on Tuesday wait for the medical clearance at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. After the government reopened limited number of Last week the government had the government has prioritised the international flights after a month last week, 10 regular weekly flights have been permitted including the two weekly flights between Kathmandu and New Delhi that had not been restricted. announced that all Nepalis aged 60 to Valley for Covid-19 vaccination over 64 would be given the Sinopharm the rest of the country. Most of the shots that China donated. 800,000 doses of Sinopharm’s BBIBP- Public health experts have criti- CorV vaccines that China donated in cised the government decision to focus March were also given to the people on Kathmandu Valley as inequitable. residing in Kathmandu Valley, besides INSIDE With politics a preference in provinces, “Vaccinating people of Kathmandu businesspeople and truck drivers Valley was fine earlier, as the infection from Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Kavrepalan- was spreading fast and all three dis- chok and Sindhupalchok districts as Ban on yarsagumba collection tricts of the Valley are densely popu- they made frequent trips to China. worries Karnali residents pandemic has become a non-issue lated,” Dr Binjawala Shrestha, a pub- >> Continued on page 2 JAJARKOT/MUGU: Under normal cir- cumstances, Ram Bahadur Singh of Chief ministers are so busy saving their chairs that they Nayakbada in Barekot Rural Municipality, Jajarkot, would be busy have failed to make the fight against the coronavirus, collecting yarsagumba in the high- lands of Dolpa district at this time of which is spreading fast in rural Nepal, their priority. the year. But with Covid-19 restric- tions in place, he may not be able to collect yarsa, the caterpillar fungus (Cordyceps sinensis), this season. “My family survives on the money I make from collecting yarsagumba. This year, I could not go to the high- lands to collect yarsa. I don’t know how to feed my family without the cash I get from yarsa picking,” Singh says. Yarsagumba is the main source of income for many families in the districts of Karnali. (Details on Pg 2) Bench-hunting sets a bad precedent for the judiciary, experts say POST FILE PHOTO KATHMANDU: A week after the dissolu- The participation of a faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party in the federal government has led tion of the House of Representatives, to a change in political equation in Province 2. a Constitutional Bench was constitut- ed on May 28 to start hearing on the ANIL GIRI & TIKA R PRADHAN ernments have already faced their writ petitions against the dissolution. KATHMANDU, JUNE 8 own crises, and politicians from there But two weeks since its constitution, appear to be more interested in poli- the bench hasn’t formally started When Nepal voted in 2017 to elect tics in Kathmandu rather than gov- hearing the petitions. The discus- three tiers of government as guaran- ernance. sions in the bench are hovering over teed by the constitution adopted in While Oli has been blamed for its composition. When the bench was 2015, the goal was to usher in political creating confusion, a faction of his constituted, the plaintiff ’s lawyers stability and take the country on the own party led by Madhav Nepal and questioned the impartiality of path of democratisation. Four years Dahal’s Maoist Centre too are Justices Tej Bahadur KC and Bam on, everything seems to be unravel- responsible for making provincial Kumar Shrestha in the five-member ling. governments a failure when it comes bench, led by Chief Justice While in Kathmandu Prime to fighting the pandemic, according to Cholendra Shumsher Rana. They Minister KP Sharma Oli has triggered analysts. argued that Shrestha was one of the yet another political confusion by dis- Analysts say this is not the time to justices on the bench that on March 7 solving the House of Representatives engage in petty party politics when passed a verdict which invalidated for the second time in six months, the virus is making people sick and the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) provinces are engaged in similar killing them. After the 2017 elections, and revived the CPN-UML and the games, as chief ministers are busy six of the seven provincial govern- Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist pulling up tricks to save their chairs. ments were led by the Nepal Centre). (Details on Pg 3) Analysts say the country is current- Communist Party (NCP), which was ly facing threats of the coronavirus born of a merger between Oli’s CPN- and a political pandemic. UML and Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s Shoppers throng state-owned “Provincial governments are facing Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist stores for groceries crises one after another, largely due to Centre) in May 2018. It, however, did KATHMANDU: On Monday morning, Prime Minister Oli, who is responsi- not take long for cracks to appear in Surendra Shrestha stood in line out- ble for splitting the party and destroy- the Nepal Communist Party (NCP). side the Salt Trading Corporation ing the system,” said Khim Lal By July 2020, it had become impossi- outlet at Kalimati for nearly three Devkota, an expert on federal affairs ble for Oli and Dahal to continue in hours to buy food items at discounted who was recently elected to the the same party. And on December 20, prices. Crowds had gathered in front National Assembly. Oli dissolved the House, in a move that of the state-owned store after the The pandemic has failed to become would ultimately lead to the invalida- budget statement for the upcoming provincial governments’ focus, as tion of the Nepal Communist Party fiscal year 2021-22 promised relief to political complications unleashed by (NCP) and revival of the UML and the consumers. “I was happy with the Oli have created instability. Maoist Centre. budget announcement, but the distri- On Tuesday, the Sudurpaschim “Provincial governments were bution process is so weak,” said the chief minister was seeking a vote gradually trying to stand on their own 33-year-old Shrestha. (Details on Pg 5) of confidence in the Provincial feet. In their first year in office, they Assembly. In Gandaki, Chief Minister largely coped with staff management Prithvi Subba Gurung has said issues,” said Devkota. he will go for a floor test on “As laws were being formulated, Thursday. If he fails the trust federalism was gaining momentum. vote, the province is likely to go But all of a sudden the division in the for mid-term polls. ruling party in Kathmandu had an In Lumbini, four parties boy- impact on the provinces.” cotted the government’s policies Since Province 2 was governed by and programmes, demanding the Janata Samajbadi Party, it did not Chief Minister Shankar Pokhrel face much of a problem. But after the seek a floor test. second House dissolution on May 21, In Province 2, Chief Minister Oli now has roped in a section of the Lalbabu Raut on Sunday relieved Janata Samajbadi Party, creating four ministers of their offices. instability in Province 2. Province 1 and Bagmati gov- >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K WEDNESDAY, JUNE 09, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Ban on yarsagumba collection worries Karnali residents Authorities have prohibited people from picking the precious fungus in light of the second wave of the pandemic that has gripped the country. lands due to adverse climate and rough terrain. So we pick and sell yarsagumba for a living. But now, with the ban in place, we don’t know how to manage food for our families,” said Pema Gurung, a resident of Dolpobuddha Rural Municipality.