Eight districts of Province 2 are scheduled to hold local level elections in the third phase on Monday and all newspapers have published reports about final preparations for the polls.
Besides the elections, other issues to have received prominence in major English and Nepali newspapers published from Kathmandu are varied and they cover various political, economic and social issues.
Important
Stage set for Province 2 local polls
As officials and observers have said no violent clashes have been reported from the districts of Province 2 ahead of the voting scheduled for today, the stage has already been set for the polls, reports The Kathmandu Post lead story.
The Election Commission has said its officials have reached polling stations of all local units as of Saturday evening and all preparations have been made, according to Rajdhani lead story.
Republica says the third and final phase of local level elections will elect more than 6,600 representatives for 136 local units including one metropolitan city, three sub-metropolises, 73 municipalities and 59 rural municipalities. The number of candidates in the fray is around six times the vacant positions, according to Nagarik anchor story.
Around 60,000 security personnel have been mobilised for the polls from Nepal Police, Nepali Army and Armed Police Force, according to reports. Security officials have suspected that various underground outfits might pose threats to the security.
Another story in Republica says voters can cast votes using citizenship and other government-authorised documents even if they fail to obtain the voter identity card if they have their names registered in the voter list.
According to The Himalayan Times, Nepal-India border points in the districts of Province have been sealed for 72 hours since yesterday for election security.
The Commission plans to complete vote counting in five days after the polls, according to Rajdhani.
Khadka attempts skip as Cabinet all set to take action against him
The Ministry of Supplies has already submitted a proposal to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers seeking action against Nepal Oil Corporation Executive Director Gopal Bahadur Khadka for his involvement in embezzlement of state funds in the purchase of land in various parts of the country to build petroleum storage facilities, reports Rajdhani daily.
Supplies Minister Shiva Kumar Mandal tells the newspaper that the next Cabinet meeting will decide the action.
Earlier, various parliamentary committees as well as an investigation committee formed by the Ministry itself had found Khadka’s involvement in embezzling millions of rupees.
Meanwhile, Nagarik says Khadka has launched numerous attempts to skip the action and he has been meeting politicians including Deepak Bohora and Sunil Bahadur Thapa seeking their favours. Bohora himself was found to be involved in the irregularities.
Meanwhile, Maoist lawmaker Aman Lal Modi is also active to save Khadka as the embattled official had managed a job for Modi’s sister at the NOC, according to report.
Ignored
Secondary school management handed over to local government
As mandated by the constitution, the Ministry of Education has handed over the management of secondary schools to local governments, according to Nepal Samacharpatra lead story.
The report, however, has pointed out that local units are yet to manage staff deployed from the Ministry and the Department of Education to look after schools in the local unit. “Questions have been raised over how the local mechanisms which have failed to manage staff can manage resources to run schools,” the report reads.
But, local government representatives have said they will perfectly handle the school management once necessary laws are made. It has been expected that the operation of schools under the local government will improve the overall education system in the country, according to Ministry’s spokesperson Hari Lamsal.
Government tightens border security to block Rohingyas
The Nepal government has tightened security measures at various border points to stop the entry of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, reports Annapurna Post.
The Ministry of Home Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to adopt tough security measures suspecting that many people from Rakhine state of Myanmar after a violent crackdown on them on August 25.
The number of Rohingyas in Bangladesh has crossed 400,000. There are around 40,000 such people in India and it has been suspected that some of them might come to Nepal via India.
Media reports have already claimed dozens of Rohingyas are living in different places of Kathmandu and the UNHCR has said there are around 650 Rohingyas in Nepal. In this context, Home Minister Janardan Sharma says the government will send them back.
“We will not let more Rohingyas come to Nepal,” he has been quoted in the report, “And, we will send back who are already here.”
Interesting
There will be eight IGs in Nepal Police soon
The government is yet to create administrative structures for seven provinces as per the new federal setup as specified by the constitution as two years are being complete since the constitution promulgation coming Tuesday. However, the national police organisation, Nepal Police, has become ahead of other government bodies in terms of adopting federalism as it is all set to appoint an Inspector General in each province very soon, reports Naya Patrika.
After that, there will be eight IGs in the national police organisation including one federal and seven provincial.
The police organisation has already established headquarters in each of the provinces and IGs will be appointed before elections of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly scheduled for November 26 and December 7, Home Minister Janardan Sharma has informed the paper.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is currently drafting a bill on federal police organisation and it will be finalised within next one month, according to the report. Meanwhile, the Ministry has also been assigned to propose capitals for all provinces to the government as political parties have also begun discussions over the issue.
