Nepal government promises timely delivery of constitution

Announcing the government’s new policy document for the fiscal year beginning mid-July, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav said it is committed to draft the new constitution at the earliest. Last year, the Nepali Congress (NC), which emerged as the largest party in the general elections, had promised to draft a new constitution within a year of forming the government in order to institutionalise the achievements of the peoples’ movement of 2006, including federalism and republican system.

Civil society groups have been demanding the creation of an effective process that promotes both individual accountability and national healing in Nepal. The civil conflict resulted in the deaths of 13,000 people, with an additional 1,300 people missing, human rights groups said.

Yadav also said the coalition government would declare the upcoming decade as an ‘Agricultural Decade’, to make the country self reliant in production of major agricultural products. The government would adopt new scientific measures in developing the agriculture sector, he said. Development of country’s economic, tourism, agriculture and human resource sectors will be accorded top priority, Yadav said. The government also vowed to usher in economic reforms by developing the business sector as export-oriented.

Vowing to reduce Nepal’s reliance on international funds and donations, the government said it would open up new avenues for the foreign investment and creation of job opportunities in the country itself.