Kathmandu, August 12: Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has urged the sides concerned to withdraw the agitation that they have been waging by taking over the issue of proposed demarcation of the federal units.
Expressing concern over the ongoing agitation in Surkhet as well as other parts of the Mid and Far western region, Prime Minister Koirala said the country cannot bear any such agitation, vandalism and violence in the present situation, as all should now work towards institutionalizing the changes achieved through a long struggle.
Accepting donations on behalf of Radio Nepal for the earthquake survivors to be deposited into the PM’s Disaster Relief Fund at his official residence in Baluwatar this morning, Prime Minister Koirala said as many matters relating to federalism were yet to be concluded it was unfortunate that agitation and tensions have flared up taking over the same. “As the senior leaders of the four political parties have expressed the commitment to address the demands of the people, I heartily request all the agitating sides to withdraw their movement so as to maintain law and order in the country, and help institutionalize the rights of the people at largeâ€.
The Prime Minister on the occasion also gave assurances to ensure that the rights of all the people are established in the democratic republican constitution that is soon to be promulgated.
Lauding the role played by the government media in the post-disaster situation of the country, Prime Minister Koirala stressed on the need to pay due attention to objective and fact-based news report so as to institutionalize reliability of such media.
Also speaking at the programme, Minister for Information and Communications Dr Minendra Rijal said Radio Nepal was a testimony of the important role of the government media in disseminating fact and truth-based news continuously in the event of a disaster like the recent earthquake. Appreciating the performance despite the risks involved, the annual budget for Radio Nepal this year has been increased, he said.
Minister Rijal on the occasion also shared that the work to merge state-owned Radio Nepal and Nepal Television into a public broadcasting service had taken strides, and that the process would be completed through the introduction of a new Act soon.
On the occasion, Executive Director of Radio Nepal Dhanendra Bimal Chettri handed over a cheque of Rs. 1.78 million to Prime Minister Koirala. Also present on the occasion were Chief Secretary Dr Somlal Subedi, Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications Sunil Bahadur Malla and Chairperson of the Minimum Wage Determination Committee Poshan KC.
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