KATHMANDU, August 7

Critics have criticised the draft constitution for failing to ensure proportional inclusion of the marginalised communities.

Former vice-president of the Nepal Bar Association Surendra Kumar Mahato said the draft constitution failed to ensure proportional inclusion of Madhesis, Dalits, women, Janajatis and other marginalised communities which meant their social exclusion would continue.

“It is an accepted principle that without proportional inclusion, communities that have been socially excluded for long cannot see their representation ensured in the state organs,” Mahato added.

Without proportional inclusion, he added, meaningful representation of marginalised communities cannot be ensured. “Can we expect a Dom candidate winning the first-past-the-post election?” he wondered.

Mahato said meaningful representation of all communities was necessary to promote the feeling of national unity. “Social exclusion takes such a heavy social, mental and economic toll on the communities that they cannot compete with the advantaged groups,” Mahato argued.

Social exclusion takes such a heavy social, mental and economic toll on the communities that they cannot compete with the advantaged groups

— Surendra Kumar Mahato, former NBA vice-president

He, however, said Article 45 of the draft constitution ensured right to social justice to marginalised communities but it wrongly mentioned some groups, such as Khas Arya, farmers and youths. “If reservation is given to all these groups on the basis of this clause of the constitution, it would not serve the purpose of social justice,” he argued.

Trying to protect everybody’s rights, he added, means trying to protect nobody’s rights.

Mahato said there was no provision for proportional inclusion in the executive. “The Interim Constitution guaranteed proportional inclusion, but the draft constitution dropped the word proportional. When the Interim Constitution guaranteed proportional inclusion, it was not fully implemented by the state so when the draft constitution just states inclusion, we can imagine what will be the state of inclusion under the new constitution,” Mahato argued.

Advocate Dipendra Jha said although the Preamble of the constitution talked of proportional inclusion of all the communities, none of the provisions related to judiciary ensured inclusion or proportional inclusion.

He said the draft provisions of the constitution did not ensure that appointments in constitutional bodies, such as National Human Rights Commission, Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, Public Service Commission and Women Commission, would be done on the basis of proportional inclusion. Former general secretary of NBA Raman Kumar Shrestha said the reduction of the ratio of proportional representation from 58 to 40 per cent would affect the inclusion of marginalised communities.

Political analyst Tula Narayan Shah said unless proportional inclusion was guaranteed in the constitution, inclusion of Madhesis, Janajatis, Dalits and other marginalised communities in civil service and security agencies would be impossible.