Narayangarh,September 27, 2006

Eighty-one-year-old Mukti Ram Dahal, who is gearing up to celebrate Dashain with eight of his children, 18 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, daughters and sons-in-law and scores of other relatives, has one yearning — to put Dashain Tika on the forehead of his eldest son Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, the CPNMaoist supremo, after 11 long years.

Mukti Ram stays alone in the house of his youngest son, Ganga Ram, at Bharatpur municipality-6, Baidiknagar, of Bharatpur municipality.

Ganga Ram is living in the United Kingdom with wife and children. Six daughters of Mukti Ram reside in Bharatpur district. “Dashain was so much fun when we were in our ancestral home in the hills. It used to be like a small feast at the house,” Mukti Ram reminisced, adding that he was keen to celebrate this year’s Dashain with eldest son Prachanda, daughter-in-law Sita and grandson Prakash.

“It is not yet sure if Prachanda and Sita will be able to make it but my grandson Prakash has said he would surely come to receive Tika from me,” Mukti Ram said.

He added that the last time he gave his blessings to Prachanda on Dashain was in 1995 when Prachanda’s mother Sabitri was ill. Prachanda, underground at that time, had received Tika from his mother as she lay in her bed in Bir Hospital.

“It was the last time that I gave him my blessings on Dashain. I have a great wish to give him Tika this Dashain,” Mukti Ram said.

Revenue collection up by over 22 per cent

Revenue collection by the government until September 16 in the current fiscal year has increased by 22.31 per cent compared to the same period in the previous fiscal.

Government institutions have collected over Rs 10.75 billion in the same period. Under the tax revenue bracket, over Rs 9.62 billion has been recovered.

Similarly, under the non-tax revenue head, over Rs 1.13 billion has been recovered, as per the statement issued by the ministry of finance (MoF) today. Of the total revenue collection, the share of tax revenue comes to be 89.47 per cent and non-tax revenue stands at 10.52 per cent.

During the second month of the current fiscal year 2006-07, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has released over Rs 13.77 billion. Of the total released money, over Rs 11.97 billion has gone under regular expenditure while Rs. 810 million has been released under capital (development) expenditure, says a press statement from MoF.

Similarly, over Rs 980 million has been released for principal payment.

The released amount of the central bank comes to be over 13.75 per cent, compared to last year during the same period.