Kathmandu, July 2:

A Nepali delegation, currently in Zurich at the invitation of the Foreign Ministry of Switzerland, is busy visiting the Swiss countryside. The delegation comprises Maoist chairman Prachanda, his deputy Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Khimlal Devkota, NC leader Dr Shekhar Koirala and CPN-UML leader Bhim Rawal.

The delegation visited communes and farmhouses around the Swiss capital of Berne, according to Bhattarai’s assistant Bishwodip Pandey, who is also accompanying the delegation.

The leaders acquired information on the development process of those communes and farmhouses during their observation visit of the Abaranlav Village inhabited by 871 people. The village is famous for communes, farmhouses and cheese production . A large number of people are engaged in agriculture in the Abaranlav Village. Swiss officials said that the government provides heavy subsidy to the farmers, an issue which has also sparked debates in society on whether or not to join the European Union.

A farmer rearing a cow gets Swiss Franc 2,000 every year and it is taken as a good combination of liberal world economy and centralised economy along with good governance.

There is another village called Jimmerwald near Abaranlav, where, according to a Swiss official, Soviet leader Lenin spent some time and led the communist revolutionaries. The leaders visited a building in Jimmerwald village, where Lenin had taken shelter during his stay in Switzerland.

During their stay in Berne, the leaders and the Swiss officials discussed Swiss federalism.