Bhaktapur, February 13:

Holding constituent assembly election should be the first priority of all political parties and Nepali citizens, Prakash Man Singh, vice president of Nepali Congress, said today while addressing the central regional level gathering of farmers here today.

Participating in a discussion on Role of Farmers in the Constituent Assembly and the basis for scientific land reforms, organised by the pro-NC Nepal Farmers’ Association, Bhaktapur chapter, Singh said, “Holding free and fair election in the stipulated time is the greatest responsibility of the NC, other parties and the people.”

“All the political parties and citizens should be focussed to hold the election successfully,” he said.

“The loktantrik government has already started the process of addressing genuine demands raised by the Nepali people,” he said, adding that the process would be strengthened after the Constituent Assembly can formulate more policies as per the people’s expectations and demands.

He said the farmers should pay attention towards improving the productivity of land rather than talking only about scientific land reform.

Bhanu Sigdel, central president of NFA, said the farmers were all set to support the parties to conduct CA polls but “the people are still not clear about scientific land reforms.”

According to Sigdel, scientific land reforms should address the demands of all those who own or don’t own land.

He said, “Former Kamaiyas, Haliyas, Tharuwa, agriculture labourers and squatters are deprived of land ownership due to unequal land distribution in the past. Scientific land reforms are a must to establish their right to land.”

He said, “The new land reform policy should ensure land rights to the tillers to help bring labourers and resources together. It should also take into consideration basic infrastructure like irrigation, agriculture equipment, fertilisers and new technologies.”