Kathmandu, September 28

The Tarai Madhes Department of the ruling Nepali Congress today decided to press the party to effect amendments to the new constitution in the first meeting of the transformed Parliament.

A meeting of the department held here today, took a four-point decision urging the party to ensure proportional inclusion of all communities in all organs of the state and delimitation of election constituencies in proportion with the population of Madhes, as provisioned in the Interim Constitution.

According to a press release issued by the department here today, it urged the party to be ready to review the boundaries of the provinces keeping in mind the decisions of the Mahasamiti. The department also urged the party to seek negotiated settlement of constitutional issues with the protesting forces of the Tarai.

NC MP Ganesh Kumar Mandal said the current demarcation of boundaries of the seven provinces was not based on the criteria of identity and economic viability and hence a review was needed.

Mandal said an amendment should be made to the constitution to ensure proportional inclusion of all the communities in the fundamental rights chapter and directive principles of the constitution as ensured in the Interim Constitution.

Mandal said an independent but inclusive commission could be formed to solve the question of boundaries. He said parties needed to do justice to Madhes which would happen only when they were ready to empower the region and the residents of the region.

Mandal further said they decided to mount pressure on the party because if these issues and more importantly the boundary issues were not addressed soon, the Tarai would continue to witness unrest and instability.

The department headed by Uma Kant Chaudhari handed over its decision to party President Sushil Koirala. The meeting was attended by NC MPs from the Tarai, including Bimalendra Nidhi, Farmullah Mansoor, Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya, Anand Prasad Dhungana, Ganesh Kumar Mandal, Chandra Mohan Yadav, Kiran Yadav, Teju Lal Chaudhari and Rajnit Karna. Some district leaders of the NC also attended the meeting.