Kathmandu, January 25

The government today declared 38 victims of Bandarmudhe blast as martyrs. A meeting of Council of Ministers presided over by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba took a decision to this effect.

Thirty eight people were killed in Bandarmudhe Khola of Kalyanpur Area of Chitwan district in June 2005 when Maoist rebels ambushed a bus, which is considered as one of the most heinous crimes in the country’s history.

The government also decided to  declare eight Nepali Congress leaders — seven killed by the then CPN-Maoist during the insurgency and one killed by the Panchyat regime — of Kaski martyrs, according to Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Yagya Bahadur Thapa.

Minister Thapa said that NC cadres Hari Prasad Gurung, Krishna Bahadur Gurung, Ishwor Gurung, Tek Bahadur Gurung, Ratan Singh Gurung, Chandra Bahadur Rajbahak, Pashupati Gurung and Purna Bahadur, who were killed by Maoist rebels were declared martyrs.

Government Spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communications Mohan Bahadur Basnet said the meeting had also declared Golgolkhada in Ward No 12 of Uttarganga Rural municipality as the headquarters of East Rukum. Similarly, the government has also decided to set up exhibition centres in every province. As per the government’s decision, exhibition centres will be set up in Dharan of Province 1, Birgunj of Province 2, Chovar in Kathmandu of Province 3, Damauli of Province 4, Dang of Province 5, Surkhet of Province 6 and Kanchanpur of Province 7.

The meeting also decided to transfer Secretary at the Public Procurement Monitoring Office Bishnu Devkota to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, according to Basnet.

The government also decided to scrap the central committee and branch committees of Family Planning Association of Nepal and decided to form a new ad hoc committee under Chhatra Bahadur Giri.

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