KATHMANDU, MAY 23
National Assembly members have drawn the attention of the House and the government to the issues facing the country.
Speaking at the special hour of the NA session today, Krishna Prasad Poudel of the Nepali Congress thanked the government for playing a role in completing the recently held local level elections.
CPN-UML's Bhairav Sundar Shrestha accused the government of promoting inflation by increasing the prices of petroleum products time and again in the past seven months. "People in neighbouring India get government subsidy on fuel."
Similarly, Maya Prasad Sharma of the CPN-Maoist Centre said common folks were ruined by the soaring market price. He said even the election had become costly. He said though a one-year time limit for rape causes obstructions when it comes to dealing with rape case(s) before the time limit, perpetrator(s) must be punished at any cost.
CPN (Unified Socialist)'s Jayanti Devi Rai apprised the session regarding the rising incidents of violence, including rape and demanded for guarantee of safe space for women.
She stressed the need to revise the rape law and make the heinous crime of rape punishable by law.
Pramila Kumari of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal demanded life imprisonment for rape.
NA independent member Khimlal Devkota insisted on removing the time limit for rape like that of a heinous crime while Bhagawati Neupane of UML stressed the need to remove the statute of limitations on rape cases.
Bimala Rai stressed the need to revise the rape law as soon as possible and unveil a new law with stringent provisions against the offence.
Hariram Chaudhary of CPN- MC accused the state of discriminating against the Tharu community and demanded the withdrawal of cases filed against Tharu people during different movements.
Gopal Kuamr Basnet of NC advised the government to accomplish work in a fair and transparent way.
Uday Bahadur Bohara of the CPN (Unified Socialist) urged the government to address the issues of people at the grassroots level through its policies and programme and the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Sumitra BC of UML expressed her grudge over limited space for women's candidacy by the alliance government in the May 13 local level elections.
Jag Prasad Sharma of the Maoist Centre demanded that inflation and corruption be curbed while Narayan Dutta Mishra of NC was of the view that domestic products needed to be promoted.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 24, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
