KATHMANDU: Members of the Constituent Assembly (CA) Committee on State Restructuring and Distribution of State Power (SRDSP) have demanded revisions on the two proposed separate models of names, number and boundaries of the federal units of Nepal.

They have asked the five-member sub-committee headed by Unified CPN-Maoist CA member Hitman Shakya to include three more federal units in the 14 units proposed by the panel and merge the proposed Khaptad and Karnali federal units considering their geographical, cultural and linguistic similarities.

Most members of the SRDSP have said that another model of six federal units proposed by the sub-committee did not reflect the sentiments of all the ethnic/communities who want to safeguard their identity in the new Nepal.

However, CA members representing the Madhesi parties said the Madhesis would be compelled to launch an agitation if their demand for a single Madhes Pradesh was not adhered to. Madhesi CA members Anil Kumar Jha and Mahendra Kumar Yadav said there should be a single Tarai-Madhes if the state were to be restructured on ethnicity and community basis.

They demanded further discussions on the models presented by the sub-committee.

But some members observed that the Madhesis’ demand for a single Mahdes Pradesh could be amicably addressed if the entire Tarai-Mahdes was divided into two Pradeshes — one from the east of Narayani

to Koshi and the other from the

west of Narayani to Kanchanpur.

The CA members said the Narayani region could be governed by the federal government.

Lucky Sherpa, a CA member of the CPN-UML, demanded a separate federal unit to safeguard the distinct identity of the Sherpas and the Bhotes. “The Sherpa and Bhote Pradesh can become a prosperous and a self-reliant state through tourism and mountaineering,” Lucky Sherpa said.

Likewise, CA member Shanti Jirel also demanded a separate federal unit for the most marginalised nine communities such as Bmbule, Tilung, Jero, Bahing, Koich (Sunuwar), Jirel, Surel, Hayu and Thami. These communities have a sparsely distributed population from east of Kavre to west of Okhaldhunga. Chandra Dev Joshi, a CA member of the CPN-United, said the proposed Khaptad and Karnali Pradesh should be merged into a single federal unit as people of both the units have a similar identity from the language, caste and geographical points of view.

NC CA member Narahari

Acharya said that six federal units were proposed considering their functional capability.

He even said that JP Gupta, a CA member who was also the member of the sub-committee, was ready to carve out the entire Tarai-Madhes into two separate federal units during the Godawori meeting last Friday. But Gupta walked out of the meeting three hours before the end of the four-day-long meeting.

Acharya observed that the Tarai-Madhes could not be defined as the region having a domination of a particular community.

“If we respect the popular votes the parties obtained during the CA election on April 10, 2008, UCPN-Maoist obtained about 1.3 million, NC obtained more than one million, UML more than 900,000 and the MJF obtained more than half a million votes in the Tarai-Madhes,” he said. The SRDSP is scheduled to submit its report on Wednesday.

Coordinator of the sub-committee Shakya said that they agreed to carve out 14 federal units after MJF CA member Gupta proposed creation of the federal unit on the basis of ethnicity and community. “But he walked out of the Godawori meeting while they were about to reach an understanding on carving the federal units on community basis,” Shakya claimed.

He said the Geographical Information System (GIS) was used

to analyze the census data of 2001. The data, according to Shakya, showed that there is a mixed community in Morang and Jhapa and the Narayani region. The Madhesi community has been found to be dominant from the east of Narayani to Koshi, while the Tharus were found to be living in a cluster from the west of Narayani to Kanchanpur.

Considering all those facts, the sub-committee proposed four

federal units in the Tarai-Madhes based on ethnic/community distribution and the two based on their functional capability. The sub-committee has failed to present the possibilities of their sustainability and functional capability.