Kathmandu. Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has accused the incumbent government of compressing the right to freedom of opinion, expression and the press freedom.
In his address to a programme organised here today to honour those people born in Sunkoshi rural municipality in Sindhupalchowk and earning fame in different walks of life in the society, the former Prime Minister said attempts to weaken the Press was to take the country towards totalitarianism.
Leader Deuba felicitated former Minister for Information and Communications, Mohan Bahadur Basnet, community forest campaigner Nil Prasad Bhandari, former administrator Netra Bahadur Karki, education campaigners Anju Khadka and Mohan Koirala and Ayush KC, emerging talent in music. On the occasion, the emerging child talent KC was awarded Rs 200 thousand on behalf of the local government.
The former Prime Minister took time to blame the local government for increasing economic burden on locals by increasing the scope of tax. He drew the government’s attention not to attempt to curtail the activities guaranteed by democracy and the constitution, urging the party line not to cause an economic burden on locals of those levels headed by the NC through the tax system.
NC leader and former minister Basnet accused that efforts were underway to (re) centralize the administrative powers in the Singha Durbar, breaking the promise of devolving them to the local levels. He expressed his happiness over the decision of Sunkoshi rural municipality of freeing locals of tax in its services. Sunkoshi rural municipality chair Shrawan GC said the local government was committed to rendering the State services to the people in an easy and accessible way.
Rural municipality mayor Nima Gyaljen Sherpa sought the strict implementation of the provision related to the local level’s right to spend 50 percent of the total revenue and party’s clear guideline about the modality of operations of local governments.
