Annual Report of Martin Chautari, 2000-2001
This report summarizes the activities of Martin Chautari (MC) during the fiscal year 1 Shrawan 2057 to 31 Asar 2058 (16 July 2000 to 15 July 2001). The report has been prepared by the Managing Committee of MC.
Long-term Activities
1. Discussion Series: A total of 63 discussions were held at the Martin Chautari premises during the fiscal year 2057-58. A complete list of the topics and the names of the discussion leaders (pundits) is attached to this report as appendix one. Most of the regular Tuesday discussions were held as planned (except on a few occasions due to major holidays and nationwide bandhs), and some additional discussions were also held on other days of the week. The average attendance was approximately thirty people. Some of the discussions were specifically focused on issues raised by social movements (i.e. the movement to free Kamaiyas from the bonded labour system, introduction of the new Public Security Regulations, etc.). Topics covered included the Maoist movement, public interest litigation, problems of the tarai, electricity tariff, human_rights, women's rights, effective activism, small business, democracy and peace, educational reforms, FM radio, education in the mother tongue, regional peace in South Asia, dalit MPs, disabled children, photojournalism etc. A monthly discussion on selected famous works of Nepali literature has been added to the Tuesday series. So far, the literature discussions have included readings of Parijat's Sirishko Phool, BP Koirala's Narendradai, Sarubhakta's Pagal Basti, Shankar Lamichhane's Abstract Chintan Pyaaj, Ramesh Vikal's Naya Sadak ko Geet and Indra Bahadur Rai's Aaja Ramita Chha.
2. The Kathmandu Post Review of Books: The Kathmandu Post Review of Books has entered its sixth years of publication. As part of the agreement between Chautari and Kantipur Publications, the Review of Books is published twice a month, on the second and last Sundays of every month. A total of 23 issues of the Review were published in The Kathmandu Post this year. In October, only one issue of the Review was published due to Tihar. A total of 17 essays, 68 book reviews and a single poem were published in these issues. A team of coordinators was responsible for putting together the Review, with each coordinator taking responsibility for the issues of a designated month. The coordinators included Manjushree Thapa, Shizu Upadhya, Ashutosh Tiwari, Seira Tamang, Pratyoush Onta, Anil Bhattarai, Ajit Baral and Ramesh Parajuli. A file containing all issues since April 1998, and a few previous issues, is kept at MC.
3. Electric Vehicle (EV) Advocacy Project: The EV advocacy program has been an integral part of the MC activities since late 1998. After initial background research on EVs, the MC team has since been actively involved in advocating for alternative fuel vehicles (read electric) and cleaner air, and lobbying against polluting vehicles. The EV advocacy team played important roles in the eviction of smoke-belching diesel three-wheelers from Kathmandu, and in the implementation of Euro I equivalent Nepal Vehicle Mass Emission Standard, 2056BS. Likewise, it was the EV advocacy team's active role which made the government revoke two of its decisions related to the EV sector. The first of these decisions was to import 500 petrol-engine three-wheelers; the other decision was to ban the registration of electric three-wheelers. After MC's involvement in the EV sector, the number of EVs has grown impressively. Lately, the government has set emission standard for gas-powered vehicles, a step the MC team has long demanded. However, the emission standard is not been implemented properly at the moment.
The seventh phase of the EV advocacy program lasted from January to June 2001. The EV advocacy program is funded by the Renewable Energy Program Support Office (REPSO) of Winrock International Nepal. During the period covered by this report, the activities of the EV team can be broadly summarized under the following headings:
a. Monitoring the government policy on air quality/alternate fuel vehicles
b. EV sector monitoring and promotion in and outside of Kathmandu
c. Facilitating women's involvement in the EV sector
d. Public hearings and media mobilization in relationship to the above activities
The government's policies on air quality and on electric vehicles have been inconsistent and sometimes regressive. The EV team has been supporting and opposing the decisions of the government depending upon their impact on the health of the general public and the EV industry. The government's agreement to import foreign vehicles on the basis of self-certified Conformity of Production COP) certificate has been challenged in the court. MC is one of the partners along with Pro Public and LEADERS Nepal) who filed a public interest litigation PIL) in the Supreme Court in this regard. The Supreme Court judges have issued an interim order as demanded by the petitioners, and the case has now been referred to a full bench hearing. Likewise, MC condemned the Department of Transport's decision to ban registration of new EVs inside the ring-road area, and it commended the Ministry of Population and Environment's decision to evict all two-stroke engine and 20-year-old commercial vehicles from the Kathmandu Valley.
MC has been closely monitoring the developments in the EV sector and helping the indigenous industry prosper by helping to solve different problems within the sector. Various stakeholders in the industry have approached the MC team at times of need.
During this phase, the MC team lobbied extensively against the tax rebate (custom duty and vat exemption) facility provided to LPG operated vehicles. In the budget for the fiscal year 2058-59, the government has scrapped this facility. As per the suggestion given to the Ministry of Finance, the new budget has correlated annual vehicle tax with the age of the vehicles. Likewise, the government has also made a provision to establish an environmental fund by imposing tax (fifty paisa per liter) on fuel sold in the Kathmandu valley. The government has lately announced the emission standard for gas run vehicles, but has not started to test the exhaust emission till date. The Supreme Court on 1 June 2001 gave its final decision on a PIL on LPG emission standard filed by advocate Bharat Mani Gautam and backed by MC.
The Supreme Court has asked the government to test the emissions from LPG vehicles and evict those that do not meet the designated. MC team has helped the start of EV operation in other parts of the country, namely, Biratnagar, Birgunj and Lumbini. MC is facilitating the launch of a fleet of EVs in Bharatpur Municipality early in the fiscal year 2058-59. One of the objectives of the EV team is to augment the participation of women in the EV sector. The MC team has assisted about six women to get employment in the sector. A deal was made with a driving training school (Samuhik Sewa) to provide special discount for female driver-trainees.
Nearly three dozen women drivers participated in several meeting organized at MC to discuss the problems faced by women drivers of EVs. In Bharatpur, a fleet consisting of five electrical vehicles owned and driven by women is due to be started soon. A dozen prospective women driver-owners from Bharatpur have also obtained driving training in Kathmandu. MC has been maintaining an email listserve and disseminating national and international news related to air pollution, transportation and alternative fuel vehicles. This newsletter is circulated once a week to about 350 list members. The MC team has been organizing public hearings on different issues pertaining to air quality and clean transport. Different media has regularly approached MC on the issues related to air quality and the transportation sector. The MC EV advocacy team consists of Bimal Aryal, Ramesh Parajuli and Pratigya Upadhyay. Collaborators have included Clean Energy Nepal, LEADERS Nepal, Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists, The Explore Nepal Group, Pro-public, Electric Vehicle Association of Nepal, Kathmandu 2020, Friends of Environment etc.
4. Kamaiya andolan support: Pratyoush Onta, Rama Parajuli, Anil Bhattarai, Ramesh Parajuli and Ashutosh Tiwari from Martin Chautari visited Dhangadi, Kailali for a week in June 2000. This was a little more than a month after the Kamaiyas started their Movement for Freedom in Far Western Nepal. Chautari members met with protesting Kamaiyas, social activists and local officials. From the conversations, it was clear that unless the Kamaiyas came to Kathmandu and launched 'dharnas' in front of the Singha Durbar, their voices for freedom would not be heard. It was in this context that Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, president of Backward Society Education (BASE) asked for Chautari's help. He needed help in part because BASE does not have an office in Kathmandu.
In early July, Chautari held an interaction program at the hall of the Nepal Tourism Board among a few Kamaiyas and the press and the activists. On the 10th of July 2000, under the leadership of the Kamaiya Mukti Andolan Parichalan Samiti members, 150 Kamaiya men and women from Kailali, Kanchanpur, Bardiya and Banke arrived in Kathmandu to stage a round-the-clock protest at Bhadra Kali. Chautari members - Pratyoush Onta, Bimal Aryal, Rama Parajuli, Ramesh Parajuli, Bhaskar Gautam, Sanjog Rupakheti, Anup Subedi, Suman Parajuli and Anil Bhattarai - worked voluntarily around the clock to take care of the logistics such as medical help, housing, food, transport and press relations. In addition, Martin Chautari members, together with representatives of Kamaiya Mukti Andolan Parichalan Samiti, also visited a number of political party members to lobby on behalf of the Kamaiyas. On July 17, the government declared the Kamaiyas free from debt bondage. This was a historic decision all were waiting for.
Though getting the declaration was a victory, all was not over for the liberated Kamaiyas. Dilli Chaudhary and other activists requested Chautari to continue helping by keeping the Kamaiya issue alive in Kathmandu. Heeding this request, Chautari formed a three-member committee comprising of Ashutosh Tiwari, Suman Parajuli and Sanjog Rupakheti to serve as an 'office extension' to the Kamaiya Mukti Andolan Parichalan Samiti. ActionAid agreed to give the first lot of funding of about Rs. 100,000. This committee also drew on the expertise of Anil Bhattarai, Anup Subedi and others at Chautari on an as-needed basis.
The team had decided that it was ill-equipped to handle the then immediate needs of relief (i.e. food, medicines and shelter) for the thousands of evicted former Kamaiyas. It thought that the task was best left to the INGOs and other agencies. It then concentrated on ways to influence the then upcoming "Anti Kamaiya-labour Bill" in Parliament. To that end, it worked closely with Raja Ram Dhakal, a lawyer at Inhured International, in suggesting changes in the proposed bill. The group presented its findings at an interaction program at the Nepal Tourism Board, where a number of senior lawyers and advocates were also present.
Throughout late July and August, Chautari members also published a number of Kamaiya-related articles in the major national dailies, and prepared - upon learning latest news from the Far West - immediate press releases to be disseminated to Kathmandu's print and electronic media. In addition, they arranged a number of FM Radio interviews for Dilli Chaudhary, thus assisting him with a platform to broadcast BASE's views, and to debate with policy-makers and politicians. When the Parliament ended abruptly without tabling the Bill, the group also looked into whether it was worth getting the Bill passed through an ordinance. After a round of meetings with MPs and other politically connected people, pushing for an ordinance was deemed to be a futile exercise.
In September, with not much happening in Kathmandu, four Chautari members - Suman Parajuli, Ashutosh Tiwari, Sanjog Rupakheti and Bhaskar Gautam - left for the Far Western Nepal, and spent a week in Dhangadi. While there, they visited temporary Kamaiya camps, talked with government officials and interacted with BASE officials. This visit underscored the need of private land for each freed Kamaiya family. The group returned to Kathmandu determined to dig into the issue of land allocation.
After spending October and November doing research on land, there was not much to be found: there were chunks of unregistered land available in Far Western Nepal, but exactly how they were to be distributed to the ex-Kamaiyas was not clear. In December, upon consultation with Dilli Chaudhary and Yagya Raj Chaudhary, it was clear that - with the government's promises of land delivery not panning out - a radical step was needed by the Kamaiyas to get their own pieces of land.
In January, Ashutosh Tiwari left for Dhangadi and spent altogether three weeks there. He assisted Yagya Raj Chaudhary in Kailali and Kanchanpur day and night to make the "land grab" actions of the Kamaiyas successful. Ashutosh Tiwari also assisted BASE activists in making strategies and in negotiating with local officials and the public at large. In addition, with funding from MS-Nepal, Martin Chautari also sent three journalists - one from Kantipur, another from Space Time Daily and the third one from Radio Sagarmatha - to cover the news of the Kamaiyas' capturing unregistered government land.
In retrospect, the land-grab has been fairly successful in that at least in Kailali and Kanchanpur, despite some harassment, no ex-Kamaiyas have been evicted from their new dwellings. Upon coming back to Kathmandu in early February, Ashutosh assisted Dilli Chaudhary internationalize the Kamaiya issue. This was achieved by helping to host delegates from the New York-based Forefront Leaders, human_rights Organization and the Atlanta-based Carter Foundation. The three-member foreign delegates visited new Kamaiya settlements, and they met with the Deputy Prime Minister. In addition, they left a letter from President Carter at the Royal Palace. Martin Chautari organized a press conference for them at Hotel Orchid. This was the last activity organized by Martin Chautari for the Kamaiya Mukti Andolan Parichalan Samiti.
Looking ahead, Ashutosh Tiwari wants to bring out, with Martin Chautari's approval and with funding from some donors, a book-length report on the Kamaiya movement.
5. Kathmandu film archives.html: KFA was founded in September 2000 by Martin Chautari members. It obtained seed financing from Martin Chautari, and is set up as collaboration between MC and Godavari Alumni Association (GAA). KFA's mission is to contribute to the cultural vibrancy and vitality of Kathmandu by screening finest movies (broadly defined) - in 16mm, 35 mm, video or DVD formats - from around the world on a regular basis, either as one-time shows or a part of film festivals. KFA advocates that watching, thinking, talking and writing about movies is one way of making sense of the world around us.
1. KFA is run by "non-filmi" Nepali volunteers who share a passion for movies. All labor is voluntary, though KFA's long-term goal is to pay a small stipend to each month's film co-ordinator. To this end, the KFA is also exploring options to seek funding from the Film Development Board.
2. Though a formal agreement has not been signed yet with GAA, GAA has agreed to pay for KFA's newspaper advertisement expenses (Rs.1000 per month - see below) at least till September 2001.
3. KFA enjoys the goodwill of Russian Centre of Science and Arts (which has provided the Big Hall (200-seat capacity) for free) and Himal Association (which has provided movies for free).
4. KFA has struck an alliance, in writing, with Kantipur Publications, Nepal's largest media house, to print KFA-related advertisement at a discount once a month on page two of The Kathmandu Post daily newspaper. In addition, KFA does its publicity via an email list of about 500 members. It also puts up posters in certain locations in town.
5. Of about Rs. 40,000 spent so far by KFA, about Rs. 33,000 has been recovered from ticket sales. Tickets are priced at Rs. 50 per head. Apart from start-up seed money available from Martin Chautari, and in kind help from the GAA, Russian Centre of Science and Arts, and Himal Association, selling tickets is the only way the KFA raises money to pay for its logistical expenses. With patience and better marketing, the KFA is confident that in coming months, it can not only raise the difference but also have money to pay for its expenses.
6. KFA is slowly but surely working toward establishing a library of film-related materials for research.
7. A list of films shown since October 2000 till the end of this fiscal year is included in appendix two.
6. Promoting Book Culture in Nepal: During the last decade, the increased numbers of newspapers, magazines and periodicals, as well as the increased numbers of books in the Nepali market attest to the remarkable growth, both in numbers and in sophistication, of the Nepali reading public. Printed matter, once accessible only to narrow intellectual circles, now finds wide circulation among readers. The print media in particular has flourished; the numbers of daily and weekly papers and regular magazines in the Nepali print market has shot up exponentially. These publications are actively shaping the nature of Nepal's public discourse, and helping to form the collective imagination of the country. A flourishing 'reading culture' is vital to enhancing the quality of Nepal's democratic discourse. The free speech guaranteed by the 1990 constitution will be bolstered by in-depth, investigative, thought-provoking and critical writings, of the kind now provided by Nepal's daily and weekly newspapers and magazines.
Books, by contrast, remain somewhat outside of the realm of public discourse. The reasons for this are primarily: a) the lack of a general 'book culture' in the country's social and cultural life, including the lack of good library facilities, book clubs, reading groups, book reviews and critiques, and public debates on books; and b) the weakness of the publishing system, including the lack of editors at publishing houses, the unavailability of high quality books, and the inability of book publishers to link with a viable market; and c) constraints on writers, including the financial expenses of writing. Promoting Book Culture in Nepal (here on referred to as PBC/N) is a formal consolidation of Martin Chautari's ongoing book-related activities, together with additional new works to support the promotion of a vibrant book culture in Nepal.
Specifically, PBC/N aims to promote a vibrant book culture by intervening in key production and post-production aspects of book publishing and dissemination. These particular interventions have been identified as crucial missing works over the six years of Martin Chautari's work in this field; and they have been described in the following section of this report. In brief, PBC/N aims to highlight and review significant books in Nepal; to encourage oral and written discussion about them; to make important writings from other countries available to a Nepali reader through translation; to undertake model publishing projects in order to establish fair practice in the publication of books; and to help make books available to scholars and researchers.
MC applied for funding for PBC/N to the Japan Foundation Asia Center (JFAC), and was informed in April 2001 that a partial grant had been approved for certain programs within PCB/N. Since then, MC members have been preparing to launch various book-related activities as part of this project. There are two aspects to PBC/N's work. The first of these falls in the category of 'Production Works,' aimed at encouraging the creative process in book production. These works include the programs outlined below.
a. Writing Retreat Fellowships: two-month retreat fellowships awarded to nine-ten writers per year with the objective of enabling them to complete deserving manuscripts. JFAC will be funding this work. Currently, MC is in the process of forming a selection committee to read and evaluate applications for these fellowships. MC is also preparing application forms for this work. The retreats are tentatively scheduled for winter 2001/02.
b. Chautari Translation Series: twenty-four articles translated from foreign books, published in the Kathmandu print media. MC will facilitate the translation of classic works in the field of political economy and other subjects available in English into Nepali. Some pieces will also be translated into English from their original Nepali. The translated works will then be published. Some pieces translated into Nepali will be collected in an edited volume and published in arrangement with a Kathmandu-based publisher. Mary Des Chene will lead this effort. JFAC will be funding this work. About 10 pieces were nearing completion as of Asar 2058 end.
c. Chautari Books: Four books per year edited for high-quality writing. Bela Malik will be involved as a consultant in this work. JFAC will be funding this work. Currently, MC is in the process of collecting appropriate manuscripts, and carrying out discussions with Bela Malik.
d. Model Publishing: Two high-quality books edited for quality and published in fair practice. Bela Malik will be involved as a consultant in this work. JFAC will be funding this work. Currently, MC is in the process of collecting appropriate manuscripts. The second aspect of PBC/N's work entails 'Post Production Works,' including the activities outlined below:
e. Review of Books (English): 24 issues published in The Kathmandu Post; each issue includes three/four reviews, an essay, and a list of recent publications. This work is funded by The Kathmandu Post, and has been outlined in section two of this report.
f. Review of Books (Nepali): The idea is to replicate the English review work we have been doing for a Nepali language publication. Each issue including reviews, essays, and a list of recent publications. This work will be funded by collaborating newspapers. So far, discussions about a possible collaboration have taken place, without success, with Kantipur. MC intends have a final meeting with Kantipur with a written proposal. Discussion will also be held with other publications, possibly Rajdhani. Bhaskar Gautam will be responsible for coordinating this work.
g. Reading Group: Monthly group discussions based on an in-depth reading of selected books. This is a Chautari-funded project which has already been started by incorporating monthly literature readings and discussions as part of its regular Tuesday discussion series.
h. Radio Discussion on Books: The idea is to do 50 radio programs per year dedicated to books. This Book Discussion program will be a 20 minutes program to begin with and it will be extended to a 30 minutes program later. In the programs, different aspects of books will be discussed, and critics, writers and general readers will be invited to discuss on/about books. A short introduction of newly published books on/about or related in any way to Nepal will also be given in the programs. The program will be aired through one FM station in Kathmandu and in as many different FM stations outside of Kathmandu as possible. Discussions have been held with Communication Corner (a radio software producing company) to have these programs aired in Kathmandu as well as in other cities and the work is slated to begin in late July 2001. Ajit Baral is currently preparing a few test programs and he and Pratyoush Onta will initially host the program.
i. Chautari on the Net: A website of book reviews, articles, and other written material generated as part of PBC/N's ongoing work, including cross-referencing to other sites based on books on Nepal. MC has, to date, carried out discussions with Yomari about the possibility of setting up such a website but it is unlikely that this idea will be pursued immediately.
j. Martin Chautari Library: A reference source for scholars and researchers, this library already exists at the MC premises, but is in need of updating in order to make it more useful and more user-friendly. Any such work would have to be funded by MC. MC is currently discussing possibilities in this regard.
7. Access to Natural Resources at the Grassroots Level in Nepal- Widening the Discussion on environmental_justice in a Changing Civil Society: The overall goal of the proposed project is to improve public understanding of environmental_justice in respect to access to natural resources at the grassroots level, particularly in respect to discrimination against the low caste and poor households and women. In undertaking this project, MC aims to bridge the gap between the national, district-level, civil and grassroots actors potentially involved in the dissemination of environmental_justice. In the process, MC will strengthen its own capacity for public interest advocacy from the national to the grassroots level. MC will also sensitize various actors at these different levels about existing injustices in access to natural resources, and advocate for environmental_justice by systematizing and disseminating knowledge researched from the grassroots. The specific objectives of the proposed project are:
a. To consolidate existing information on environmental_justice. This includes both library research and documenting the existing situation of environmental_justice at the grassroots level, from previous research studies. The particular emphasis here is to document discrimination in access to resources according to caste status, wealth and gender and their impact on the society as well as environment.
b. To conduct participatory research at the grassroots level, involving users of natural resources and marginal people, in order to gain information that can help spread public awareness about environmental_justice.
c. To devise appropriate methods of pedagogy, and to use existing media to inform the actors responsible for policymaking and implementation about the need for social justice in resource management, and about various benefits that will accrue with fair access to natural resources.
d. To sensitize direct users about social justice in natural resources programs so that they learn to articulate fair access as their demand.
e. To devise various methods for the dissemination of information about social justice in environmental projects for people at different levels. Ford Foundation (through CSRD) will enable MC to execute this project, which will be led by Dr Jagannath Adhikari. This work will start from the next fiscal year.
8. Public hearings: Since last year, Martin Chautari has been organizing public hearings, press conferences and interaction programs. Opportunities to speak at public forums have allowed us to further emphasize the importance of various issues. Most of these hearings have been related to environmental issues and to ex-Kamaiyas and their rehabilitation. Some hearings were jointly organized with other organizations. These events were covered by both national and international media. Below is the list of public hearings, press conferences and interaction programs organized by the MC.
a. Interaction program at NEFEJ to discuss the agreement reached between India and Nepal regarding the import of Indian vehicles. Organized jointly with Leaders Nepal, Pro-public, Explore Nepal, NEFEJ, 10 August 2000.
b. Public hearing on the 'Proposed Kamaiya Bill' on 18 August 2000.
c. Press Conference after MC along with Leaders Nepal and Pro-public filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court challenging the government's agreement with India, 24 September 2000.
d. Press Conference after the Department of Transport Management issued a notice in the Gorkhapatra banning the registration of new EVs inside the ring-road area of the Kathmandu Valley, 22 October 2000.
e. Interaction program on 'interrelationship between electric vehicles and Nepal Electric Authority', 25 October 2000.
f. Interaction program on 'Land grabbing movement of ex-Kamaiyas', 8 February 2001.
g. KFA hosted a talk on 'The craft of movie making under extreme conditions' by Mr. Eric Valli, director of the Nepal-made, Oscar-nominated movie, Caravan in 20 February 2001.
h. Interaction program on 'Kamaiya rehabilitation: how is the international community looking at it?', 28 February 2001.
i. Interaction program on 'lead acid batteries: facts, safety and management' organized jointly with Clean Energy Nepal, 20 March 2001.
j. Interaction program on 'Haliya system in Western Hills' organized jointly with SEACOW, 13 April 2001.
k. Interaction program on 'Kamaiya rehabilitation and human right issues', 4 May 2001. Interaction program on 'Emissions from LPG vehicles: Rationality of Custom duty and VAT exemption' organized jointly with Clean Energy Nepal, 16 May 2001.
Other Activities
9. Earth Day Celebrations: MC, along with several other pro-environment organizations working in Kathmandu, organized a weeklong celebration of Earth Day in April 2001. The other member of the Earth Day Nepal Committee were The Explore Nepal Group, Pro-Public, SAWTEE, Leaders Nepal, Clean Energy Nepal, Kathmandu 2020, Jeevan Monthly and environment science students' group. The Nepal committee organized a car- free day and an environmental rally that included bicycle and rickshaws.
10. Preparation of a bibliography on the Nepal Tarai: Sanjog Rupakheti has prepared a bibliography of works on the Nepal Tarai under the guidance of Mary Des Chene and Pratyoush Onta. This bibliography will be published in Studies in Nepali History and Society. This work was jointly funded by MC and CSRD.
11. Research on FM radio: MC has been closely following the developments in the FM radio. Last year MC organized a half-day seminar on different aspects of FM radio. This year MC conducted research covering the economics of FM stations. This study has tried to cover issues like revenue generation through advertisements by FMs as compared to the whole advertisement market; the operating costs/establishment costs of FM stations; their contribution in employment generation, etc. Also included in the study is the financial viability of the FM stations, and the government's taxation policies. The outcome of the study--a research article--will be published. Shekhar Parajuli and Bhaskar Gautam conducted this research under the guidance of Pratyoush Onta. This work was also jointly funded by MC and CSRD. Preliminary exercises leading to the publication of an edited volume consisting of articles on the FM radio experience in Nepal have been held.
12. Anthology of Nepal's literature in English: Manjushree Thapa has convened a group of editors to work on an anthology of Nepal's literary writings in English. MC has made some financial commitment toward the production of the volume, originally expected to be out in 2001. Ajit Baral is providing editorial assistantship for this project. Due to delays in the editing work, this anthology will now be incorporated into the Model Publishing programme of the PBC/N project, and will be rescheduled to be released in 2002.
13. Blood Donation Program: After the royal massacre on the night of June1 and the subsequent curfew, a temporary shortage of blood was observed in the hospitals. Disorder in the capital caused a decline in the collection of blood from donors. Upon request from friends at the Blood Donors Association, MC organized a Blood Donation Program at the Pipal Bot in New Road on 14 June 2001. All together 40 people donated a pint of blood each on that day.
Institutional Matters
a. The current Managing Committee of MC consists of Pratyoush Onta, Manjushree Thapa, Girish Kharel, Bimal Aryal, Ramesh Parajuli and Usha Tiwari. Shizu Upadhya resigned from the post of treasurer at the end of December 2000. No replacement has been made so far. Bhaskar Gautam, who is providing administrative support to MC, is also looking after the MC account under the supervision of the convener.
b. For many years, several member of the MC family had expressed their worries that the premises and facilities of MC were not being used to their optimum. In the past two years, that worry has been superseded to a certain extent. As the activities of the past year listed in this report would suggest, MC has become a busy place. It is now felt that additional facilities - both physical and institutional - are necessary to sustain the current and projected level of activities. Much discussion was held this year amongst Managing Committee members regarding this subject and the general future of Martin Chautari. Issues of concern included: how to make MC a sustainable institution, expansion of the institutional core, enhancing volunteerism, financial sustenance, seeking professional help for organizational management, etc.. While general parameters regarding MC's future course were discussed, no definitive decisions were made during that meeting.
c. A "scoping exercise" to determine the future institutional structure of MC was scheduled for June 2001, but had to be cancelled due to the massacre of the Royal family. This meeting, involving the participation of approximately 30 NGO workers and activists, will be rescheduled. In the meanwhile, Chautari has undertaken a discussion on the same topic as part of its regular Tuesday series. Based on all the discussions so far, the MC Management Committee has decided that MC should be turned into an independent NGO. Management models appropriate to Chautari's objectives remain to be discussed and formulated.
d. During the fiscal year 2057-58, Martin Chautari subscribed to almost all the newspapers published in Kathmandu. These newspapers were bought to collect the news clippings of issues related to the ex-Kamaiyas and the environment. Files of the clippings are kept at the MC office. Sanjog Rupakheti did the clipping work. MC also bought several books for its library. Other books were sent to MC by authors and publishers for review purposes.
e. Members of the Managing Committee and some others who have helped MC in its activities put in a total of about 3000 person-hours of voluntary labor during this fiscal year.
MC in the News
Subjects first discussed at the Tuesday discussions at MC premises and at public hearings have been reported or referenced in the national media, both print and electronic. The international media including BBC has also covered some of the issues. Martin Chautari itself has been the subject of reports in the Nepali press. Nepali Times and The SARAI reader published an article by CK Lal about Martin Chautari and its activities. A file has been maintained with all press clippings.
For more information please contact chautari@mos.com.np