Community Reconciliation Program (CRP) run by Pro-public in 12 VDCs has here been an effective remedy for locals whenever there is a dispute. More than three dozen cases have been resolved under this program over less than a year.
“Minor disputes now do not generally become big issues,” said Shree Ram Kamat, a facilitator. “The trend of petitioning authorities has largely decreased.”
CRP has helped resolve more than 5,000 cases over six years of its implementation in Dhanusha and Sarlahi. It has a similar impact in Morang. “People here do not want to make a mountain out of a molehill as community facilitators are ready to mediate disputes,” said secretary of Ramitekhola VDC Hari Prasad Upreti.
Executive Director of Pro-public Prakash Mani Sharma claimed that CRP had helped cut number of cases being filed at the court of law. Judge of Morang District Court Mani Raj Bhattarai speaking at a program in Biratnagar said that community reconciliation had eased pressure on courts.
According to a study, only 15 percent of people in Nepal seek legal remedy to disputes, while another 10 per cent call up concerned authority for justice. Sixty percent of people do not go anywhere.
“Our program aims at delivering justice to this 60 percent,” Sharma said. CRP has appointed three facilitators in each VDC ward to help deliver community justice and resolve local problems.
“Reconciliation not only helps resolve disputes also changes the relationship between the conflicting parties. They harbor no hostility toward each other after we settle disputes,” said coordinator of CRP Morang Shova Regmi. “This is a win-win option for the conflicting parties.”
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