An official at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction said work on reactivating the LPCs is already complete. [break]
“The government will issue directives to District Administration Offices across the country next week to form the LPCs,” the official said.
The government had dissolved the LPCs following strong protest by the Nepali Congress in the first week of January. The NC had demanded that the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the LPCs be revised. The finalization of a new ToR some three weeks ago has paved the way for the LPCs.
The LPCs, envisaged in the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA), are all-party committees for mitigating local-level disputes. “The purpose of the LPCs is also to avert all sorts of conflict at local level,” said the official at the ministry.
Financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has encouraged the government in intensifying work on the LPCs. The ADB has pledged Rs 400 million to support the government’s initiative in this regard.
The official said UNDP, the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and various European countries have expressed interest in supporting the setting up of LPCs.
“Some countries have promised to provide financial support through the Peace Fund,” he said.
Although the LPCs were launched with much publicity hype in 2007, they remained a victim of government dilly-dallying. The Academy for Education Development (AED) had cooperated with the government in providing training to experts besides preparing materials for the LPCs in the past. However, the government´s initiative could not move ahead due to differences among the political parties. The then Communist Party of Nepal(Maoist) [now Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)] had withdrawn its participation from the LPCs when it quit the interim government in September 2007.
ghanashyam@myrepublica.com
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