Karishma gets mark sheet without appearing in the exam

Baitadi, Aug. 27

Something amazing has happened in Baitadi. A school has received a mark sheet of the SEE (Secondary Education Examination) results of a student who had not appeared in the exam!

Sharada Secondary School in Sigas Rural Municipality – 5, Dhungadh has received the mark sheet of its student Karishma Chand who did not sit in the last SEE examinations, instead she had eloped months before the SEE examinations.  

Principal of the school Min Bahadur Chand said that the school has received the mark sheet of Karishma with 1.65 GPA. It mentions her symbol number 0751180N and date of birth  Falgun 5, 2055BS.

Karishma’s father Keshav Bahadur Chand expressed happiness after hearing the news and said that he would take the mark sheet to his daughter’s house if the school provided the document to him.

“My daughter had fled with a boy from Doti district. We knew it after many days. We were worried that she left her study without completing class 10. But the certificate has arrived although she did not sit in the exam. This is surprising,” said Keshav.

When The Rising Nepal contacted Karishma over the phone, she expressed surprise over the incident.

“I fell in love with a boy through telephone conversations. I left the study without considering its consequences. My husband had also left the school and had gone to India in search of job. I am not happy with this life,” she said.

It is surprising that Karishma’s name is not mentioned in the name list of the schools sending their students to the SEE exams and the examinees at the Education Development and Coordination Unit in the district.

About 34 students had filled up the registration form from Sharada Secondary School but her name is not found in the list.

However, Sarita Luhar, another student from the same School, has the same symbol number but with a different date of birth, BS 2057 Asar 10.

Website that publishes the SEE result displays Karishma’s name while searching.

But Principal Min Bahadur said that the school has not received Sarita’s mark sheet.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 August 2019. 

Caste key marker of exclusion: Study

Kathmandu, Jan. 26: Youths’ view on social structures such as caste, ethnicity and social and political organisations and systems determines their understanding of social cohesion, concluded a recent study on the youth perspective on social cohesion.

“It means that the transforming exclusionary social and political structures and changing behaviours as well as attitudes are necessary for fostering social cohesion in a multicultural society like Nepal,” reads the study report.

The youth participated in the study agreed that social and political exclusion was a key determinant of a cohesive society and it created ‘us versus them’ perception among the people of their caste, ethnic, gender and religious identities.

The caste-based discrimination has featured most prominently as a key marker of social exclusion.

The study has also found a strong gender dimension of social cohesion.

How girls are brought up, how the society views their roles in public and where they spend most the time determines their perspectives of social cohesion, it said.

“As girls spend most of the time inside the houses or in private spaces, it not only isolates them from wider social processes and reinforces gender-based social power relations, but it also tends to make girls understand that the society has inherently discriminatory practices,” reads the report.

The research has also found that existing socio-economic and socio-political inequalities strongly influence the way and extent to which people in society engage in cooperation and collective action.

It has confirmed that social trust among and between social groups is a fundamental building block of a peaceful and cohesive society.

“Dalits have been excluded in decision making process at local level. For a sustainable peace, long term hidden conflict in the society should be resolved,” former Speaker Subash Nembang said at a programme organised to launch the results of the study.

He said that the youth should be motivated for the peace and development.

The research was conducted by Asian Academy for Peace Research and Development in Morang, Sunsari, Udayapur, Bara and Parsa in December 2016 and February 2017.

The study conducted key informant interview with 51 and focus group discussion with 177 youth in those districts.

Shiwalaya school reconstructed

Kathmandu, Mar. 16: Shree Shiwalaya Lower Secondary School in Laharepauwa of Rasuwa district has been reconstructed with the support from Indigo Children’s Fund UK and Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal (JCYCN).

The school building collapsed in the devastating earthquakes in 2015.

“The four-room building was constructed at the cost of Rs. 41,87,500 with due adherence to the quake resistant building practices and guidelines,” said the JCYCN in a press statement.

District education officer of Rasuwa Sukadev Sapkota and Chair of Children as Zones of Peace (CZP) National Campaign and president of JCYCN Tilotam Paudel jointly inaugurated the building amidst a ceremony on Wednesday.

The building has been handed over to the School Management Committee on the same day.

On the occasion, president of CZP Krishna Subedi announced scholarship worth Rs. 50,000 for the needy students of the school.

He said, “Teachers have pivotal role in uplifting the school and they should be committed to the quality education. Likewise, no children should either be used in any political activity or conflicts. They are harbinger of our society.” 

King's Hamro Utsav from Tuesday

Kathmandu, Feb. 26: Kings College is hosting Hamro Utsav, a festival of education, entrepreneurship and entertainment, from February 28 to March 1 in Kathmandu.

This is the second edition of the festival which provides a platform to showcase the talent of students through various activities aiming to harness entrepreneurial ability, said Narottam Aryal, principal and executive director of the college.

“Hamro Utsav is an extensive competition among the students of the country. We believe in growing bigger, reaching more people and getting better every time to make a difference in celebration of students’ diversity,” he said.

According to the college, the event, managed by King’s Club, aspires to bring forward more than 500 students from 17 colleges of various streams such as Science, Management, Education, Fashion, Humanities from all over Nepal.

The festival will feature stock market challenge, social media marketing, business plan writing competition, quizzes, human relations challenge, mad ads, entrepreneurial exhibition, college icon and event planning competition.

It will also include creative and entertainment programmes like short movie competition, thematic photography competition, and battle of bands, dance competition, painting, sketching, junk arts and event planning competition. 

India awarded scholarships

Kathmandu, Feb. 22: India Wednesday awarded Golden Jubilee Scholarship to the Nepali students.

Minister for Education Dhani Ram Paudel and Indian ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae presented Certificates of Merit to the students.

According to a press statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, the scholarship scheme was launched by the government of India in 2002 to commemorate 50 years of economic cooperation between India and Nepal from 1951 to 2001.

“Initially 50 Nepalese students undertaking different undergraduate courses in Nepal were awarded the scholarship. In 2007, the number of scholarships was increased to 100 and from 2012, it has been doubled to 200 and monthly stipend increased from Rs. 3000 to Rs. 4000 for MBBS and BE courses and from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 3000 for other courses, including B.Sc., B.A., BBS, etc.,” read the statement.

Government of India extends over 3000 scholarships to Nepalese citizens through the Embassy of India in Nepal. The scholarships are provided for a wide spectrum of courses including medical, agriculture, sciences, law, arts, veterinary sciences, pharmacology, computer sciences etc. at various levels of Under-Graduate, Post-Graduate, Fellowships, etc. 

ICM organizes seminar on crisis

Kathmandu, Feb. 2: With an aim of providing a forum for exchanging knowledge about the role of information in disaster, Institute of Crisis Management organized a workshop on 'Collective awareness platforms for sustainability and social innovation for making crises resilient community'.

"The workshop has helped to increase network among government officials, academic researchers and members of international community who share commitment to building resilience to disasters and specifically empowering local communities through information exchange," said Ram Thapaliya, chairman of the Institute.

The workshop was organised in collaboration with Comrades project, Open University, UK, University of Agder, Sheffield University, Suhahidi and Government To You, and supported by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 Scheme.

The two-day workshop was inaugurated by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, and concluded by Minister for Industry Nabindra raj Joshi. 

Increase investment in women empowerment: Nepal

Kathmandu, Jan. 24: Former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Tuesday said that the state should increase investment in empowering the women.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of Women and Children Centre at Changunarayan, Nepal said, "Social development begins with the women and their empowerment. Therefore, programmes should be implemented in order to make them literate, productive, capable and entrepreneur."

He urged the community to utilise the centre for the production of various goods and services and other social activities.

Women make sanitary pads in the centre.

He appreciated the efforts of Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) Japan and its Nepal Country Office for their contribution to renovating the building and launching various income generating trainings and activities.

According to Shizuyo Sato, executive director of ICA Japan, the organization provided Rs. 13.5 million for the renovation of the building, conducting training, procuring machines and other activities.

She informed that the ICA Japan was going to launch another support programme in Sindhupalchowk.

"In Sindhupalchowk, we will support the quake-affected communities with training on agriculture, dairy and animal husbandry as well as juice and Nepali hug plum candy products," she said.

The programme is scheduled to begin in June this year.

She said that the programme would be replicated in Nuwakot district as well.

The project entitled the 'Renovation of learning centre for vulnerable victim of the disaster in Changunarayan, Bhaktapur,' has child club and senior citizen's club for utilising centre for their future growth.

"The project has learning centre renovation, community meeting for rehabilitation, psychosocial support activities for women, children and elderly citizen to cope with disasters and income generating activities for women," said  Prof. Dr. Tatwa P. Timsina, chairman of ICA Nepal.

on," he said.

The term of insurance for Nepalese workers in India will be for one year in general. If the term of employment is fixed, the insurance coverage can be obtained for the specified period.

The Prime Minister said that a three months' grace period would be provided in the insurance policy for renewal. It means that if any worker sustains critical injuries or dies within three months of the expiry of the policy, he would get all the benefits of the policy.

The government also said that the families of the workers could also renew the policy.

Chairman of the Insurance Board Chiranjibi Chapagain said that the announcement was important for the safety of Nepalese workers abroad and expressed his commitment to prepare the necessary policy guidelines at the earliest. 

NIC Asia and NRCS collaborate for blood donation campaign

Kathmandu, Jan. 10:

Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) and NIC Asia Bank Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate for conducting blood donation campaign across the country under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the Bank.

According to a press statement issued by NIC Asia, Laxman Risal, chief executive officer, of the Bank and Dev Ratna Dhakwa, general secretary of the NRCS, signed the MoU amidst a function organized by the Bank.

As per the arrangements between these two institutions, NIC Asia will bear the financial costs for organising 100 blood donation camps whereas NRCS will work on the technical part of blood collection, storage and distribution for effective management of blood donations.

“Further, NIC ASIA Bank and Nepal Red Cross Society will organize and conduct awareness programmes about blood donation and motivation programmes to educate people to donate blood,” read the statement.

The Bank has recently initiated a tree plantation programme with an aim to plant more than 7000 trees across the country to contribute to greenery and environment, and has also initiated a financial literacy programme to bring in underprivileged and marginalized communities yet to be serviced by the main stream banking. 

NIshan wins GSEA Nepal

Kathmandu, Jan. 8: Nishan Shrestha, student of Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, Kathmandu, has won the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) Nepal competition.

He will represent Nepal at the 2016/17 GSEA Global Finals in Frankfurt, Germany.

“He will be competing against the top student entrepreneurs from around the world in the hope of winning over 400,000 USD in cash and donated prizes.

 He has won a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 in GSEA Nepal final,” said Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Nepal.

The GSEA Nepal competition was organised by the EO Nepal in partnership with the Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum (NYEF).

Shrestha’s company, Eco Cell Industries Pvt. Ltd., Produces reliable, economic and environment friendly and earthquake resistant building materials.

L to R, Third place winner Bikesh Sapkota, winner Nishan Shrestha
and Second place winner Johnson Bokati

According to the organizers, the company was a pioneer in the production of interlocking bricks in Nepal.

Jhonson Bokati, a student of Kathmandu University, won second prize in the GSEA Nepal competition while Bikash Sapkota stood third.

Bokati and Sapkota run IT companies.  

Bokati developed an app which helps people to receive calls despite their busy schedules while Sapkota’s major product is school management system.

They won Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 10,000 respectively.

Managing director (MD) of Fluer Himalayan Ajay B. Pradhanang, chairman and managing director of iCapital Ajay Shrestha, chief investment officer of the Mercantile Group Amod Rajbhandari, MD of Arya International  Anuj Shrestha, MD of Siddhi Ganesh Enterprise Pragun Rajbhandary and chairman of Wellness Hospital Sudarshan Basnet were the judges for the competition.

GSEA chair for Nepal, Samir Thapa said that competitions like GSEA could provide a learning opportunity and exposure to student entrepreneurs and would also inspire other students to pursue entrepreneurship. 

200 health centres reconstructed

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has said reconstruction of about 200 health centres and 200 schools had been completed by the end of 2016.

Buildings of approximately 169 health centres and 1,200 educational institutions are under construction.

"In addition to that, 50 government buildings have been reconstructed with pre-fabricated materials while 228 buildings are under construction," mentions latest NRA report.

Earlier, NRA chief executive officer Sushil Gyawali had said that the reconstruction of 297 drinking water project and 15 archaeological structures had been completed, and 961 water supply project and 69 heritages were under construction.

"NRA has expedited the reconstruction works of the health and education infrastructures with the aim of completing it within three years," he said.

According to the government policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2016/17, reconstruction of all schools, most of the hospitals and health centres would be completed within three years and private houses in two years while all reconstruction works would be completed within five years as per the five-year action plan of the NRA.

More than 459,886 households have received the first installment of the house reconstruction grant, Rs. 50,000, about 41,311 houses have been reconstructed and more than 18,000 houses are under construction even though the reconstruction body is yet to distribute the second and third installment of the grant.

So far, the government has signed the grant agreement with 544,996 families of 14 districts severely hit by the devastating earthquake in April and May 2015.

"The government has recently approved the grant distribution procedure as per the increased amount for the second and third installment Rs. 150,000 and 100,000 respectively, so the second installment of the grant will be distributed at the earliest," said Gyawali in his clarification.

Delay in the distribution of second installment of the grant money was one of the reasons behind the agitation of the engineers and other technical manpower deployed in the field for the post-quake reconstruction.

Monastery supports school with sports materials

Kathmandu, Dec. 30

Ananda Sangh Pulahari monastery has supported Jana Jagriti Secondary School of Budhanilakantha Municipality – 19, Jagdol with various sport materials worth Rs. 615,000.

Secretary of the monastery, Chhuki Lama, handed over the materials to chairman of the School Management Committee, Trilochan Poudyal, amidst a ceremony, on Thursday.

Lama said that the sports materials would contribute to student's educational, physical and psychological development.

According to Poudyal, the monastery had been continuously supporting the school in construction buildings, toilets, educational materials and extra-curricular activities for students.

He said that money would be used in constructing sports and playground site and procuring sport equipments.

King's College signs MoU with Yunus Centre

Kathmandu, Nov. 24: King’s College, a business school in Kathmandu under the affiliation of Westcliff University, US, has sealed an agreement with Yunus Centre Dhaka, Bangladesh to establish ‘Yunus  Social Business Centre (YSBC)’ at King’s College, Kathmandu.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed jointly by executive director of the college Narottam Aryal and chairman of Yunus Centre Nobel Laureate Prof. Dr. Mohammad Yunus on behalf of their respective organizations on Tuesday in Dhaka Bangladesh, envisages to develop and expand a framework of cooperation between Yunus Centre and King’s College for the formation of YSBC.

According to a press statement issued by the college, the main aim of the centre was to promote Professor Yunus’s vision of alleviating poverty by implementing the concept of social business through mutual understanding and cooperation.

“King’s College aims at promoting mutual understanding and co-operation in areas of common interest in education, research, information sharing and gathering and action plans so as to deepen an understanding of each other’s culture and value that drive business and social changes,” read the statement.  

Both the organizations will organize student and faculty exchange and learning visits so students and faculty members can learn first-hand techniques and programs which have been set up to assist the economic development of the poor in developing countries.

“King’s College has always believed in transforming Nepal through social entrepreneurship. It’s a great honour to be associated with Yunus Center and we believe this collaboration with the world’s champion is social entrepreneurship will help achieve its mission of promoting social entrepreneurship in the country,” said Aryal.  

Chhori project launched

Kathmandu, Nov. 18:

With an aim to reinforce girls’ success at individual level and improve support for girls’ education at all levels, Child Reach Nepal (CRN) organized Girls Education Summit on Friday.

The summit was a part of CRN’s ‘Taught not trafficked’ initiative.

Dr. Tshering Lama, country director of Child Reach International, said that the summit was organised as a forum where key stakeholders in girl’s education in Nepal and the world could improve coordination, transparency and collaboration and learn by working to further girls’ rights and education.

On the occasion, ‘Chhori’ (daughter) project was launched which will be focused on raising awareness on menstrual health.

“The programme aims to empower adolescent girls by communicating the message of menstruation being a natural process and importance of managing proper hygiene to prevent adverse health issues. It will also focus on the production of low-cost bio-degradable sanitary pads as a part of school entrepreneurship programme,” read a statement issued by the organiser.

On the occasion, Arun Murungananthan, a social entrepreneur from India, provided a machine to Chilaune Higher Secondary School, Sindhupalchok.

Speaking on the occasion, actor Nisha Adhikari urged the families and communities to come forward to assist the young girls in order to make them stay in the school during their menstruation.

Girl students from various schools presented the situation of girls in their communities in relation to access to education and holistically keeping them safe in schools and its effects on their vulnerability to abuse and exploitation. 

Govt to establish fund for tech education

Kathmandu, Oct. 26: The government is planning to establish a separate fund for technical education and vocational training.

As various 17 ministries are implementing skill development programmes on their own without coordination with each other, the government has been planning to run such programmes through a central fund with greater collaboration and coordination with the ministries.

According to joint secretary of the Ministry of Education (MoE) Baikuntha Prasad Aryal, government, private sector, non-government organisations and donor agencies cumulatively spent about Rs. 17 billion annually on technical education, skill development and training.

"The Fund will be established by April next year," Aryal said in an interaction on the role of private sector in skill development organized by Support to Knowledge and Lifelong Learning Skills (SKILLS) programme of UNDP and Society of Economic Journalists – Nepal (SEJON).

Speaking at the programme, stakeholders suggested that the technical education and vocational training was essential for the economic upliftment of the people and it should be expanded to every district in the country to facilitate in creating entrepreneurs and businessmen. 

Assistant country director of the UNDP Heema Devi Khadka said that vocational skill development programmes should be connected with the entrepreneurship.

"Such trainings should be demand-driven. Only then such trainings will prove successful with the trainees employed at various companies or run their own enterprise," she said.

Vice-chairman of the Council of Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) Kul Bahadur Basnet said that the skill development training did not only help the youth to be self-employed but would have resulted in more remittance as Nepal could send skilled workers to overseas.

Vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Kishor Pradhan said that as the private sector had an important contribution in creating employment, the government should work in collaboration with them while designing and implementing skill based training.

"The FNCCI believes that the private sector not only creates employment but it also promotes small enterprises in the value chains of the large industries and helps in entrepreneurship development at the local level," he said.

Presenting a paper on the role of private sector in technical education and vocational training, former secretary of the MoE Mahashram Sharma said that the current programmes for skill training were insufficient to address the ever increasing manpower that enters the labour market every year.

"Approximately 450,000 people enter into the labour market every year but only about 100,000 people are being trained on technical education and vocational training," he said.

He said that although the government and donor agencies were running skill development trainings, the Nepalese private sector seldom called for the human resources it needed.

Symposium on transformative education from Friday

Kathmandu, Oct. 18: An international conference on ‘Transformative education and sustainable development’ will be held in Dhulikhel of Khavre from 21^st to 23^rd October.

Transformative Education Study Centre of Kathmandu University School of Education (KUSOED) is organizing the conference in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Murdoch University Australia.

According to a press statement issued by the KUSOED, more than 120 experts and delegates from 14 countries will participate in the conference and deliberate on the topics like quality of education, equality and suitability of education.

In the conference, experts will discuss on the type of transformation in the education sector of the countries that have linguistic and cultural diversity.

Topics like system of education in diverse society and role of stakeholders will also be discussed in the seminar.

An international association of the stakeholders involved in transformative education in various universities will be formed on the last day of the conference.

“This is a good opportunity for Nepal because we are also deliberating on transformation of the education sector. Along with the changes in sociopolitical and cultural sectors, education sector should also be able to cater the need of the changed context,” said Bal Chandra Luintel, associate dean of the KUSOED. 

Govt serious to promote investment

Lalitpur, Sept. 23: Minister for Industry Nabindra Raj Joshi Friday said that the government was seriously pursuing ways to create more favourable investment and industrial environment in every district through the promotion of private sector and investment.

Inaugurating a training programme on ‘Branding and integrated marketing communications’ organized by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Minister Joshi said that there was no alternative to developing industry, enhancing productivity and obtaining high economic growth without private sector development.

“In a liberal economy, private sector has to play a crucial role to push the economy forward. Therefore, I urge the business community to increase investment. The government is ready for the Private-Public-Partnership, too,” he said.

He urged the private sector to join hands with the government in operating the state-owned industries that had long been shut due to various reasons.

He informed that the government was planning to call proposals from cottage, small and medium scale entrepreneurs with an aim to assist them in upgrading their businesses.

Minister Joshi appreciated CNI for its efforts in enhancing the capacity of human resources through intensive training and orientation.

CNI president Hari Bhakta Sharma said that as the industrial development required continuous training, study and skill enhancement, CNI had established the Center for Industrial Excellence to cater to these needs.

He urged the government to provide the center with necessary economic, physical, and policy assistance.

Indian brand expert, Manush Sengupta, and professor Ujjwal Chaudhary are facilitating the three-day training.

About 52 managers and other officials from bank, industry, service, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, insurance and other business houses are attending the training.

Budget crunch hits child development

Kanchanrup, Saptari, Sept. 20: The Child Friendly Local Governance (CFLG), a government scheme for child development through better governance, has hit a snag in Kanchanrup municipality due to lack of sufficient budget.

The municipality, formed by including about nine villages, faces a paucity of funds to build child- friendly infrastructure and installing other facilities needed for maternal and child health, spaces for recreation and sanitary requirement.

Kanchanrup was announced a municipality a couple of years ago.

"Before it was announced as a municipality, Dharampur, one of the VDCs included in the municipality, was in the last stage of being declared as a CFLG village. The remaining areas in the municipality need to work a lot to attain the status of being 'child friendly'," said Bhawana Poudel, a member of Municipal Child Club Network. She has already served as the president of District Child Club Network and vice president of Regional Child Club Network.

The municipality is working to construct structures such as disable-friendly toilets, children park and declaring it as an open defecation free area but is running short of budget.

"We want a children's park, playground, a public library and public toilets here," demanded Manisha Kumari Yadav, another member of Municipal Child Club Network.

"We have emphasised on building child-friendly structures and organising capacity-building programmes for the children. But we don't have enough budget for them," said Ashok Yadav, a young engineer who leads the planning department at the municipal office.

The municipality has been struggling to reduce child marriage, child labour and child abuse. Similarly, it is still trying to become a defecation free area.

"The municipality has enforced a mandatory provision for the toilets. If anyone wants to get benefits and services from the municipal office, they must have a toilet in their home," said Yadav.

Like other villages in the district, there are child marriages in Kanchanrup. Manisha is one of the social campaigners against child marriage, who has not only raised voices against the social malady but also rescued some girls from getting married at an early age.

Child Club Network has staged street drama at 22 locations in the municipality. The drama, dialogues, costumes and acting were all organised and performed by the club.

Bhawana said that the street drama played a great role in creating awareness against child marriage. Now, children themselves report to the clubs and police if there are any cases of child marriage.

Children activism

Kanchanrup has school-level child clubs in 34 out of the 44 schools, ward level clubs in 11 wards and one municipal network.

They organise a child council once a year where they assemble in three groups – one of children below 12 years of age and two groups of males and females with children in the 12-18 age group.

They present things they don't like, give information about risky areas for children and how they could be developed in pictorial forms.

Children represent their clubs in the Ward Citizen's Forum, Municipal Council and Integrated Planning Formulation Committee. Bhawana was invited as the chief guest at the last Municipal Council which had become news across the district.

"We feel that our voices are being heard. We have become a stakeholder in the development works, and the School Management Committee, Ward Citizen's Forum and Municipal Office take us as their partner in development," said Sunil Kumar Sardar, a child club member.

They are especially proud of their success in reducing child marriage in their locality.

"We had successfully stopped one child marriage here and two other marriages were cancelled because of the first one," said Manisha.

Bhawana said that the child clubs were raising their voices against corporal punishment meted out in the schools, managing first aid boxes, including sanitary pads in schools, and planning for another street drama aimed at raising awareness about having toilets at home.

Rameshwor Yadav, District Committee member of Federal Socialist Forum, said that Kanchanrup needed to work hard to get rid of child labour and child marriage though both have been substantially minimised.

"We have been helping the child clubs in running a crusade against child marriage. Children have forced the political leaders to change their behaviour. Leaders have become more responsible and accountable because of the child clubs," he remarked.

Kanchanrup has a children's park. "The government and United Nations International Children's Fund (Unicef) provided some assistance in establishing the park," said Uttam Acharya, a journalist.

Unicef focal person for CFLG in Saptari Ashok Jha said that Unicef provided Rs. 800,000 in assistance to Kanchanrup last year and Rs. 500,000 this year.