The first circular follows a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) study on the human-rights situation of the endangered and minority Kusunda indigenous community. The NHRC recommends an integrated government action plan for the community’s protection, empowerment and development; preservation of the Kusunda language, culture and traditional knowledge; development of integrated settlements with community participation and prior informed consent; clarification of ethnic identity where citizenship records differ; and protection of traditional homes, land ownership and settlement rights. Federal and provincial authorities are also urged to create special education, health, employment and livelihood programmes.
For local governments, the recommendations are particularly detailed. They call for Kusunda-language education from the school level, documentation and promotion of the community’s cultural identity and oral history, scholarships and residential education for students, technical and vocational training, startup and employment opportunities for young people, access to primary healthcare, nutrition and safe drinking water, targeted programmes for women and children, and financial empowerment through social-security allowances. Local authorities are also asked to help Kusunda families obtain ownership rights over land they have traditionally occupied and to support development of integrated settlements for the community. Civil-society organizations are encouraged to support these initiatives.
The second part of the PDF concerns Nepal Scouts elections. Nepal Scouts states that its National Council, all seven Provincial Councils and existing Local Councils have been dissolved following decisions by the Prime Minister in his capacity as patron and the Education and Sports Minister as Chief Scout. An interim executive committee subsequently decided that elections for provincial and local councils should be completed within Magh 2083, while the National Council election is scheduled for Falgun 21, 2083. The federal administration ministry has therefore asked provincial governments and local levels to provide the coordination and assistance necessary to carry out the election programme.
