Chairperson of the CPN (Maoist Centre), Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has drawn the attention of the government to make arrangement for medical treatment of the people, who were injured and became disabled during the people’s war.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at Baluwatar today, Chair Dahal drew government’s attention to resolve the problems of the injured and people with disabilities.
On the occasion, Chair Dahal urged Prime Minister Deuba to amend the Disability Percentage Determination and Review Procedure-2074 BS and to enlist those injured and disabled who are yet to be enlisted in the list of taskforce formed to collect details of such people. He also demanded to give status and respect of a republican fighter along with facility to those injured and became disabled in the people’s war as well as to make procedure making arrangement of supplementary budget in order to provide monthly allowance to the families of martyrs of progressive movements including people’s war, people’s movement and Madhes movement and bring the procedure into implementation at the earliest.
Also a former Prime Minister, Dahal requested the government to provide relief along with letter of felicitation to those who were tortured while spending time in jail during the people’s war.
In response, describing the management of families of martyrs and those disappeared, left mutilated and injured during the war as an indispensable part of the peace process, the Prime Minister said it was the responsibility of the State to address the issue. As quoted by the Dahal’s secretariat, the Prime Minister said the government was positive to seeking a solution to the problem.
Prior to the meeting with Prime Minister Deuba, leader Dahal reached Bir Hospital in the morning to visit former People’s Liberation Army (PLA) section commander Bhakta Rana of Mahabharat rural municipality-6 in Kavrepalanchwok district.
Rana who was injured in a clash with the State security force at Jhurjhure of Makwanpur had joined the YCL, the youth force of the Maoist, following the peace process.
Lately, he developed complications due to the head injury he had suffered during the clash. As the hospital says, Rana was diagnosed with infections on his both legs due to a traumatic head injury and it led to amputations.
During the visit, Dahal, the chair of ruling coalition partner, pledged to leave no stone unturned for his treatment and management on behalf of the party and the government, promising to take initiative to ensure education of his seven-year-old child and for a job for his spouse.
During the visit, he also took health updates of other hospital inpatients including one Tilaram Devkota who is from a martyrs’ family at Fujel, Gorkha.
The visitors complained before the former Prime Minister that that hospital doctors were on and off on their duty, they preferred to refer patient to a private hospital and patients were forced to visit private labs citing the hospital MRI machine was not functioning. Deprivation of medicines said to be provided by the hospital pharmacy free of cost, high costs for medicines and a big game of commission in surgery instruments are other grievances of the relatives.
