JUMLA, July 13
VDC secretaries have started taking the first draft of the new constitution to the villages of Jumla for discussion as the lawmakers representing the district arrived in the district with the draft on Tuesday.
While the lawmakers would be conducting discussion programs with the locals at the district headquarters Khalanga, secretaries have to bring back the suggestions collected from villages by 19 July. They have been assigned to present the findings at Khalanga, the next day.
According to officials, suggestions would be collected from at least from 10-15 persons per VDC. "The sampling must be done properly so that the suggestions represent the voice of all marginalized groups in the villages," said Ananda Prasad Adhikari, under secretary at the parliament secretariat.
Allowing meaningful participation of the locals in the discussions on the new constitution will instill a sense of ownership by the people of the constitution, Adhikari.
To further monitor the work of the VDC secretaries, another team from the district headquarters would also visit the villages, said officials.
The administrative chiefs of various government offices and representative of the political parties, would form several groups to make the monitoring work effective, according to officials.
"The new constitution has to guarantee that the status of Jumlis will be better once it is promulgated," said a local at the district headquarters Khalanga.
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