NEPAL's FIRST DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION

NEPAL ADOPTS FIRST DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION

Nepal adopted its first democratic Constitution, a historic step for a nation that has seen war, a palace massacre and devastating earthquakes since a campaign to create a modern state began more than 65 years ago.

IMPORTANT FEATURES OF CONSTITUTION

 The constitution defines Nepal as a secular country, despite widespread protests for it to be declared a Hindu state.

 Federal system: It creates seven states in a secular, federal system.

 Nepal’s constitution divided the country into seven provinces.
o Kathmandu, the capital district, lies in province No. 2 and except this all other provinces have three
geographical divisions:--mountain region, hilly region and southern plains.

 “Entitlement approach” to rights” :---Nepal’s new constitution has been based on the “entitlement approach” to rights.
o It guarantees fundamental rights as well as the right to food, right to education and right to protection from environmental degradation. In a move loaded with meaning, the constitution gives right of protection from human trafficking.

 The needs of marginalized communities, including the Dalits, the disabled and those from the LGBT community, are addressed.

 Confirming social and economic rights as fundamental

 Rejecting the death penalty

 Amendments can be adopted with relative ease over the next two years and four months, as the
Constituent Assembly enjoys a kind of afterlife as a Parliament.

DISCONTENT OVER THE NEW CONSTITUTION:

 The promulgation happened even as violent protests raged in the Terai against “injustice” meted out to the Madhesis.

 The protestors were upset that the federal restructuring of Nepal into seven provinces left the Madhesis divided among five provinces, with only one of them having a majority of plains-origin people.

 Delineation of electoral constituencies in the Terai (where more than 50 per cent of Nepal’s people live) which has not been done on the basis of the population in the plains; this creates a grievance about gerrymandering.

 Other complaints relate to citizenship norms that disallow children of Nepali mothers married to foreigners from inheriting Nepali citizenship.

INDIA GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

According to the government, there are three major problems with the Constitution which prevents India from warmly welcoming the document.

 The federal-provincial demarcation is perceived to be unfair to the people of the Terai region;

 Secondly, the constituency delimitation is skewed against the Madhes population as half the population, that is the Pahadi (Hill) community gets 100 seats but the other half consisting of the Madhesi and the Janjatis get only 65 seats.

 Finally the ‘proportional inclusion’ clause, for reservation includes many forward castes of the Pahadi region, which negates the principle of affirmative action.

 India also feels let down that many of the commitments given by Nepal during the framing of the 2007 interim Constitution have been forgotten.