"Unprecedented branding happens when world leaders come to Lumbini with 10 Nobel laureates"

Where at least 10 Nobel laureates are participating. Chief Minister who came to Kathmandu to participate in the Congress General Committee conference with Dilli Chaudhary focusing on the activities of the provincial government, development programs and implementation, alliance and federalism Krishna Acharya of Kantipur and Jagdishwar Pandey Edited part of 's conversation:

The Lumbini government is holding the 4th International Laureates and Leaders Summit on the 28th and 29th. What is the purpose of this program?

We all know that Lumbini is the birth place of Buddha. How to brand it is not seen enough role. Branding is a priority of the state government. We only talk about Buddhamargi from all over the world. Lumbini is not only the place of origin of Buddhamargi, but also the place of origin of people who talk about kindness and compassion in the world. Therefore, if we can make Lumbini more familiar to people from all over the world by branding Lumbini, the economic situation of not only Lumbini but also Nepal can change. If the Nobel Peace Prize winners come and understand the situation here, the eyes of the world will be on this side and a great message will be sent around the world.

Lumbini Chief Minister Dilli Chaudhary . Photos : Mahesh Pradhan/Kantipur

I have been associated with Kailash Satyarthi (India's Nobel Peace Prize laureate) for a long time. He considers me a member of his family. The first Laureates and Leaders program was held in India. He organized it when Pranab Mukherjee was the President. People from many countries came there. The second edition took place in Jordan while the third edition was virtual. We thought that the fourth program should be held in Nepal. Such thinking was formed when Sher Bahadur Deuba was the Prime Minister. After I became the Chief Minister, I proposed to Kailashji that the state as well as the birthplace of Buddha should be branded. He emailed everyone. They have a Nobel Committee, where there are former Prime Ministers of Sweden to the Crown Prince of Jordan and high officials of various countries. They decided to do it in Nepal.

How is the preparation for this conference? Who is attending?

10 Nobel laureates have pledged to participate in the conference. World leaders will also come. Former President of India Ram Nath Kovind, former Prime Minister of Sweden, President of South Sudan are coming. International Migration Organization law makers and Brazilian judges will also participate. There are 20 very special people. We sent out invitations to 80 people, including investors, wealthy foundations and important people. At the conference on February 28-29, we will talk about children, peace and development. On this occasion, there is a plan to give them a jeep safari to brand Bardia. Palpa is thought to be developed as a hill station by including its food, culture and Ranimahal.

There will also be a question of security sensitivity when special people will come from abroad. What is the coordination with the central government?

has been specially coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They wrote to the President for an invitation. Also assisted in correspondence with specific individuals. Also, the protocol authority for the program has also been given. I met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Pokhara and talked about it at length. I had the opportunity to participate in at least 10 programs with Kailashji. I was with the United Nations program or other program. It is decided to hold a conference after they say that the program can be held. The central government has sent a message to the state government through the cabinet meeting that we will take responsibility for the security of the conference.

From 8 am, we take everyone to Buddha Janmabhoomi for two hours and meditate. We will open in the big hall of Lumbini, where the keynote speaker will speak. Various cultural tableaux will be presented. After the inauguration, the session will be held in a 5-star hotel. Everything is ready. There is also a program to tour the guests to various places in Lumbini region. In total, there will be three to four different programs. Cultural programs, evening programs, stalls of Nepali dishes have been prepared. We have focused on three topics that reflect Nepal, reflect the province and reflect the brand.

We will take you around the Bardia National Park to see tigers by helicopter, then there is a program to take you to Swargadwari. We will also take you to the hill station of Palpa. The guests coming to Nepal will also have a meeting program in Kathmandu. They said they will meet the President, Prime Minister and Speaker. American economist Jeffrey Sachs has said that he will come to Kathmandu on February 26 and meet the finance minister and talk about economic development. Now he is also an economic advisor to the Qatar government and he wants to discuss it. We will arrange meetings and other arrangements according to the interests and wishes of the guests. Along with this, the Lumbini government has also formed committees to convey their views. A committee of directors has been formed under my leadership. Many of its position papers have been prepared by the Planning Commission. Besides, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has also supported the Centre. We have made a plan along with the representatives of foreign countries regarding who to invite. How are you doing the financial management of the

conference? How much will it cost, who will bear it?

Some things of financial management have been done by the state government. We had allocated 6.5 million rupees in the red book of the budget. First the policy and program and then we have budgeted for this program in the budget. Now it seems that it will not happen. We told the secretariat of the Nobel Committee about the transportation costs from outside and we also looked for some organizers. Organizers continue to be added. I think, the state government will spend only half of the money allocated in the budget. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that they will serve dinner. We have requested the Prime Minister for lunch. Our conference secretariat is in Butwal. The Secretariat of Laureates and Leaders Foundation is in the US. Both secretariats are working in coordination.

is a long-standing homework based on the allocation of funds from policies and programs to the budget. How did you think of doing the program in Lumbini?

I have been thinking about this program for a long time before whether or not I will be the Chief Minister. After becoming the Chief Minister, he had to do it. It is thought that such programs should be done outside Kathmandu, Lumbini itself should be shown to the world. Let's talk about the implementation of

federalism. How have you got the coordination between the federal, state and local governments?

A meeting of Chief Ministers was held in Pokhara and it was discussed what are the weaknesses of federalism. At that time, the honorable Prime Minister said that everything has been done, all the diseases have been diagnosed, now the only thing left to do is medicine. After that, our 6-month action plan was made. However, that plan did not work. The big question was that the action plan did not work. Then we had a meeting in Hetaunda. After staying there we came to Kathmandu. We told the Prime Minister, he said I will implement it immediately. In the third meeting today, we had a comprehensive discussion. Has the federal government started to make the constitution fail?

Is the Federal Parliament starting to fail us? We raised that. It was agreed that the work expansion will be completed by March. But after saying that it is not enough, the Prime Minister again called the top leaders of the coalition party and held a discussion. After the discussion, they all expressed their commitment for the implementation of federalism. We said that you can fool us but we cannot fool the people. We cannot always be scolded by the central government. If we fail, the constitution will fail. Let's mention that the country will also fail.

After that, it was said that they will finish all the law-making matters by March. The Prime Minister then called a cabinet meeting and placed all the ministers with the Chief Minister. In the meeting of Singha Darbar, we told all the ministers – it cannot be that you succeed and we fail. We were also federal MPs and ministers one day, how can we be all competent when we are up and all incompetent when we are down? If you do not allow federalism to be implemented, you are also a failure. Also, it makes the constitution itself fail. The prime minister needs federalism, the chief minister of the state needs federalism and you ministers don't need federalism? After all this, everyone's commitment has come. There is a commitment that we will expand the work by February and finalize it by March and fully implement federalism.

You keep raising the issue of federalism implementation. In particular, what are the issues of federalism implementation?

We need manpower to do the work. We have the post of 8 deputy secretaries, but only one is there. How does federalism work? The law had to come. We have to raise taxes. The constitution has given the responsibility of peace and security to the state government. But so far the state government has not been able to get this responsibility. Laws stuck. All forests belong to the Union. If a road has to be made, it is forced to run for four months in the center. The forest is ours but the trees are all like the central government. The district now looks at peace and security, which should be done by the state government. There are three important questions of federalism. First, there should be competition for leadership. You see in India, there is a competition among the Chief Ministers to see who will do the best job. It is necessary to have similar competition among the leaders of the province in our country. Let there be a competition between the Chief Ministers of Lumbini Province and Gandaki Province to see who did the best work. Let it be discussed whether the Chief Minister of Koshi did well or the Chief Minister of Far West did well.

A leader who does good in the province is a hero, a zero who can't work can end up there. The second important thing is development. There may be comparisons between the development I do and the development others do. We are now about to hold an international conference. In this we are talking about branding of not only Lumbini but also locally produced liquor. We are talking about economic development to the Badi caste. We are planning to send 200 Gandharvas with falconry training. That is competition in development. A third important aspect of federalism is how to reach out to the people. How to do the economic development of Pasi, Natuas. There are also questions about how to eliminate urban poverty, what to do in agriculture. Despite all these things, nothing can be done if the current federalism does not give laws. What are our needs in all 12 districts of Lumbini?

So far, the training we have provided has become ritualistic, whether it is provided by the central government or by foreigners. The budget is no longer a ritual. If I set aside one crore rupees, what will be the benefit? Now you may be given training by the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Industry or Ministry of Women. Training for 6 months, not even working, not even using the money, no matter how much work has been done, the current budgeting method should be completely changed. It is not known whether the current budget has been useful to the people, it is coming that such a percentage of the budget has been spent. That expense is not a big deal, its achievement is nil. The priority now is to save the culture and sell the culture. How to sell the dishes of Tharu, Magar and other castes here.

How will the state government fulfill its promise to provide employment to two lakh people?

We have said that we will provide employment to two lakh people in two years. But it is very comfortable. It will happen if we produce honey wine in our country. It also occurs during the production of millet liquor. If 5 percent are made to produce alcohol, 75,000 people get jobs. One billion revenue can be raised from alcohol. Not only alcohol, milk can be produced and sold. Potatoes from Rolpa and Rukum, Rawadi from Nepalganj can be branded.

Why not make Nepalgunj a food hub? I have Palpa's Karuva, that too will be branded. At present, Dhaka is brought from India and processed, so why not use Dhaka from Palpa itself? We have vegetables from all areas of the hills, from kibi fruits. We have good oranges, why not branding them? There are many opportunities in my province. We have the birthplace of Buddha. Bardiya National Park is home to twice as many tigers. We have many tourist places including Palpa.

Now we're all into planning. Accordingly, first of all, let's brand the Lumbini area. Peace Prize laureates and other distinguished guests from around the world will visit the region and brand it abroad after seeing it with their own eyes. They will advocate for peace around the world. I also spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He said we have 280 million people, thousands of them want to go to Lumbini, Muktinath and Pashupatinath. Yogiji is close to Guru Ratnathji of Koilabas in Ghorahi. There have been talks of opening the Coilabas route and other 5 points properly.

Apart from that, what are the other priorities of the provincial government?

Lumbini State Government has three priorities. First, it will be easier if the road is built. We want to create an economic corridor. If that is the case, how can we bring food from Rolpa down to the border? Potatoes and other dishes can be brought there. When all the water freezes in India during the rains, all the vegetables like potato, banana, cauliflower can go to India. Then we have started what we call tourism corridors, which can attract more tourists. Then we build an industrial corridor.

The best soil for ceramics is found in Deukhuri. In Bhaktapur, similar clay is used to make ceramic plates and other materials. We have done orange branding for economic development. Apply turmeric on the high tension line, we have told you to market it if it is the san of the male cockerel. Its dishes can also be branded in five-star hotels in Kathmandu. Other chickens are 800 kg in Dang and that is 1300 kg. We are into branding and marketing of every little thing. We are providing technical support by reaching every farmer and connecting them financially. But our Ministry of Development does not have the manpower to understand such things.

Bangladesh and India have their own models. We can also make our own models. Lumbini water is packaged and traded around the world. Everything in Lumbini is sold as souvenirs. A small stick of Lumbini is sold, a small pocket of water is sold. Tree leaves can also be turned into souvenirs. Because it is the place where Buddha was born. We have many such things. Where is the problem, we politicians think that building a road is development, but we do not consider economic development. That caused the problem. Let's not talk about the budget. So many people are supposed to be trained. It does not matter what the achievement of that training is. I have kept separate research, technical and implementation teams in the province. I have also made separate teams for industry and agriculture. Branding culture, caste and food rather than overall. This helps in the development of the province and the country.

How is the state parliament running, is it that the government could not provide business?

The first priority since I came in was the personnel administration law, let's pass it unanimously in the last session. We will bring the Local Government Act now, whether the center brings it or not, we will bring it. We have prepared a draft of the Local Government Act so that we can make it after the conflict. We have talked about making a big training center like a staff college in Nepalgunj. Which are also in different places of India. We are bringing a law to build it. We are bringing such Thrupai Act. 7 draft laws have been prepared. We will continue to discuss on February 18.

Parliamentary Speakers of the State Assembly have not been elected for a long time, why?

This is about who will keep whom in the alliance. But it's almost over now. Soon the chairman will be appointed to the parliamentary committee of the state assembly.

The work of expanding the provincial government has not been completed yet?

The work of building the provincial government has been completed. Now there is only one ministry left, which I hold myself. They say that the ministry has been added and increased. As it is now, it is fine. It is easy to work when you have a ministry.

In this background, how comfortable is it to run the coalition government as the chief minister?

There is a big difference between running a single government and running a coalition government. We were in the alliance even when I was a minister at the centre. I was the Labor Minister when Sher Bahadur Deuba was the Prime Minister at the Centre. After that, I went to the state and became the Minister of Tourism, the Chief Minister was Kul Prasad KC. He was from Maoist. There is no escape from the current constitutional obligation, the mandate given by the election. Accept it and move on. I didn't say it was good, I didn't say it was bad. Because this 5 years we have to absorb the people's mandate and carry it forward. Another problem with

work is more administrative than political. Employees do not understand technical matters. There is also a tendency for employees to never work. Our Provincial Planning Commission is also working in this regard. We have told the international development partner that we need technical team, not money. We need an idea, research it, make a model, we have asked you to give us any technical support. We move forward by forming a technical team.

Congress general committee meeting has just ended. You participated too. What did you find in the General Committee?

A kind of awakening has come. Everyone sat down and discussed what to talk about or not to talk about. But I have to say, sadly, that I felt a bit of a faction. Some say there should be an alliance, some say there shouldn't be. More than policies and programs, the focus seems to be towards that.

Isn't there factionalism because others worked closely with the leader like you?

In a democracy, someone will be close to some leader. That is the beauty and goodness of democracy. This can be seen from both good and bad sides. If you can't bring it together, it becomes dangerous. The work I have done is for the development of the four-star flag and the tree. That is why I had a clear opinion in the General Committee, now we are not concerned with alliance or not, our job is to select competent leadership. The same competent leadership will guide us whether to make a

alliance or not. Now is not the time to talk about 2084 about when alliance is needed and when not. Now is not the time to vote. It will be discussed at that time. Constitution was made under the leadership of Nepali Congress, let's work to implement it. Let's talk about economic development and job creation.