Netra Vikram Chand, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal, can now go to the fields as soon as the light dawns. 58-year-old Chand looks very agile when he enters the field.

He has a good art and skill in harvesting seeds and planting paddy . From morning to evening, he is going to the farm fields from morning to evening.

He says that he is planting rice with his left hand and now he is going to grow gold in the field . "I am also seeing dreams smiling on the soil in which I am planting rice," he said.

Chand's hands, who used to play with bombs and guns during the Maoist conflict, are now playing with clay. 

There were few who did not hear the name of 65-year-old Santosh Budhamgar during the Maoist People's War. When he should be resting in his old age, Budhamgar is now sweating in the fields and planting. He is a member of the CPN Standing Committee of Chand Group and is now busy planting paddy in Shivraj Municipality-9, Bhokkar village of Kapilvastu.  _{Shaking the field Secretary General Chand .} 

Not only the general secretary and standing committee members, now the entire CPN leader-activist under the leadership of Netra Vikram Chand is engaged in agricultural work on a month-long party leave.

"We are not working on a regular basis except for the emergency work that comes to the party," said Budhamar, a permanent committee member, "Now we are engaged in agricultural work during the production holidays." In order to keep the party running, we are working to move forward by connecting agricultural production with income generation. He said that income generation in this way will help the party and its leaders and workers to be self-reliant in fulfilling their political objectives.

The CPN of Chand group had passed the proposal of 'New Economic Path' from the 9th Congress saying that it would be self-sufficient in agricultural production . Now the leaders-activists all over the country are busy planting paddy according to that proposal. The party has given one month leave from party work from June 10 to July 10.

Under the leadership of the general secretary, 10/12 people from the district leader of the party to the central member are planting paddy in the district. They harvest the seeds from 7 am. At 9 o'clock they can reach the field to plant . Till 12:30 p.m., they plant the fields and return to eat. Everyone eats food cooked in the same kitchen . After resting till 3 o'clock, they reach the field again to plant . They return home after 7 pm.  _{Standing committee member Santosh Budhamgar with CPN General Secretary Netravikram Chand while planting paddy in Shivgarhi of Kapilvastu.}

They started harvesting the seeds from June 8 and planted the fields from the 11th. Party central member Vinod C said that 3 bighas of the general secretary's residence Bhokkar village and 3 bighas of field in Bijgauri near the party headquarters have been planted.

"Out of 6 bighas, we are cultivating 5 bighas on lease," he said, "one bigha is private to the general secretary". That land has also been given by the General Secretary in the name of the party.'  He said that the crops produced here will be enough for the employees of the central office, party programs, meetings and gatherings held here throughout the year.

Earlier, General Secretary Chand came to Kapilvastu after planting paddy on 5 ropani land at Harsiddhi in Latilpur. After 20/22 days of paddy planting in Kapilvastu, the General Secretary's team has reached Arghakhanchi. 

Akbare Khursani in Shitganga Municipality is planting 3 bighas of paddy from Wednesday after sowing for three days. After that, this year's paddy planting of the General Secretary will be completed. 

CPN of Chand group is currently planting paddy in 15 districts from Jhapa to Kanchanpur. District, state and central committees of the party are planting paddy in their respective regions. The production made by General Secretary Chand himself will be completely owned by the party. 

Last year, CPN cultivated rice in 120 bighas in different districts of the country. According to party sources, about 1,500 quintals of rice have been produced. Jheto Bodo of Pokhara, Sava Mansuli of Kapilvastu and Marsi of Jumla were cultivated. Later it was branded and marketed. This year, the area has been increased and rice cultivation has been done in about 200 bighas, the party said. 

General Secretary Chand said that his party has adopted the policy of one organization and one product after the ninth convention. He said that central members and politburo members should lead one bigha production and show the way of empowerment and self-sufficiency in agriculture.

"The party has adopted a policy that no one should be forced to work without wages," General Secretary Chand said, "any member of the party can work in the production commune set up by the party." We are giving 500 to 700 rupees daily to those who work like that.'  _{General Secretary Chand and Standing Committee Member Budhamgar with the planting team. Photos: Manoj Poudel/Kantipur}