Dec 05, 2016, at 10:33 pm
On November 29, 2016, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-Maoist Centre)-led Government registered a seven-point Constitution Amendment Bill at the Parliament Secretariat, seeking to amend the Constitution which was adopted in a historical step on September 20, 2015, to address the concerns of Madhes-based parties. The Amendment Bill proposed to leave only six Districts, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilbastu, Dang, Banke and Bardiya in Province 5, excluding the six hill Districts of Palpa, Arghakhanchi, Gulmi, Rukum, Rolpa and Pyuthan, to add them to Province 4. The Bill also seeks to amend the Constitutional provisions pertaining to citizenship, provincial border, and proportional representation, among others. Later, a Cabinet meeting held the same evening decided to form a High-Level Delineation Commission to settle all issues related to the delineation of Provinces after making a comprehensive study of all past agreements and reports submitted by various commissions. The Government had prepared the Amendment Bill in order to address the demands put forth by the agitating Madhesi parties, as the alliance of Madhesi parties had served an ultimatum, which ended on November 28, 2016, to bring an amendment proposal.