By Our Reporter The Task Force constituted by the Nepal Communist Party Central Committee meeting under the convenorship of the party’s senior leader JN Khanal comprising of Bhim Rawal and Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali was unable to complete a study on the Millennium Challenge Cooperation (MCC) on given time of ten days. The Task Force had thus demanded additional ten days to complete the study. There is no question of completing the study in 10 days as they have studied a lot on MCC and they have publicly criticized it saying the American grant project as anti-national and against the sovereignty of Nepal. It is clear that the intention was to delay the MCC ratification process. According to Khanal, the Task Force has received ten days more to study on MCC. In the meantime, according to sources, the US Embassy has asked the government to endorse MCC as earliest as possible, otherwise, it is going to scrap the grant project. The Embassy is not even in a position to wait for further ten days, the source informed. Following the American pressure, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has asked Speaker Agni Sapkota to put MCC on Parliament’s discussion schedule. PM Oli is planning to endorse MCC even with the support of the Nepali Congress without waiting for the report of the Khanal led Task Force. Meanwhile, Bhim Rawal, member in the Task Force has asked the party leaders for not taking any move on MCC unless the study is completed. PM Oli, on the other hand, said that if the Task Force had not studied the MCC, why they were speaking against MCC in public! This reply was hinted towards JN Khanal and Rawal who are strong critics of MCC. The Americans have already made clear their stance that there will be no change on terms and conditions mentioned in the MCC agreement. The government has already spent above two billion rupees for office expenses and staff salary from the MCC grant project. The Americans have denied reimbursing the fund without endorsement of MCC by the government. One group in NCP is of the view that it is an American military strategy, which will invite American military presence in the country, whereas, another group believes there is no link between the American military and MCC. However, the latter group has not been able to make clear about what they are saying.