HELLO NEPAL

The Himalayan Times 30 March 2017 Fulfil promises It is not surprising to know that whichever party ascends to political power forms the government, leads the nation and signs several agreements with other parties to temporarily quench their grievances but never bothers to implement them. The Madhes based parties continued to exert pressure on the Dahal led government to implement their three point deal which was signed while forming his government. It was not implemented. The disgruntled parties decided to withdraw support to this government a few days ago. Time will tell how the ruling parties will bring them on board so that the local level election can be peacefully held. Likewise, there were a number of agreements signed with neighbouring countries during the visits of heads of the government. Not all such agreements were timely implemented. Once the government changes, the head of the government will be changed accordingly. However, there is a tradition in Nepal tha...

The Kathmandu Post 26 March 2017 SHAME SHAME In the past, it was not uncommon to hear that the influential ministers and leaders had misused their authority and the budget allocated under their ministries for haphazard distribution in their constituencies. These irresponsible transactions used to take place especially towards the end of the fiscal year. Millions of rupees are transferred from one development project to another project for a number of reasons. Every year, the Auditor General Office indicates in its annual report that these transactions are illegal and should be recovered. Such transitions amount to billions of rupees which are yet to be properly accounted for or recovered. However, none of the past governments have been able to eliminate such practices. It is surprising to hear that the Maoist ministers are also found to be carrying out such practices (“Maoist MPs lash out their ministers” 22 March. Page 1). During a recent meeting, MPs raised their voices...

The Kathmandu Post 19 March 2017 WHERE ARE WE HEADING? Recent developments do not bode well for Nepali politics. People have been desperate to see politically stable, peaceful and prosperous Nepal. They do not want to see more killings of their fellow compatriots by security forces in the days to come. For this, the implementation of the new constitution by holding three levels of elections within the stipulated time is must. But, it seems that the Madhes movement may emerge as a stumbling block forcing many to choose the path of ultra-nationalism (“Another round of conflict?” 15 March,Page 4). India has refused to fully recognize Nepal’s constitution. Some other countries have also expressed their reservation. But, it is the right of the Nepali citizens to decide what kind of constitution they want as long as it does not violate international principle of human rights. However, in-fighting among the political parties, rampant corruption and underdevelopment have made...

No excuses The young Republic Nepal has been facing political ups and downs for long due to insensible acts and political egoism of major political parties. Even after dethroning the king through the first Constitutional Assembly, these parties continue to display irresponsible political behaviour undermining universally accepted democratic norms and values. They have not been able to perform to the minimum satisfaction of the general public. This is not to discredit them but to present the ground reality to the readers of this column. In a true and people’s democracy, the political parties are must to represent the people in the parliamentary democracy. However, in Nepal, they have continued to play self-centred politics. As a result, we have seen more than dozen Prime Ministers after the first Jana Andolan that took place in 2062/63. Even the President had to call the big shots of seven major political parties to her palace to remind them the importance of holding local ele...

The Himalayan Times 9 February 2017 Give fair justice Conflict victims of the decade long insurgency have been waiting for justice from the state. The government had formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) two years ago. All the members were picked and nominated under the major parties’ quota system. And, now the process of one year extension of these bodies tenure is in progress. However, conflict victims have cast doubts over their efficacies because of their political affiliations “Conflict victims question TRC’s efficacy” (THT, 7 Feb. Page 1). Both the commissions have not yet been able to produce any concrete results even after collecting thousands of conflict era complaints from the affected people. Internal rifts among the members of these transitional justice bodies being surfaced from time to time does not give a positive indication of its capabilities of settling Maoist in...

The Kathmandu Post 4 th February 2017 BUDGET TO SPEND The normal practice of the government at the beginning of every fiscal year is to send budget spending authorization (BSA) letter to their respective ministries once the budget is approved by Parliament. This is done by the Ministry of Finance (MoF). After getting this authority from MoF, each ministry is responsible for sending BSA letter to their respective departments and regional directorates which, in turn, forward their BSA letter to their district based offices. Because of this tiring and lengthy process, most of the district based offices get their BSA letter after three or four months. This traditional way of releasing the BSA from the centre down to the district level is one of the main reasons behind low level of capital expenditure. Another hindrance is lengthy tender process of selecting the lowest bidder for large infrastructure projects. Looking at these hurdles, it is not surprising to know that the ...

The Himalayan Times 2 February 2017 Basic health services It was encouraging to know that 62 percent of health centres offer basic health services related to child health, family planning and antenatal care. It was revealed by Nepal Health Facility survey 2015 report “62 per cent health centres offer basic facilities” (THT, 31 Jan. Page2). This can be taken as great leap forward of the government towards improvement of local health delivery system. However, it has still a long way to go to provide other basic health services from its VDC level health posts throughout the country. Most of these health posts, especially in the rural areas, are not properly equipped with appropriate equipments, adequate supplies and other physical facilities. Not all these health facilities have also proper pro-client latrines and drinking water system. Medicines supplied by the government to these health facilities hardly last six months.  Unless the government improves its medicine s...

Be responsible It was not surprising to know that the text books for the new academic session will not be adequately printed and delivered to the remote districts on time this year also. The government owned Janak Education Material Centre (JEMC) has always failed to print adequate number of text books before the beginning of new academic session. As a result, the students, especially from the rural and remote areas, had to suffer a lot. Same problem seems to be repeated this year “Manage adequate textbooks for new academic session, govt told” (THT, 18 January, Page 2). This problem has continued to persist for the last several years. The government has not put any effort to solve this problem. Millions of government and donor funds have been invested in the education sector in the name of “education for all”. According to JMEC, a total of 130,000 textbooks are required for grade VI to IX for the country. It has printed only 80,000 textbooks so far. However, it is interesting...