HELLO NEPAL

The Himalayan Times 30 May 2019 Maintain law and order It seemed that Nepal would see no more bomb blasts killing innocent people, and the common people would have a sound sleep following the comprehensive peace agreement signed in 2006 between the then seven party alliance and the then CPN-Maoist. Following this event, CPN-Maoist had entered the mainstream politics. The first Constitution Assembly declared Nepal a Republic, abolishing the 250-years-old monarchy. Promulgation of the new constitution and holding the three tiers of elections were the follow-ups. However, the integration and disintegration of the political parties continue to discourage the people. Even after the promulgation of constitution, regional political parties showed their dissatisfaction over some of the articles of the constitution and staged street protests. The common people had to even suffer from seven-month-long trade blocked at the borders.  Nepal is now, on one hand,...

The Himalayan Times 23 May 2019 Shadow government Following the three tiers of elections held 15 months ago, the political situation of Nepal seemed to be stable, considering the two thirds majority government in place. However, the government is running the country with not much excitement, shattering the high hopes of the common people and its well wishers. It seems that it is gradually losing its credibility due to its high-handedness in handling the state affairs. The government has been facing wide criticism from different sections of the population for its poor political performance.  The NC has also not been able to effectively play its opposition role in the Parliament, may be, because of its poor political performance in the elections. The internal political feud in the NC is one of the reasons for its downfall. The other reason could be the deviation from its age old political stream as envisioned by late BP Koirala. There did not seem to be any diffe...

The Himalayan Times 16 May 2019 Address people’s plight Nepal has now three levels of governments following the three tiers of elections held in accordance with the constitution. All these governments have now been in operations for the last one and half years. However, lack of clarity about their roles and responsibilities among the provincial and local governments or unwillingness to devolve power to them by the federal government, these local level governments have not been able to fully function and seem unable to provide the desired level of services to the locals. This situation has created frustration and anger in the people towards federalism.    Many development works, even the national pride and priority projects, are in limbo due to irresponsible behaviour of the political leaders, corrupt bureaucrats and thug contractors. We have not heard of any contractor who has failed to complete the development projects within the assigned time being fi...

The Himalayan Times 9 May 2019 Marriage of convenience Nepal and its people have seen emergence of many political parties since the 2062/63 peoples movement with their fancy political manifestoes. The old parties- UML and Nepali Congress - continued to take the centre stage at the political arena and had the opportunity to run the government with tall promises. The entry of the then Maoist party following the 12 point understanding of November 2005 with the seven party alliance was the turning point in the political history of Nepal.   In the mean time, regional and other fringe parties also took opportunity of the unstable political environment and had the privilege of joining the government in collision with the major political parties.  But, the promulgation of constitution in September 2015 and three tiers of the elections downsized the number of political parties in the Parliament. However, this situation compelled the regional and fringe parties...

The Himalayan Times 2 May 2019 Pesticide poisoning Nepal is a landlocked country and heavily dependent on its agricultural farms. Eighty percent of its population is engaged in agriculture which, however, has not been able to fully feed the people and contribute towards its gross economy. Once an exporter of rice, Nepal is now heavily importing rice from neighboring countries. This is due to increase in population and disappearance of agricultural lands owning to massive unplanned urbanization.  The rapid commercialization of agriculture sector has been the main factor in heavy use of pesticide in the country. And also the dual policy of the government of allowing the import of pesticides on one hand and making attempts to discourage its use on the other has been a major problem for pesticide control. It seems natural for the farmers to increase their yields. However, using over dozes and haphazard use of pesticide for better output have equally harmed and affe...