Investment in education going down the drain

Most of the government schools in the cities, and many in the villages as well, have better physical facilities like playground, building, laboratory, library and drinking water. Teachers are well-trained, and they don’t have issues related to poor payment to teachers. But, the result of government schools is pathetic with a significant number of them performing worst in the secondary exams. 

Government pours resources in education, but the achievement has been negative for the last couple of decades. If the results were to be improved, the central and local government and the community must be active to make the education system better. 

The local bodies elected after about two decades are confused about their rights, finding resources for the additional duties and meeting aspirations of people. The best way to address the aspirations of the people would be to improve the education system in their respective local body. 

There is no second thing in the world for parents other than their children's excellence in education. It is equally necessary for the federal or provincial government to collaborate with the local governments to create at least a model public secondary school in every local units so that other schools could follow the trend. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 September 2018. 

Sikta Farmers' Frustration

It’s been 12 years since the Sikta Irrigation Project started. The project, which is believed to irrigate more than 80 per cent arable land in Banke district, has just achieved 57 per cent physical and financial progress. It consumed more than needed time and costs. Adding salt to injury, the 35 km long main canal was damaged at multiple locations while testing the water supply. 

The canal was damaged as no soil testing was conducted before the initiation of the work, according to the Inspection Team of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. The alignment of the canal should be changed at multiple locations and repair works are needed at many places, needing additional costs and time. The ministry is testing the soil now. It is like putting the cart before the horse. It’s an instance of sheer negligence of the respective government agencies. 

Bad luck of this country is that Sikta is not a stand-alone development project which is delayed and poorly executed. This is just a representative of myriad development projects being undertaken in the country. The delayed development results in time and cost overrun which directly hits the state’s coffers, farmers’ production and overall development of the project area.

Timely completion of large infrastructure projects gives impetus to the economic progress as it spurs more production, market development and establishment of processing and ancillary industries. 

These all create an impressive demand for the human resources, thus increasing the income of the people in the locality and raising their living standards and providing them with disposable money which can be spent on quality health service and education. 

If Sikta was completed in time, many farmers in Banke could adopt commercial agriculture and get involved in the farming of high-cash crops and vegetables. Increased agro production could have demanded the establishment of agro-processing industries, cold storage facility and commercial animal husbandry. Business of agricultural inputs would also have flourished. All these economic activities could be operated by the private sector. The dam site of the irrigation project and canal could be a great tourist attraction. 

If the government is able to complete the construction of the canal in time, including its sub-supply lines, and supply water to the fields, the rest of the development would take place automatically. But the opportunity has been missed, and the field that were supposed to be irrigated by now are undergoing plotting for the housing instead. 

In addition, the damage in the main canal has forced the government to form an inspection team and the anti-graft authority Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA), has sent a team for field observation. These activities also increase the operation costs of the project. 

But, rising frustration of the farmers and other businessmen in Banke is irreparable. Individuals and agencies responsible for the failure of this pride project must be punished and efforts must be made to recover the losses.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 September 2018.

Increasing imports hurt foreign currency reserve

Kathmandu, Sept. 29:

The soaring import of goods from India has forced the Nepal Rastra Bank to mobilise foreign currencies to buy the Indian Rupee (INR).

In the first month of the current fiscal year 2018/19, the central bank purchased Indian currency equivalent to Rs. 40.19 billion by selling USD 320 million, Euro 16 million and Pound Sterling 20 million.

The amount purchased is higher by Rs. 9.42 million as compared to the first month of the last fiscal year 2017/18, said the NRB in its latest macroeconomic and financial situation report.

“Indian currency equivalent to Rs. 30.77 billion was purchased through the sale of USD 300 million last year,” read the report.

Nepal imported goods worth Rs. 120.61 billion in the first month of this fiscal, alarmingly up by 54.3 per cent from the same period last year while the import trade was increased by just 10.5 per cent in last mid-July to mid-August period.

Imports from India have increased by 43 per cent.

In 2017/18, Nepal imported the goods of Rs. 1242.8 billion and India had the share of 65.2 per cent following by China 12.8 per cent and other countries 22 per cent.

Three years ago, Indian goods had 61.7 per cent share in total imports in Nepal, and China had 15 per cent share.

Statistics of the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) showed that imports of petroleum products, vehicles and spare parts, other machinery and parts, M. S. billet and hot-rolled sheet were increased.

Widening trade deficit with India is an issue of concern as although Nepal received about Rs. 101 billion remittance from India last year, it’s nothing as compared with the size of import, said Executive Director of the NRB Nara Bahadur Thapa.

However, he maintained that till the foreign currency reserve (balance of payment) is good there would be no problem for the import trade and Letter of Credit (LC).  

“But cash management is rather problematic as the money has to be physically brought from the Indian Reserve Bank to Kathmandu and distributed to the people in need,” said Thapa.

The export from Nepal is negligible which increased by 3.2 per cent to reach Rs. 6.9 billion in the first month of this fiscal.

NRB report showed that the current account registered a deficit of Rs. 25.38 billion in the first month due to the significant rise in imports. The current account witnessed a deficit of Rs. 5.98 billion in the same period last year.

Similarly, overall BoP remained at a deficit of Rs. 24.77 billion compared to Rs. 3.29 billion last year.

Workers’ remittances increased 33.1 per cent to Rs.73.95 billion compared to a growth of 7 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 September 2018. 

Over 296 quake-hit families to celebrate upcoming Dashain in new homes

Kathmandu, Sept. 28

About 50 per cent families who had lost their houses in the devastating Gorkha Earthquake 2015 will be celebrating the upcoming Dashain in their newly reconstructed homes.

In the last three years of reconstruction drive, as much as 296,514 private houses have been rebuilt while about 259,098 houses are now under construction, according to the statistics of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA).

However, the reconstruction body maintained that the number of reconstructed houses could reach 350,000 as the data of the less-affected 18 districts is yet to come to the NRA. It also hoped that the remaining beneficiaries would start rebuilding their homes immediately after the Dashain and Tihar, two major festivals celebrated in Nepal.

Spokesperson of the NRA Pitambar Ghimire said that due to the responsibilities given to the local bodies and the engineers who would be dispatched to the quake affected areas soon would contribute to expediting the construction of private houses.

The NRA has urged the beneficiaries, the local bodies, the political parties and other concerned stakeholders to support in the national mega-campaign.

In terms of the number of reconstructed houses, Sindhupalchowk has come first with 49,540 houses rebuilt. It is followed by Dolakha with 44,461 houses, Gorkha 36,490, Dhading 35,661, Nuwakot 28,150, Ramechhap 23,734, Kavrepalanchok 20,752, Sindhuli 11,110 and Okhaldhunga 10,787.

The total number of reconstruction beneficiaries is 723,728 families and 717,964 of them have received the first installment of the house grant, Rs. 50,000.

About 503,036 families have received the second tranche of the grant, Rs. 150,000 and 266,904 families have received the third tranche of Rs. 100,000 by now.

The number of beneficiaries has gone up to 810,690 following the clearing the compliant registered at the NRA and the local bodies.

The government has distributed Rs. 1.382 billion in grant to the quake-hit families by the end of the last fiscal year 2017/18. This year, the NRA has allocated Rs. 83.41 billion budget, and Rs. 10 billion has already been distributed so far.

The government aims at completing the reconstruction of the private houses by the end of the current fiscal year.

A new deadline to obtain the housing grant has been set by the NRA Steering Committee earlier this month. Beneficiaries who received the first installment of the grant by mid-July this year should obtain the second installment by mid-January 2019 and the third installment by mid-May 2019.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 September 2018. 

LDC graduation criteria needs a revisit

Kathmandu, Sept. 27: Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said that the graduation criteria set for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) needed a revisit.

“For many LDCs, the graduation criteria itself fails to capture the reality in its entirety, which deserve a revisit,” he said while addressing the Annual Ministerial Meeting of LDCs in New York.

He said that although the Committee on Development Policy (CDP) had recommended four countries for graduation which was encouraging that never so many countries had been identified for graduation at a single review, still the process fall short to meet the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA)’s aim to enable half of the LDCs to meet the graduation criteria by 2020.

He called for creating strong synergy between the implementation of the IPoA and the 2030 Agenda.

According to Gyawali, a robust response is required to ensure that a greater number of LDCs are prepared for graduation. Most importantly, the graduation must be smooth as well as sustainable.

He said that sustainability of development progress was a major challenge for Nepal.

“As the country is recovering from the disastrous earthquake of 2015 and continues to remain vulnerable to natural disasters, the decision regarding our graduation has been deferred till 2021,” he said.

Earlier, Nepal planned to graduate to the ‘developing country’ status by 2018 but at the last minute it wrote to the United Nations that it was not ready to graduate this year.

Nepal met two out of three criteria for graduation for the second consecutive triennial review this year, but we still have low per capita income, he said.

He also said that the country was intensifying development efforts to build ground for sustainable graduation as well as to become middle-income country by 2030.

Foreign Minister Gyawali said that the structural constraints of poverty, inequality and unemployment continue to impede the pace of progress in LDCs while adverse effects of climate change, natural disasters and internal conflicts further compound the challenges.

“Those LDCs, which are also geographically constrained, such as landlocked and small islands, are more vulnerable to these shocks. They bear higher cost of production, transportation and low comparative advantage of their exports,” he said.

He urged the international community to come forward to ensure market access, remove tariff and non-tariff barriers, lift quantitative restrictions, and help capacity building and technology transfer.

“They need financing and investments to conquer poor infrastructures, narrow production and export bases, dismal capital formation, and low factor productivity,” said Gyawali.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister has urged the world to uphold the principles of the United Nations (UN) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to save the succeeding generations from the ‘scourge of war’.

In these uncertain times when there are many challenges created by conflicts, poverty and inequality, we should go back to the basics-- to reflect on the UN Charter to save the coming generations from the scourge of war, and to reflect on fundamental principles of NAM which are time tested and are relevant now, he said while addressing the Ministerial Meeting of the NAM in New York.

“The principles are the universal norms for conduct of healthy inter-state relations, and they make guiding ethos of the foreign policy of my country,” he said.

Gyawali also asked to fight against the culture of violence.

“The first line of defence against this should be built in the minds of people –by instilling in them the ‘culture of peace'- the culture which is inclusive and tolerant; the culture of solidarity and social cohesion; and the culture of pluralism and peaceful co-existence,” he said.

“The citadel of peace cannot stand upright if we fail to anchor it well in the way of our living, thinking, attitude and behaviour,” he added.

Nepal stands for complete nuclear disarmament: Bairagi

Kathmandu, Sept. 27: 

Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi on Thursday said that Nepal stood for time-bound, general and complete disarmament, and unconditional elimination of all weapons of mass destruction, including the nuclear weapons.

“The catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences of the nuclear weapons should not ever be allowed to occur,” he said while speaking at the High-Level Plenary Meeting to Commemorate and Promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in New York.

According to him, Nepal believes that total elimination of the existing nuclear weapons and the assurance that they will never be produced again are the only absolute guarantee against their catastrophic consequences.

“This can only ensure universal peace and security,” he said.

Secretary Bairagi said that Nepal believed that resources wasted for building and maintaining nuclear arsenal should be diverted to peace and development, and nuclear science and technology should be used only for the peaceful purposes, such as for the advancement of health services, clean water, agriculture, nutrition, food security, climate action and access to energy for all.

Nepal is a state party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and signatory to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Last year it supported the adoption of the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty and later signed it.

“Nepal does not believe that nuclear weapons are useful deterrents. Instead, they are a cause of security dilemma and should not find any place in any national security doctrines,” he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 September 2018. 

Community mediation programme concludes

Kathmandu, Sept. 27: 

A community mediation programme implemented to enhance capacity and mechanisms for dispute management through introduction and institutionalisation of community mediation has been completed.

The programme named as Strengthening Community Mediation Capacity for Peaceful and Harmonious Society Project Phase II (COMCAP –II) also aimed at increasing access to justice of the vulnerable sects of society such as the poor, women and marginalised people, said Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The programme was formally commenced in 2010 through the government initiative led by the then Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development with technical cooperation of JICA.

“COMCAP was first piloted in Sindhuli and Mahottari district during the first phase while phase second was initiated in 2015 to focus more to institutionalise it at the government system by developing training and orientation materials, guidelines, videos and handbook on good practices,” said JICA.

The project supported to establish 38 Community Mediation Centers in different rural and urban municipalities of Sindhuli, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Morang and Tanahun districts primarily with an aim to create peaceful and harmonious society to benefit the local people.

So far 1,120 Community Mediation Centers are established throughout the country and have resolved more than 11,600 disputes through the effort collectively made by the various developing partners, international/non-government organisations and COMCAP.

The Project on Thursday organised a central workshop, before the formal closure post completion, to discuss the way forward of community and local governments led mediation with all its stakeholders. 

Govt gives equal opportunities to the investors: Yadav

Kathmandu, Sept. 26:

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supply Matrika Prasad Yadav has said that the government was committed to give equal opportunity to the investors from around the world including from China.

Calling investors from China and other countries to invest in Nepal, Minister Yadav said that Nepal's investment climate in Nepal has been far better than most other countries.

"The government is ready to do whatever necessary to improve investment climate in Nepal," he said while speaking at a function organized by Xinhua News Agency, Kathmandu Bureau on the occasion of Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival also known as Moon Festival on Tuesday evening.

Answering to those who criticize 10-year long conflict behind economic backwardness of Nepal, he said that economic progress of the countries like Sri Lanka didn't stop due to conflict and it should not be cause of Nepal too.

"In fact, Nepal has culture of doing trading instead of entrepreneurship," he said emphasizing that such culture should be reversed. "We should give priority to industries and increasing domestic production instead of trading," he added.

He said that the government had been working on improving the Raswuagadhi trade route connecting the Nepal-Border in Rasuwa district.

Rajesh Kaji Shrestha, president of Nepal-China Chambers of Commerce and Industry said that Nepal is yet to bring large scale Chinese investment in Nepal.

"Despite much talk about growing Chinese investment in Nepal, large investment is not coming from China yet. Since the country has stable government which is supportive to invest in Nepal, Nepal should be able to attract large scale investment," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, June Zhu, site manager (Asia Pacific Division) of China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd, which is involved in building Pokhara International Airport, said that Chinese companies in Nepal are alleviating power shortage, improving the infrastructure and promoting the progress of Nepal's communication facilities.

Speaking on the behalf of Chinese entrepreneurs working in Nepal, he said that Chinese companies in Nepal have also been involved in various charity works.

Mid-Autumn festival is considered as second largest festival after Chinese New Year.

Chinese (mainland) investment in Nepal stands at Rs. 46,506 million in 2017/18 which was Rs. 6,326 million in 2016/17.

The size of Nepal-China trade was 162,074 million in 2017/18 and Rs. 128,946 in 2016/17. But the large share of trade between the two countries is Nepal's import – Rs. 159,636 in the last fiscal year. Nepal exported goods worth Rs. 2,437 million only.

However, the number of Chinese tourists is gradually going up. In 2017, about 104,664 tourists came to Nepal from China, and the number is likely to grow this year since about 71,379 Chinese have come to Nepal in the first half of 2018.

Govt announces concessional loan for young entrepreneurs

Kathmandu, Sept. 23: 

The government has announced to provide concessional loan to the entrepreneurs, and young individuals aspiring for business education and ventures.

With an aim of promoting entrepreneurship, create employment and increase domestic production, the government has published Integrated Procedures for Concessional Loan Grant, 2018.

The procedures has provisions to mobilise loans in six different areas - up to Rs. 50 million for commercial agriculture and livestock loan, up to Rs. 700,000 for educated youth self-employment loan, up Rs. 1 million for the foreign-returnee youth, up to Rs. 1.5 million for women entrepreneurship loan, up to Rs. 1 million for Dalit community enterprise development loan and Rs. 500,000 for high and vocational educational loan.

The procedures also includes Rs. 300,000 housing loan for the families affected by the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.

Any Nepali citizen above 18 years of age having Personal Account Number (PAN) and not listed as the ‘defaulter’ in any Bank and Financial Institutions (BFIs) can apply for the loan facility, according to the procedures published by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Sunday.

However, the high and vocational education loan will be mobilised to the youth below 25 years of age.

Individuals or groups, organisations or companies operating an enterprise, students aspiring for technical or business education and earthquake victims can apply for the concessional loan.

Loan facility will be for the five years’ term and is available at all types of BFIs – commercial banks, development banks, finance companies and micro-finance banks. The actual size of the loan and installment will be decided by the respective banks.

BFIs extending the concessional loan facility to the youth should not charge more than additional two per cent interest to the grant provided by the government, and they are not allowed to ask for any charges other than interest of the loan.

Individuals seeking commercial agriculture and livestock loan should be above 18 years of age and should submit a brief proposal of enterprise operation and utilisation of the loan facility. If the project is above Rs. 1 million a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the enterprise should be submitted to the bank.

Any applicant seeking money in group collateral should produce a reliable document proving the guarantee.

Educated youth self-employment loan can be mobilised to the youth below 40 years of age who have a university degree and obtained at least 7-day training provided by the government institutions like the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) and Cottage and Small Enterprise Office/Committee, Skill Development Training Centre.

Similarly, loan will be provided to foreign-returnee youth who has spent at least 6-month with work-permit in foreign countries. Such facility will not be provided to foreign Permanent Residency (PR) holders. The foreign-returnee should apply for the loan before 3-year of his return.

Likewise, women entrepreneurship loan and Dalit community enterprise development loan will be given to any women above 18 years age and having a proposal for enterprise operation.

With an aim of promoting agriculture and livestock sector business, increasing production and employment, utilising the skills of youth returned from foreign employment, motivating youth to take up skilled-based education and promoting women, marginalised people, earthquake victims in business the government has announced the new policy.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 September 2018. 

क्षेत्रीय युवा सहकार्य

एशिया तथा प्रशान्त क्षेत्र विश्वको सबैभन्दा युवा क्षेत्र हो । संसारका युवाको करीब ४५ प्रतिशत युवा यहीँ बस्छन्, त्यो भनेको झण्डै ७० करोड हो । त्यसमा पनि दक्षिण एशियामा सबैभन्दा बढी युवा भएको क्षेत्र हो । यहाँ जनसंख्याको २० प्रतिशत युवा छन् जुन विश्वको २६ प्रतिशत हुन आउँछ ।

दक्षिण पूर्वी एशियामा युवाले जनसंख्याको १८ प्रतिशत र पूर्वी एशियामा १७ प्रतिशत हिस्सा ओगट्छ । जबकि अमेरिका, क्यानडा, युरोपेली मुलुकहरु र जापानलगायत विकसित मुलुकमा युवाको संख्या ज्यादै कम छ भने क्यानडा र रुस जस्ता देशमा जनसंख्या वृद्धिदर नकारात्मक हुन थालेको छ ।

तर, युवा क्षेत्र हुँदाहुँदै पनि आर्थिक तथा सामाजिक विकासमा पछि परेका कारण दक्षिण तथा दक्षिणपूर्वी एशियाका कतिपय मुलुकमा युवाहरु बेरोजगारी, गुणस्तरीय शिक्षाको कमी, स्वास्थ्य लगायत समस्यासँग जुधिरहेका छन् ।

एशिया तथा प्रशान्त क्षेत्रका लागि संयुक्त राष्ट्रसंघीय आर्थिक तथा सामाजिक आयोग (युएन एस्क्याप) ले केही वर्षअघि गरेको एक अध्ययनले दक्षिण एशियाका १३ प्रतिशत युवा मात्र उच्च शिक्षा अध्ययनमा संलग्न भएको देखाएको थियो । गरीबीका कारण पनि यहाँका युवा अझ खासगरी युवतीहरुका लागि उच्च शिक्षा त्यत्ति सजिलो विषय बनेको छैन ।

त्यसका साथै कतिपय धार्मिक तथा पुरातनपन्थी सोच, सञ्चार तथा अन्य आधुनिक प्रविधिमा कमजोर पहुँच, बलियो नेटवर्किङ संयन्त्रको अभाव जस्ता चुनौति पनि यस भेगका युवाले भोगिरहेका छन् । तर, युवाहरुकै अनुसार सबैभन्दा खट्किएको कुरो चाहीँ युवाको नीतिनिर्माणमा कमजोर पहुँच हो । नीतिनिर्माणमा युवाको पहुँच बढाउने हो भने युवालक्षित विकासका कार्यक्रमहरु बनाउन तथा सहभागिता मूलक आर्थिक र सामाजिक उन्नति हासिल गर्न सहयोग पुग्ने थियो ।

अहिले नेपाल युवा जनसंख्याको लाभ लिने तयारी अवस्थामा छ । आगामी तीन दशकभित्र त्यो युवा जनसंख्याको परिचालन गर्न नसकेर त्यो ऊर्जा खेर गयो भने मुलुुकले फेरी कहिल्यै यो अपूर्व मौका पाउने छैन । त्यो सधैंका लागि गुम्ने छ । यस्तै अवस्था नेपालका छिमेकी मुलुकहरुको छ ।

त्यसैले यस क्षेत्रका युवाहरुलाई अझ सबल र योग्य बनाउनका लागि क्षेत्रीय मञ्चहरु मार्फत काम भइरहेको छ । दक्षिण एशियाली क्षेत्रीय सहयोग संगठन (सार्क), आर्थिक तथा प्राविधिक सहयोगका लागि बंगालका खाडी राष्ट्रहरुको पहल (बिमस्टेक)का साथै सार्क चेम्बर अफ कमर्स तथा युवा उद्यमीहरुको क्षेत्रीय संगठन तथा नेटवर्कमार्फत आदानप्रदान तथा युवा सशक्तिकरणका कार्यक्रमहरु सञ्चालन भइरहेका छन् ।

त्यस्ता क्षेत्रीय नेटवर्कमा सहभागी युवाहरुले विदेशमा नेपालका सदभावना दूतका रुपमा काम गरिरहेका छन् । उनीहरुका कारण नेपाल घुम्न आउने पर्यटक तथा नेपालमा लगानी गर्न चाहने विदेशी युवा लगानीकर्ताको संख्या समेत बढ्दै गएको छ । त्यसैले पनि यस्ता गतिविधिलाई अझ विस्तार र विकास गर्नु आवश्यक छ ।

बिमस्टेक प्रयास 

सार्क मुलुकहरुबीच आमजनताबीच सम्बन्ध विस्तार गर्नका लागि युवालक्षित कार्यक्रमहरु – छात्रवृत्ति, तालीम, अवलोकन तथा एक्सचेञ्ज – आदि चलाइएका छन् । त्यसै गरी करीब २१ वर्ष अघ स्थापना भएको बिमस्टेकले पनि युवालाई ध्यानमा राखेर विभिन्न कार्यक्रम सञ्चालन गर्ने भएको छ ।

भदौमा काठमाडौंमा आयोजित बिमस्टेकको चौथो सम्मेलनले विश्वविद्यालय तथा प्राज्ञिक क्षेत्र, अनुसन्धान तथा साँस्कृति संस्था, मिडिया तथा संसदहरुका लागि क्षेत्रीय मञ्च स्थापना गर्ने निर्णय गरेको छ । त्यस्ता फोरमहरुमा सहभागी हुने युवाहरुले नयाँ कुरा सिक्ने, सीप तथा ज्ञानको आदानप्रदान गर्ने अवसर पाउने छन जसबाट मुलुकलाई नै लाभ पुग्ने छ ।

विमस्टेकका सात सदस्य मुलुकका नेताहरुले यस क्षेत्रका जनताहरुमा साँस्कृतिक आदानप्रदानमा पनि जोड दिएका छन् । गीतसंगीत, सिनेमा, थिएटर, पेण्टिङ तथा कलासँस्कृतिका अन्य विविध क्षेत्रमा हुने सहकार्यले समग्र क्षेत्रलाई नै गतिशिल त बनाउने छ नै, यहाँका युवावीच अपनत्वको विकास पनि गर्नेछ । यसले यहाँ दीर्घकालीनरुपमा शान्ति स्थापना गर्न समेत सघाउने छ ।

यसअघि सन् २०१५ मा बिमस्टेक थिंक ट्यांक सदस्यहरुको थाइल्याण्डमा भएको बैठकले यस क्षेत्रमा युवाहरुको आदानप्रदान कार्यक्रम लागु गर्ने बारेमा छलफल र निर्णय गरेको थियो ।

क्षेत्रीय सहकार्य

दक्षिण एशियली तथा विमस्टेक क्षेत्रमा युवा विकासका लागि सबैभन्दा ठूलो चुुनौति भरपर्दो तथ्यांकको अभाव हो । यहाँका धेरैजसो मुलुकमा युवासँग सम्बन्धित विस्तृत तथ्यांक छैन । तथ्यांकको अभावमा प्रभावकारी विकासका योजना तथा कार्यक्रमहरु बनाउन र लागु गर्न कठीन हुन्छ ।

यदि कुनै तरहले त्यस्ता कार्यक्रम निर्माण र कार्यान्वयन भइहालेमा पनि त्यसले दिने प्रतिफल न्यून र कमजोर हुन्छ । त्यसैले यस क्षेत्रका सरकारहरुले गर्नु पर्ने पहिलो काम भनेको युवासम्बन्धी डाटाबेस निर्माण हो ।

युवा सशक्तिकरणमा अर्को अड्चन अपर्याप्त राजनीतिक इच्छाशक्तिको कमी हो । दक्षिण एशियाली मुलुकहरु राजनीतिकरुपले संसारकै सचेत देशमध्येमा पर्छन् । यहाँ राजनीतिमा युवा सहभागिता पनि राम्रो छ । तर, राजनीतिक दल तथा सरकारहरु युवालाई ज्ञान सीप र क्षमताले सुसज्जित गर्ने भन्दा उनीहरुबाट आफ्नो राजनीतिक अभीष्ट पूरा गर्ने प्रयास गरिरहेका छन् । आन्दोलन तथा चुनावी अभियानमा युवाको व्यापक परिचालन गर्ने अनि त्यसपछि उनीहरुलाई चटक्कै विर्सने प्रवृत्ति यस क्षेत्रका राजनीतिक दल तथा नेतृत्वमा देखिन्छ ।

युवा विकासका लागि सरकोकारवालाहरुवीच पनि पर्याप्त बहस र सहकार्य भएको देखिंदैन । उनीहरुका लागि काम गर्ने सरकार, राष्ट्रिय तथा अन्तरराष्ट्रिय गैरसरकारी संस्था, निजी क्षेत्र, नागरिक समाज र प्राज्ञिक क्षेत्रबीच हालसम्म पनि युवा विकासका लागि सहकार्य भएको छैन । कहिलेकाहीं एकाध कार्यक्रम तथा सम्मेलनमा यी सरोकारवालाहरु सँगै देखिए पनि त्यसले निरन्तरता भने पाउन सकेको छैन । उनीहरुबीच युवा विकासका लागि एकीकृत प्रयास पनि हालसम्म भएको देखिएको छैन ।

यस दिशामा सरकारको भूमिका सबैभन्दा महत्वपूर्ण र प्रभावकारी हुनसक्छ । विकासशील समाजमा हरेक नागरिकले आफ्ना कतिपय व्यक्तिगत तथा सामुहिक हीतका लागि सरकारको मुख ताक्छन् । त्यसैले यस क्षेत्रीय युवा सहकार्यका लागि बिमस्टेक तथा सार्क राष्ट्रका सरकारहरुबीच समन्वय जरुरी छ ।

यस क्षेत्रमा लगभग सबैजसो मुलुकले युवासम्बन्धी नीति तथा कार्यक्रम ल्याएका छन् । क्षेत्रीय समन्वयबाट एउटा देशमा भएका असल अभ्यास अरुले पनि अपनाउन सक्छन् भने कतै कमजोरी भएमा सच्याउन सक्छन् ।

दक्षिण एशियामा भुटानले युवालाई खेलकुद तथा सँस्कृतिदेखि कृषि तथा प्रविधिसम्मका विषयमा नीति निर्माण र कार्यान्वयनमा सहभागी गराइरहेको छ । त्यहाँ जोखिममा रहेका युवाका मुद्दा सम्बोधनका लागि पनि नीनि बनाइएको छ । त्यस्तै भारतमा सन् २००३ देखि राष्ट्रिय युवा नीति लागु गरिएको छ । सो नीतिले तालीम र शिक्षामार्फत युवा सशक्तिकरणमा जोड दिएको छ ।

अरु उदाहरणीय प्रयासमा सन् १९४८ मा स्थापित मलेशियाको युवा परिषद र सन् २००३ मा स्थापना गरिएको इन्डोनेशियाको युवा रोजगार नेटवर्क पर्दछन् । इन्डोनेशियाको रोजगार नेटवर्कले शिक्षा र कामबीचको संक्रमणकालमा युवालाई परामर्श दिने तथा उपयुक्त रोजगारका लागि मार्गदर्शन गर्ने गर्दछ ।

शिक्षा र रोजगारी

युवाहरुलाई शिक्षा र रोजगारीका लागि यस क्षेत्रका कुनै पनि मुलुकमा सहजरुपमा आवतजावत गर्न सक्ने वातावरण निर्माण गर्नु क्षेत्रीय युवा सहकार्यका लागि सबैभन्दा प्रभावकारी माध्यम हुनसक्छ । यसले कुनै मुलुकका युवालाई आफ्ना छिमेकी देशको सँस्कृति, सभ्यता र रहनसहन बारेमा जान्ने मौका मिल्छ ।

यसै पनि हालै मात्र व्यापार व्यवसायदेखि शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य र प्रविधिमा फड्को मार्ने जमर्को गरिरहेका यस क्षेत्रका मुलुकका युवाको सपना पनि उच्च छ । उनीहरुलाई एकै ठाउँमा ल्याउन सकेमा त्यसले अझ प्रभावकारी नतिजा दिन सक्छ ।

क्षेत्रीय संयन्त्र स्थापना युवा सहकार्यका लागि दीर्घकालीन प्रयास हुन सक्छ । त्यसमा पनि विद्यार्थी, युवा राजनीतिज्ञ, व्यवसायी, महिला आदिका लागि बेग्लाबेग्लै फोरमहरु स्थापना गर्न सकिन्छ । त्यसरी स्थापना गरिएका संस्थालाई बिमस्टेक वा सार्क वा सार्क चेम्बर अफ कमर्श एण्ड इण्डष्ट्रीलगायत संस्थाले संरक्षण दिन सक्छन् । सार्वजनिक निजी साझेदारीमा यस्ता कार्यक्रमहरु हुन सकेमा अझ बेस हुनेछ ।

तर, यस्ता प्रयासका लागि यहाँका सरकारहरुबीच समन्वय पहिलो शर्त हो । सरकारहरुबीच कुटनीतिक प्रयास भई भिसालगायत विषय सहज भएमा मात्रै नागरिक तहको आवागमन र सहकार्यले गति लिनसक्छ । अन्यथा यस्ता विषयहरु आगामी कैयौं वर्षसम्म पनि बुद्धिविलासको विषय मात्र बनिरहनेछन् ।

युवामञ्च मासिकको २०७५ असोज अंकमा प्रकाशित 

Changu Temple opens for public

Kathmandu, Sept. 22: 

Changunarayan Temple, one of the oldest heritage sites of the country, has opened for visitors from Friday after its reconstruction following a severe damage in the 2015 earthquakes.

The reconstruction work on the fifth century pagoda-style temple,known as ‘Changu’ or ‘Dolagiri’ and developed by the Lichhavi King Mandev,also covered the renovation of Chhinnamasta Saraswati and Kileshwor Mahadev temples in the surrounding areas.

The temple was listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1979.

Director General of the Department of Archaeology Bhesh Narayan Dahal said that the temple was renovated at the cost of Rs. 8 million. He also said that the tenders had been approved for the reconstruction of Laxmi Narayan Temple, Sankha Chakra Ganesh, Bhimsen Pati (rest house), Chaughera and other monuments in the vicinity of Changunarayan Temple.

The site is believed to be as old as 3000 years and was later built by Mandev in 5^th century. But a new temple erected in place of the old was destroyed in a fire in 17^th century.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari conducted ‘Kshama Pooja’ and opened the religious site for the public.

Minister Adhikari, who had played an instrumental role to allocate the budget for the renovation of the heritage, expressed happiness and urged the local government as well as the people to use and preserve it.

He requested the local government to install an information board to give the detailed information to the visitors and pilgrims.

The temple is dedicated to God Bishnu and has many attractions around, such as statues of Bishwo Roop Bishnu, Bishnu Bikranta, Narshingh, king Bhupalendra Malla and his queen Bhuwan Lakshmi and Garuda – Bishnu’s vehicle.

Meanwhile, President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Saturday unveiled the life size statue of National Hero architect Araniko at the premises of Lalitpur Mertopolitan City Office.

Araniko, a cultural ambassador of Nepal, went to China in the 13^th century and spread the style of Nepali pagoda architecture there. He built many stupas and other temples in China.

The statue is made by Prakash Ratna Shakya. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 September 2018. 

Furnex attracts visitors

Kathmandu, Sept. 22: More than 30,000 people have visited the Nepal Furniture and Furnishing Expo 2018 over the last three days.

The largest exhibition of furnishing items in the country was opened in the Bhrikutimandap Exhibition Centre on Thursday.

Discount offers targeting the upcoming festival seasons have attracted a large number of visitors, said the organiser, Nepal Furniture and Furnishing Association (NFFA).

The expo features more than 100 companies from Nepal and other countries.

“Visitors are getting the furniture and furnishing materials of various designs and counseling on interior designing. Presence of national and international brands and exclusive sales offers announced by the exhibitors has helped to attract more visitors,” said Subhendra Joshi, Coordinator of the exhibition.

According to him, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, outdoor furniture, interior designers, carpets and marble have become the major attractions of the fair. It also includes curtains, mattress, decoration materials, home décor, office furniture, home appliances, and machinery equipment.

“Exhibition of the product and information about their utility, design and other aspects are being carried out simultaneously which has helped people to understand the items and make an informed decisions about the furniture and furnishing materials that they buy,” said Joshi.

The expo will run till Monday.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 September 2018. 

Six Sigma launches mobile platform

Kathmandu, Sept. 22:

With the aim of providing complete information of all smart phones released in the market, Six Sigma Inc Pvt. Ltd. has come up with a web portal- www.gadgetframe.com.

The portal has been developed as a complete information platform of smart phones including price in Nepal and the details of the mobile stores in the market.

The website is not only useful for the mobile users due to its different features like phone comparison, Blog, Phone finder, and Stores it is more useful to sellers as well, said Ram Krishan Dahal, Chairman of the company.

The vendors can register the detail of the cellphones available in their shops including price and any other offers without any charges.

It enables the costumers to search about the phone of their choice in the market and save their time to go from shop to shop to get a phone.

Chief Operating Officer of the company Prakriti Regmi said that they aimed at helping the customers in minimizing confusion and hassle of market visit as they can compare the feature and price of the phones from the information available online at the same platform.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 September 2018.  

NRA to coordinate with govt, donors for reconstruction budget

Kathmandu, Sept. 21

Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) Sushil Gyawali on Friday said that the reconstruction body would take initiatives at the national and international level to manage resources to meet the financial requirement to complete the post-quake reconstruction.

“The NRA will bridge the financial gap by coordinating with the Nepal government and the donor community,” he said while addressing the 8^th meeting of the Development Assistance Coordination and Facilitation Committee (DACFC), the body to coordinate between the government and the donors to oversee the international contribution in the reconstruction.

Representatives of about 25 donor agencies and international development partners had attended the meeting.

Gyawali informed the meeting that about Rs. 600 billion more was required to complete the remaining reconstruction work.

The cost of the five-year reconstruction work had earlier been estimated at Rs. 938 billion. The total budgetary expenditure and the projected expenditure this fiscal year would come to around Rs. 336 billion.

However, the actual monetary requirement would be confirmed after the review in the five-year reconstruction plan.

Gyawali also said that the NRA would try to acquire the amount pledged by the donor community during the International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction (ICNR) held in the immediate aftermath of the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.

Highlighting the progress on the overall reconstruction till date, he also informed the development partners that the NRA was set to review the Post-Disaster Recovery Framework, prepared after the detailed damage assessment survey in 2016, as the post-earthquake reconstruction reaches a mid-way.

The NRA, with the support from the donors, had published the PDRF 2016-2020 to implement the post-quake reconstruction work in a systematic and structured manner.

 The representatives of the donor community praised the NRA’s work on private housing reconstruction in the villages and stress the need for focusing more on the marginalised groups who have not been able to rebuild their houses. 

 They raised issues concerning retrofitting of damaged houses, monitoring and evaluation of constructed houses, availability of engineers at the community level, reconstruction of houses for vulnerable groups, third-party monitoring and the capability of the local governments to implement the recent government decision to hand them over the responsibility.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 September 2018. 

Qatar announces PR for expatriates

Kathmandu, Sept. 21

Qatar has announced to provide permanent residency (PR) to expatriates.

Qatar is the first Gulf nation to offer such facility for the foreign residents living permanently for more than a decade.

Embassy of the State of Qatar in Nepal said on Thursday that the government had started to distribute the PR cards to the expatriates living there for long.

Any foreigners having continuous normal legal residency in Qatar for 20 years if born outside and 10 years if born in the country will get the PR permit, according to  Yousuf Bin Mohammad Al-Hail, Ambassador of Qatar to Nepal.

“The applicant should have enough income to meet his needs as well as his dependents. He should enjoy good conduct, and reputation, and have not been convicted by a final ruling inside or outside Qatar in crimes that undermines honesty, trust and fame unless he was reinstated to his former status,” read a press statement issued by the embassy.

The requirement to be able to apply for the PR permit also includes fluency in Arabic language.

However, the children of Qatari women married to  non-Qatari men, non-Qatari husband or wife of a Qatari woman or a man, and individuals who have done great services to the country are exempted from those conditions.

The PR holder’s spouse and children will enjoy the privileges granted to the PR cardholders pertaining to residence, health and education until the age of 18 years.

 They will also have the right to invest in the activities of the national economy sectors without a Qatari partner.

“The PR holders may own real estate for housing and investment and may leave the country and return to it during the period of its validity without obtaining any consent or permit,” read the statement.

According to 2017 statistics, the Gulf nation has 2.6 million population, of which only 313,000 are Qatari citizens and 2.3 million are expatriates.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 September 2018.