Wednesday, April 26, 2006

-Vidya Nath Nepal

It isdifficult to forecast the pace and pattern of growth over a century. However, if the past provides any indication to future, Nepalese economy is likely to pursue its intensive efforts to complement the functioning of market forces in determining the supply policy of most essential goods and services. State intervention is expected to supplement rather than compete with private sector's role in supply or distribution of such goods and services.

The modern states have multiple functions. Main function of the government is in the areas relating to security of their people in all aspects of life. The development thinking of this century is to gradually reduce activities of the state which can be entrusted to private sector and work as only facilitator in all economic activities including trade and commerce. Still there are certain inherent responsibilities of the welfare state. Such responsibilities are related with security of life and property of their residents, management of basic health and sanitation, education and infrastructure development where the private sector is not ready to launch activities competitively.

Nepal is a least developed country having different types of geographical region. The remote areas of hilly region are not accessible with modern roads. The density of population is very low there. Because of this reason the private sector does not see any possibility of comparative advantages to arrange distribution of food and other services and earn profit. The government has two options there either to displace the population from that place to accessible areas which is not a practical solution or to arrange supplies of essential commodities at a reasonable price. The first option also is not possible because of the non availability of land in urban or accessible rural areas among others. The state has to look for the welfare of the people. Therefore, the government is bound to arrange supply of essential commodities like food in remote areas. Nepal has a policy to maintain buffer stock of minimum of two months for food grains and one month stock for POL products.

State owned enterprises are autonomous entities under the supervision of concerned ministries. Such enterprises were established essentially with the objective of ensuring adequate supply of essential goods to the people especially in remote areas. These enterprises are operating on commercial basis and provide equal opportunities for all suppliers as prescribed in Article XVII of WTO Agreement. For example, the above mentioned government undertakings are obliged to call at least three quotations for procurement and adopt competitive biding for any contract. They must be transparent cost-conscious in the operation of their business. It may be mentioned that LDCs like Nepal may also provide subsidies for production of agricultural produce to some extent if they can afford to do so. Developed countries are still providing subsidies to farmers which are supposed to be withdrawn gradually. In the ground of the welfare function of state and as a least developed country Nepal's public supply arrangement of essential commodities is quite compatible with modern changes in development thinking. Multilateral organizations like UN, IMF, multilateral financing institutions and regional organizations like SAARC also have endorsed the idea of supplying the services of basic need in nature by the government like food, health and education which are basic needs.

SAARC countries experience of PDS and food security arrangement under SAARC.

India is distributing food grains for targeted groups at specially subsidized prices and about six crore poor families are benefiting. They are maintaining large buffer stock to meet the climatic swings and fluctuations in food grain prices.

SAARC plan of action on poverty alleviation stipulates to expand social safety nets through food assistance for vulnerable groups. Agreement on establishing the SAARC food security reserve of 200,000 metric ton was reached in 1987 which has already been operational.

MDGs and government interventions

UN Millennium Declaration in September 2000 has, inter alia, resolved to halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world's people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Nepal is one of the signatory of the Declaration among 189 countries of the world. The government has inter-linked these goals with the Tenth Plan, PRSP and MTEF. However, progress report of MDGs 2005 states that the goal of halving the proportion of people living below the poverty line by 2015 is likely. Halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015 is only potentially achievable and the government has to formulate effective program and implement it seriously to achieve this goal. It is a great challenge for Nepal to meet these modest goals in another 10 years for lack of resources and even if the resources are available our governance is weak and implementation capacity is dubious.

The Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) established in 1999, is the IMF's low interest lending facility for poor countries. Nepal also benefited from these provisions. This automatically is interlinked with eligibility to World Bank's concessional lending.

ADB has recognized that poverty and gender inequality are intimately intertwined and will give priority to agriculture and rural development. The above manifestations of major lending agencies also support that the government has responsibility to feed her people and these financing institutions also have been supporting it in one way or the other. Excerpts from a paper presented at NEFAS/FES Seminar held recently-ed.

Many Happy New Years to you

By Rajeeb Satyal

Nhudaya Vintuna 1125
Nawa Barsha Ko Subh a kamana 2063
Happy New Year 2006

Nepali people in fact devotedly follow three calendars; Nepali Bikram Sambat, International Gregorian calendar, and lunar calendar. We celebrate Bikram Sambat because it is an official calendar of Nepal. We follow lunar calendar because all our religious functions, ceremonies including birthdays, adversaries, and festivals are based on it. We follow Gregorian calendar because it is internationally followed, and used by all the major organizations-I/NGOs, major media like TV networks, financial organizations, banks and private sectors which are compelled to maintain accounts by both calendars. Gregorian calendar are becoming more popular as they reflect modernization, globalization, simplicity and more importantly because the anniversary- dates do not change every year as in lunar or Bikram Sambat calendar which Nepalese customarily follow.

So people of Nepal universally celebrate “Happy New Year” days at least two times fully; once as per Bikram Sambat, and another as per Gregorian calendars. There are also two more calendars- Nepal (Newari) Sambat and Budhist/lama calendar which are also partially observed and celebrated with almost equal enthusiasm. They carry sentimental and communal importance. There might be other calendars which we may have been followed by various diverged communities of Nepal which have not become prominent so far.

Nepalis celebrate all of these new years one way or others, exchanging greetings and celebrations; we do it in order to show our solidarity as well as mutual respects among different casts and communities. And in the process we spend a lot of time, energies and resources in form of money, number of days and other form of spending. People also have been observed celebrating their anniversaries two times a year both to keep up with the time as well as to maintain so called tradition and culture. For example birthday of same person is celebrated twice, if not thrice; on lunar birthday, Bikram Sambat and Gregorian calendar day, only the lunar calendar day being the fixed one. Other dates simply vary from year to year.

Now here is the question: Can we as a developing country afford to celebrate 2-4 new years in a year? Or should we follow just one of the two New Years, either Gregorian or Bikram Sambat, more suitably the Gregorian one as it reflects simplicity, more secularism, and indisputability. What say you?