Ambitious budget

Finance Minister Mahesh  Acharya’s budget estimates for the next financial year can be conservatively described as "ambitious" because the estimates are over 35 percent more than the revised estimates for the current financial year. Acharya has projected a total expenditure of 91.6 billion rupees for the next financial year, up from 67.6 billion rupees for the current financial year. The minister has justified the rise in budget expenditures by placing services such as education, health, drinking water and poverty eradication programmes in the social sector. There is nothing new about the priorities since all governments, whatever their hue, have been doing this.

The finance minister can however justly take pride in having given government employees their due. For there is no doubt that a raise in their salaries in line with the cost of living was long overdue. After all, the argument put forward by some that one of the main reasons for corruption within the bureaucracy had to do with low salaries was not without sound logic.

However, two points still stand out like sore thumbs in this regard. One, there is still a phenomenal gap in the revised salaries of the lowest level and the highest level government employees. The 500 percent gap needs to be narrowed down. Two, the government will be deluding itself if it considers the present rise in salaries as adequate for the next few years. In fact, the salaries have to be raised next year as well so that all government employees have equal opportunities to lead a decent life without resorting to foul means. The finance minister has made a good beginning and this must be followed up. The employees must, in their turn, become efficient, productive, loyal, honest and helpful to people. The government must also bring necessary legislation to monitor officials and others
holding public offices so as to curb corruption.

The rise in salaries is going to cost a substantial amount. Since this expenditure forms a part of the regular expenditure there is no question of this being reduced in the foreseeable future. It is here that government employees, especially those in revenue collection, have to make special efforts to ensure that Minister Acharya’s revenue target is met. The minister has no doubt done well to steer the nation’s budget away from customs receipts. This is a welcome departure from past practice. Customs revenue used to provide the lion’s share of government revenue. The present budget has made VAT the focal point of revenue collection. Yet despite the good points in the budget, skepticism about meeting the revenue collection target will remain. The case with foreign loans and grants is also not different. Despite the recent Paris meet, it is doubtful whether the total foreign aid anticipated in the budget will be forthcoming. But if Acharya is able to meet these ambitious targets, he will indeed deserve a pat on the back.

Should RNAC be privatized?

By Kul B Chongbang Limbu

This article relates to the various articles that have been published in different papers concerning consolidating democracy in Nepal for which poverty alleviation by providing equal opportunity has been a major theme. More job opportunities and overall development including human resources is vital to achieve the above goal. This is also one of the prime demarcations between developed and developing nations. Priorities must be set forth in different sectors to fulfil the goal.

Being a taxpayer and a staff of the national flag carrier, I would like to concentrate on the issues pertaining to RNAC. This is also important since I came across papers that the government has asked to submit a 15 years plan of the airline. It would be most appropriate to make 15 years tourism master plan or even longer by the government. But for the airline itself the more pragmatic approach would be a clear-cut vision of the government whether the airline is to be privatized or to remain as a state-owned corporation in future. Abrupt privatization may come as a shock and even fail to deliver result without ample background preparation for which the foremost change required is attitude. Let us assume that the airline will remain as corporation considering the present economic and geopolitical situation of Nepal.

It will not be practical to rewrite the plan and actions of RNAC in one article. It is also not my intention to interfere with the concerned authorities. It is simply an observation and sharing my experiences as an executive in various departments in the past. I am also confident that the airline can be turned around within a short period of time provided the following major issues can be clarified -

Independent fleet selection and acquisition to match the present and future route network of airline.

Route, (except on few domestic connection having no motor roads) fare restructuring and alliances with other airlines based on economic viability.

Hiring, terminating, posting, promoting, rewarding and punishing employees on the basis of requirement and job performance. Restructuring of organogram, salary, allowances, and fringe benefits based on productivity.

In order to materialize the above few but very important points, HMG at first should have a very clear-cut vision regarding the airline, amend the existing Corporation Act and RNAC Employees Service Rules and implement them immediately which will also help to gear towards the future privatization. RNAC should be allowed to function fully autonomous, prior to going for its outright privatization. Government should act only on major policy matters relating to bilateral agreement such as landing, passenger right and guarantee the corporation for the aircraft lease purchase.

RNAC desperately needs leased aircraft at the moment which should be utilized for about two years as a stop gap measure to reassert the airline position, to develop and retain the required human resources by implementing appropriate changes. This will also give time to make short term and long term plan which should also complement with the long-term tourism master plan of HMG.

One of the vital decisions would be the future fleet selection and eventual phase-out plan of the existing fleet. Older aircraft add not only the operational cost in terms of maintenance and parts but also in handling of ground equipment in different airports as most other scheduled operators have switched over to new equipment. Frequent grounding of aircraft for maintenance also affects the reliability of published schedules. RNAC should make a concrete plan to lease purchase new generation aircraft either Boeings or Airbuses for which financial packages of equipment cost along with manpower training, after sales services and consideration for regional commonality will be of prime importance for future profitability.

The price tag for the aircraft we often hear is only a relative term during huge transactions. The more important factor should be the constituent within a deal. Fleet selection should be governed by the market growth, route structures and long term operating cost including that of fuel consumption, over flying, landing, parking, handling and the percentage of load penalty from Kathmandu airport which is also dependant upon the engine selection for a particular type of aircraft.

On the one hand, larger aircraft with more seating capacity will have lower seat per mileage cost, on the other hand, operating charges will also be higher. Obviously, more seats will have to be sold to fill the bigger aircraft. Airline, not to incur loss, should sell at least more seats than the break-even depending on the operating cost index. RNAC should carefully select a mixed fleet of either B-777s with newer series of B-737s or A-330s with A-320s series for regional commonality. Initial and long term costing including other implications like alternate international airports within Nepal, passenger growth should also be studied before making the final decision.

For the domestic operation, Twin-otter has been a true workhorse. The question arises what is the next replacement aircraft for Twin-otter and Avro? The future fleet selection deal for phasing of the above fleet should be tied with the training of two dozen new co-pilots and at least equal number of new engineers if not more. We have to understand that eventually these aircraft will have to be phased out and to introduce the new generation aircraft, most of the existing domestic airports and STOL runway will either have to be upgraded or even relocated.

The domestic flight operations to remote airports are basically a social commitment to the government; thus opportunity for aid or grant should be explored with donor agencies. Privatization is not the only answer to the present issues of national carrier considering the nature of its operations in the Domestic front. Are we ready to privatize the Domestic services of RNAC? Better solution would be to correct the existing anomalies as stated earlier and set the target year for privatization by floating shares to established business houses, banks, financial institutes and employees. Government should also hold certain percentage of share during the first phase and full privatization should follow in second phase.

Demand is a natural phenomenon for the progress and prosperity. In order to fulfil the aspiration of staff, over head cost must be trimmed for which appropriate fleet selection and timely induction is the most important factor. A commercial organization must engage in frequent transactions including selling older aircraft and buying newer one to match the route and recent technological development to reduce hidden costs. Fleet replacement policy should be phase-wise and carefully planned.

One of the essences of democracy is transparency. Voices from public and other political parties play an important role. Nepalese have great aspiration towards democracy. Nepal is a multi ethnical country having rich cultural heritage and abundance of natural beauty. Leaders should be more sensitive and careful to solve issues and problems seriously and timely through parliamentary process so that the innocent people will not have to face another problem like the Maoist and get caught in the cross fire. We should also not be overly engrossed to the past mistakes but rather learn lessons and not repeat them.

RNAC is still a small and manageable organization with appropriate mandates and changes. Government should realize that the airline has ample room to grow with the right recipe creating more opportunities and job prospects to our fellow citizens. We can either ill afford and wait longer without pursuing the potential of RNAC or better execute the corrective measures to uplift the airline. Political parties and leaders should have clear vision and honestly guide the nation towards the right track. Business houses and general public should participate and contribute more actively for the nation building. All major issues should be solved through consensus and dialogue. Peacetime is a must for the development, prosperity and for consolidating democracy in Nepal.

Western media’s Orientalism

By Arun Gupto

A few days back I was watching news about the recent Filipino hostage crisis on a western TV channel, I do not remember whether it was BBC or CNN, but it does not matter because I can generalize their viewpoints. Filipino rebels are holding 21 foreign hostages. These are many such events we hear, see or read about in the media almost daily such as the crises in West Asia (the Middle East as the west calls the area), Afghanistan, Iraq, India and Pakistan over Kashmir and so many such places and events.

When Muslim rebels are involved in some militant activities, when students are involved in demonstrations or a Muslim country’s rebel organizations attempt a coup, we obviously see these events on TV.

What is funny, you may notice, is the coverage. If a terrorist group, a militant organization or freedom fighters are from Islamic countries, the western media, as usual, shows the news related with the event but at the same time they also show a mosque where hundreds of Muslims are praying.

The scene of the mosque is obviously not to give a moral lesson to the militant organizations and consequently show the contrast between terrorism and Islam. The media rather wants to establish a strange connection between terrorism and Islam. You watch the news for a couple of days and if you see Hezbollah or Algeria, you will soon see a scene of praying Muslims.

The question is: why if, for instance, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) related activities are on the news, the same media does not show a church the next second on the television screen? I am in a sense raising a kind of question Edward Said would have raised. Many of us know that Said is a very renowned Palestinian writer and professor in the United States. He has repeatedly said that Islam has been stereotyped by the west. Islam is always related with terrorism in many (not all of course) western eyes.

The strange thing is that no one cares to focus on thousands of humanitarian activities, environmental efforts, feminist awareness programmes and so on that are going on in many Islamic societies. The tendency to relate Islam with terror is one very fine example of western Orientalism. In popularly accepted political and cultural discourse, the term Orientalism is used as a point of view or method of seeing the east through western eyes. The Orientalist studies the east mostly with an alien eye or like a privileged studying the marginalized. So for Said and many Asian and African scholars, writers, journalists, Orientalism is a form of western view point.

The visual association of Islam with terrorism is an unnecessary, even ignorant, reading of Islamic culture by media like BBC or CNN. How can a religion be equated with terrorism, Christianity or Hinduism or Buddhism or Sikhism in general? For me it is a very ridiculous association. And this is just one among many examples of how the west looks at us, the east in general.

Many western and eastern writers are concerned about such viewpoints, but such media is very strong and it is difficult to correct their conceptual errors. The problem is that all of us are so familiar with such scenes that we have, as it were, accepted such definitions. I do not know how a healthy mind can see the link between mosque or church or temple and some fundamentalists in Algeria, for instance, massacring villagers or some hooligans killing a clergyman in India.

Restoring the Bagmati river

By Bed Mani Dahal

The issues on river Bagmati is hitting  the national media and now it is becoming a  challenge not only to the government, businessman, managers, scientists but also to all the people concerned with the myth and values of Bagmati river. The thing that is not understood till now is that everyone wants to have clean river and wants to contribute from their side, but it is not working. Why? The problem lies in its management. If we seek the government for its management, it will never work because the inefficiency of the government for the treatment of wastewater has already proven by the cases of Dhobighat and Guheshwari. The projects are launched but never completed even when spending billions of rupees.

None can remain silent when everyone is looking for the solution of polluted Bagmati river.

The construction of septic tank in each house would definitely help to improve the condition of Bagmati river but it is not possible as no one leaves even an inch of land while constructing houses. Therefore either collecting the sewage through pipelines and treat in a definite area or just let flow in the river are the two possible options in our context. The first option requires a lot of money and space as treatment plant. The second option will not help to improve the river condition so it seems that there is no way for the cleaning of Bagmati river. The case, however, is not exactly like that. There are alternatives for the solution of the problem. The main problem of the Bagmati river is untreated sewage, solid waste and industrial waste as well as the poor amount of water available in dry season. The problems can be overcome by the scientific design and treatment of polluted water flowing in the river itself with the efficient management system. For this three things are needed, which are scientists or wastewater treatment specialists, money and managers.

Modern sewage systems and sewage treatment plants are expensive and the capital cost of their installation is the main factor against their development, we need to focus on alternative purification system. Therefore I would like to focus on the concept of ecological or natural purification system. In every aspect, the nature has the capacity to purify its components in its own way and we need to increase its capacity if it is unable to do so just like in the Bagmati river.

For the treatment or management of Bagmati river, first of all, removal of organic substratum, mainly external materials like paper, plastics, rags, bottles, decaying materials etc--which are not of the river components--has to be done. Then to prevent further disposal of those materials, fencing of iron net is needed throughout the riverbanks. Then the amount of water in the river system has to be increased and that can be done by constructing check dams or barrier in different sections of the river. The large amount of water will remain in that section and the water can also spread throughout the riverbank, which will help to increase space for high oxygen mixing in water. Because of check dams, the flow can be also checked and floating aquatic plants can be used for the improvement of treatment process. Those plants will help to intake organic pollutants and also help to increase the oxygen in the water. Certain species of higher plants such as Mentha aquatica produce compounds or antibiotics that can kill certain human pathogens so they can be introduced in the river system to protect people using the river water for bathing or for other purposes.

A large number of steep gradients and waterfall sites can be constructed after check dams or at possible places for the mixing of atmospheric oxygen to increase the rate of aeration and decomposition. Aeration removes odours and taste caused by decomposing organic matter, industrial wastes such as phenols and volatile gases such as chlorine. The slope surface of the already made dams or check dams can be introduced with stones or similar substance making the surface rough for maximum oxygen mixing and decomposition. Buffers and protection structures at the bank can help to improve the environment of river, which can be developed later into Riverbank Park. Plantation of certain fast growing plants at the Riverbank Park will also help to improve the quality of river water. Riverbank Park will definitely increase the religious and aesthetic value of Bagmati River in one way and protect the dumping of solid waste in the river in another way, ultimately improving the river water. During monsoon, the large amount of water and high flow will not make serious problem for the deterioration of river water quality.

Therefore, adoption of natural process of cleaning and restoration of Bagmati river is a suitable option. A recent article by renowned industrialist Binod Chaudhari and various comments by different environmental related organizations and public have sparked a keen pubic interest on the issue of Bagmati river. If they take the initiatives, public will also contribute the money needed for its scientific design, treatment and management. The environmental scientists, engineers, wastewater treatment and river resoration specialists are available in the country itself. So managers are lacking to take the responsibilities to organize all these things. If someone is willing to take this responsibility, we must all work together and not talk just for the sake of talking. If scientists, businessmen and managers work together, they can solve any problem in the country and solving the problem of Bagmati River will be a very simple one.

(The writer teaches at Kathmandu University)