Khadka’s Removal From Cabinet
End Of Khadka’s Power Gambit?

By Prakash Dahal

The very next day of his coming back from a week-long India tour, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala sacked his Cabinet colleague Khum Bahadur Khadka for what they called his ill designs against the government. Sources close to PMO say, Koirala remained dissatisfied with Khadka’s ‘lackluster’ performance right from beginning. Khadka, touted as influential parliamentarian in the making an unmaking of governments, had been entrusted with two potential portfolios; Ministry of Water Resources & Transport.

On the other hand, Khadka too, couldn’t content himself with the Ministry of Water Resource and Transport as for him Ministry of Home Affairs outweighed the other two. Why? The reason is perhaps best known to him.

The fact that Khadka coveted the Home Ministry portfolio in Koirala led administration and to grab it he left no stone uncovered is perhaps known to all.

They say, Koirala held the carrot of Home Ministry to Khadka which actually had the catalytic effect on him and that drove him to extreme of toppling Krishna Prasad Bhattarai-led NC government. The man who took the lead in pulling down Bhattarai government while he himself was an incumbent was no other but Khadka himself.

In fact, Khadka’s power grew with the previous hung parliament. He always became the chief protagonist in making an unmaking of governments over the past three and half years. Being the major player, albeit there could be others who tugged his strings, power emanated for him from the then parliamentary structure.

And, he wanted to keep playing his cards unfettered. At least, Khadka wanted to retain his catalytic role in producing one after the other governments even after the days of hung parliament were over. The reason for him in doing so is apparently he wanted the truncheon in his hand which both the NC chief duo Bhattarai and Koirala denied him of. During the days of hung parliament, Khadka had what he wanted.

With the majority Congress government in power led by Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Khadka, once again, engaged himself in the political brinkmanship. He succeeded in pulling the carpet underneath Bhattarai, however, he was still kept away from the Home Ministry. Premier Koirala, they say, agreed to barter away the two portfolios in exchange for the Home Ministry, but he didn’t trust him with the Home portfolio.

What wrong would that be if they put the Home Ministry beret on Khadka’s head? In other words, why neither of the Congress chief ‘s choice fell on him despite his ‘potentials’ in power politics?

To find the answer one may have to unravel political intricacies built over the years. And, there may be more than one reason for keeping him at bay by the Congress high command.

They say, the ruthless sacking of Khadka from Koirala cabinet may have a catastrophic effect on Congress government and party; the string of both lie in Koirala’s hand. They may be right! They may be wrong! But whether or not Khadka really has that clout and that he can wield the power, that needs to be seen.

Khadka played the same cards with both Bhattarai and Koirala. Earlier, during Bhattarai government, the then prime minister proved too vulnerable, hence, Khadka got away with it. With Koirala, it was not the same. May be, because Koirala had felt the pulses of Khadka better and could reckon the extent of harm he could bring to him. Or, perhaps, Koirala has well-fathomed Khadka’s strength.

For Khadka, the only option left in countering Koirala was to challenge him in the parliamentary party. Khadka hasn’t built the stature yet. He must rally behind someone; possibly Krishna Prasad Bhattarai who aspires to become prime minister, once again.

And, so long Bhattarai aspires, Sher Bahadur Deuba, another aspirant for the prime ministerial position, may have to remain silent. Because, Bhattarai and Deuba cannot stand separately, political observers say. Both Bhattarai and Deuba, as of now, need each other. And, if Bhattarai really wants to test his strength, once again, in the Congress parliamentary party, Deuba would have no option other than passively trailing behind him in hope that some day he would hand over the prime ministerial chair to him. And if, Khadka is prepared to pay any price to settle score with Koirala, he could side with Bhattarai.

Once again, Khadka has to engage himself in the power gambit. He’ll have to play the cards against Koirala which he earlier played against Bhattarai. This time, Bhattarai would be the spectator of the spectacular political brinkmanship. He’ll keep his cards closer to his chest and Khadka will not get an air of it.

Whether or not Khadka succeeds in avenging Koirala may be an exciting melodrama to watch. What Khadka may forget and what may lie fresh in Bhattarai’s memory is that it was he who was earlier involved in scheming against his government. And, so long Bhattarai’s memory serves him well, Khadka would have a dim chance to get hold of what he wanted.

Khadka may never be a trust-worthy man politically in NC. In an attempt to assume the role of a king maker, Khadka, has negatively worn an image of black-mailer, if not a trouble maker. Moreover, the race for Home Ministry seemed to have taxed heavily on Khadka. He could have tried to pull the carpet from underneath Koirala’s feet. But, going by the way the crisis in the wake of Koirala’s dismissal of Khadka from the Cabinet was resolved by the leader duo, it seemed that Khadka was the one who fell.

Social Safety Net For Workers

By Yang Zheng

YANG Shifeng, 41, is one of 2,456 workers laid off in 1998 by a ramie factory in Chongqing, the biggest industrial city in southwest China. She registered in the factory’s re-employment service center upon her discharge and has since received from the center 205 yuan (US$24) per month as "a basic living allowance" for laid-off workers. She attends a computer class but is still waiting for a job.

Social Security

Yang is a beneficiary of a social security system that is being developed in China. The system is composed of pensions for retirees, basic living allowances for laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises, unemployment insurance, cash relief to guarantee a minimum living standard for urban residents, and medical insurance.

"Building a unified, standard and well-functioning national social security system," said Premier Zhu Rongji in May, "is of great importance to deepening reforms, maintaining social stability, and achieving sustainable development in China."

In the 1990s, economic reform in urban areas has hit a major snag: how to deal with redundant workers when state-owned enterprises are downsized. "You can’t lay them off without a social safety net," said Wu Jinglian, a well-known economist. "And that is why China needs to develop a social security system if reform is to proceed further."

Every state-owned enterprise having laid off workers has established a re-employment service center. It signs a three-year contract with each laid-off worker, under which the center is committed to paying the worker a monthly living allowance, paying pension, medical and unemployment insurance premiums for the worker, and helping him find a new job.

The allowance and premiums are jointly financed by the state coffers, social resources (unemployment insurance and donations) and the enterprise, each contributing one third.

Ongoing economic restructuring will continue to cause sweeping layoffs in China. This year laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises will amount to 12 million, of whom only 5 million are expected to find new jobs.

Unlike some lucky fellow laid-off workers, Yang Shifeng and 1,166 others have not found new jobs yet. "If we still cannot become reemployed next year, we will have to sign out of re-employment service centers and turn to unemployment insurance," she said.

Unemployment insurance was first established in 1986 and reformed twice thereafter. Regulations on Unemploy-ment Insurance issued early this year have extended its coverage to workers in all enterprises and institutions in cities and townships, including those in private businesses and Chinese-foreign joint ventures. On average, at present unemployed workers receive a monthly benefit of 195 yuan (US$23) out of the unemployment insurance fund. The unemployment insurance fund is financed by monthly contributions from businesses and workers themselves, calculated at 3 per cent of a business’ payroll.

"Efforts are being made to have a total of 137 million workers participate in unemployment insurance this year," said Zhao Yue, an official of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. China’s unemployment rate is expected to stand just below 3.5 per cent this year.

"Basic living allowance for laid-off workers is an expediency and will be finally replaced by unemployment insurance," Zhao said.

People can rely on unemployment insurance for two years only. After that they have to turn to cash relief aimed at guaranteeing a minimum living standard for urban residents.

In the 1950s and 1960s, China’s social relief fund provided aid to those who could not support themselves, for example, orphans and childless elders. In 1997 cash relief to guarantee a minimum living standard for urban residents came into being. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, by the end of 1999, a total of 2.81 million people in China received such cash relief.

Such cash relief is the last resort. It is provided to urban dwellers
whose average family income per capita, including wages, pension, basic
living allowance for laid-off workers or unemployment insurance, is still lower than allows the family members to have a minimum living standard.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, by the end of last year, cash relief had become available in 667 cities and 1,638 county-seats.

By the end of this year, the population of old people in China — those above 60—is expected to reach 120 million, or 10 per cent of the nation’s total population.

Retirees from state-owned enterprises and institutions have all along enjoyed old-age welfare—"pension plus free medical care." However, some debt-ridden enterprises frequently delayed the payment of pension and medical expenses.

In 1997 the country began revamping its pension system. Under the new system, retirees have become independent of their former employers, and by the end of this year pensions will be sent directly to retirees via the post office or banks.

The socialized pension fund is accumulated by employees paying a portion of their monthly income and by employers paying a premium.

This year retirees nationwide are expected to reach 31 million, requiring a total pension outlay of more than 200 billion yuan (US$324 billion). "By the end of the year, he new pension system will cover 103 million people," said Ling Jimin, an official of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

State financial support is the key to keeping the social security system operational. According to the Ministry of Finance, since the beginning of this year, the capital gains tax introduced last year has been used to supplement the social security fund, and the government is looking into possibilities of getting new stable funding channels.

Medical insurance, an important part of the social security system, is also being reformed under the principles of expanding coverage, a reasonable contribution to the medical fund from beneficiaries, and a free choice of hospitals for patients.

Plan

China’s social security system has allowed economic reforms to proceed without causing social instability. However, experts say, China’s social security system will not become complete until it covers the 800 million-strong rural population. A crude pension system does operate in a few well-off rural areas at present, but
the majority of peasants have to rely
on their families for support in their old age. The government plans to expand the rural pension system and a system guaranteeing a minimum living standard for the destitute in rural areas.

(China Features)

Animals’ Ecstatic & Solemn Bond

By D.B. Rai

I HAD spent the first few years of my childhood days on a highland farm owned by relatives from my maternal lineage. The dryland farm, with a sizable number of farm animals produced nothing but maize and potatoes, hardly enough to make the family’s ends meet. Under these circumstances, livestock role was considered vital; inasmuch as it helped sustain the family.

I was assigned the job of caring the animals. My scheduled chores included, among other things, to cut grass from the terraced fields during monsoon and fetch fodder from the nearby forests during wintry months.

But I enjoyed shepher-ding the animals most. Once taken to the pasture and let-loose, the different species would separate from the main herd and form its own little groups and graze. At the end of the day, when their guts filled, the animals would lie down at an open space to cud, while we children played children’s games.

Although I had tended animals day in and day out, I had never cared to observe them closely, not, at least, with the intend of moni-toring their inter-species relation-ship. To me, they were all animals, therefore, incapable of matching humans, in-terms of expressing senti-ments and emotions, especially between two different species. For a boy, barely ten years old, to understand the intricacies of animals world was beyond his search-therefor of little concern.

Abruptly, my touch with the farm animals came to an end. Following the end of the Second World War, I followed my oldman to India, to get myself enrolled in a school, as in those days, schools were unheard of in Nepal. Often, one spent a great dial of time, travelling, to get one’s letter read, and such persons were few and far between. Anyone empowered with such skill enjoyed a special position in the rustic society.

After the death of my father and my own fatherly responsibilities over, once again, I began trudging through the hills to get to my village. Such visits had enabled me to come into contact again with the farm animals.

Directly under my room was another room which had been converted into an animal shed, housing a bullock and a gelded goat. In the beginning, I didn’t take any notice of these animals as they were fed and watered by other members of the family. However, what I did notice was their close comradeship. They often played playfully and huddled together. Even a short separation, made each miss the other. This close affinity, as reflected by their bodily gestures must have been due to sharing and living in the same shed. The bond was absolutely ecstatic and solemn, much to the envy of our own species.

The goat had grown up, therefore, fated to meet its fate. I decided against slaughtering him at home, not even in the village. A trader from across the ridge had bought it. Poor goat, he refused to move when dragged. Instead, he would look up at the bullock, as if pledging for help. Using a rope, tied across his neck, the trader pulled him, while his assistant pushed him from behind. The goat unable to resist the pressure, was made to move reluctantly. While it did so, he constantly cast his glance behind, where the bullock had stood, all bewildered. The bullock, too, had started baying over the departure of his companion. As the party moved on, the groaning had become fainter and the
sight dimmer till it disappeared beyond the corner. When I went to bed, inebriated the bullock was still baying.