Decentralisation Paradox
The Case Of Humla

By Mukti Rijal

VERY recently, the District Development Committee presidents gathered in the capital city to discuss the prevailing context of decentralisation especially following the adoption of the local self-governance rules. The DDC presidents spoke at length about the incoherence and inconsistence found between the Local Self Governance Act and the rules that was formulated to supplement the former enacted by the parliament last year. However, the voices of the DDC presidents from the Karnali zone sounded different.

Different
The presidents described the situation in Karnali completely different from other parts of the country. The Karnali zone is inaccessible and remote. It is the backward and underdeveloped zone as no developments infrastructures worth the name have reached there. The situation in Karnali zone should be assessed from different realistic perspectives, spoke the DDC presidents.

No development-physical, social-can be thought of without making the zone accessed by road transportation, and Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, the Humla DDC president in a chat with this writer.

The context of Humla is specifically different from others," he said.

One litre of Kerosene costs around 110 rupees while one Kg of sugar is priced at eighty-seven rupees at present. The health situation is very precarious. Last year over one thousand people died of viral influenza. The diseases spread to epidemic proportion owing to acute malnourishment and deficient nutrition. The average literacy rate in the district is just 15 per cent. The district has only one higher secondary school.

The school came into being under the initiative of the District Development Committee," told the DDC president who entered into politics actively following the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990. A young and dynamic personality Mr. Shahi has pained rich experiences with his involvement in social and community development activities. He is not happy with the approach of the people in the centre-who fail to look the situation from critically local and regional perspectives. Laws and regulations are formulated from uniform perspectives. These is no room for diversity and specificity.

Even the provision of the financial year that begins from the mid July does not suit to the context of the remote districts like Humla where no development activities can be executed for the entire six months beginning from September to March. Development activities therefore remain unimplement. "Cannot the central authorities take these difficulties into account and introduce new provision for the remote districts in connection to budgetary allocation?", contended the Jumla DDC president.

Decentralisation should be for diversity where the situation requires so. An uniform application of rules and regulations is not possible. Mr. Shahi argued against the provision of the Local Self-Governance rules that imposes an uniform and unilevel rate for the collection and export of the extracts and produces of the local medicinal herbs and plants.

"We will be forced to reduce the rate as a consequence of which our internal revenue base will be dwindled," he said.

Flexibility should be guiding principle of decentralisation.

The government grants to Village Development Committee have not been properly utilised in Humla. The DDC president ascribed it to the lack of awareness and education in the elected office-bearers. The concept of planning is yet to embibed. Many VDCs distribute the resources equality among the wards. The resources available are spent for trail construction.

How can the trails benefit if the entire region is completely about off the rest of the country?" The DDC president questioned. "Linking Humla with road network will be a difficult proposition," added the president.

The district can be connected to Kodari via the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. The Karakorum highway can be used to the purpose but the matter should be discussed with the government of China," the DDC president suggested.

The Humla DDC president is against releasing fund for parliamentarians for carrying out development activities of their choices. The law has established planning procedures that should be followed mandatorily. No discretion should be given to lawmakers to have development functions executed at their choices.

They cannot be development implementers," he disputed.

The Humla DDC president is for direct election at the local level. The DDC president should be elected by all adult suffragists so that they can command effective democratic influence in the district. Ideology has no meaning if it has practical relevance. "You may talk big but when it comes to practice you cannot do anything meaningful for the people in the prevailing situations of the district like Humla," said the president.

Traditional
Regarding the resolution of local disputes he said," People in Humla are rather very traditional. They follow the customary traditions like swearing by the name of God or got to temple to resolve their disputes. Whatever the law of land people care for their convenience (Raja Ko ain Bhanta Janata Ko Chain Thulo). The decisions taken at Kathmandu may not mean much for the people.

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