Public Security Regulations
Some Areas To Intervene

By Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

THE government promulgated the Public Security Regulations and implemented them. These regulations give sweeping power’s to the District Administrators who can use the discretionary power and detain anyone they think is threatening the law and order. Politicians and human rights defenders came out strongly against these regulations whereas the businesspeople receive these regulations as the most appropriate ones at the time when people have abused the power given by the democratic system and indulged in going on strikes and in stopping road traffics and so on.

Some politicians say that these regulations are the assaults on the democracy. Certainly these regulations will go against democracy if the Chief District Officers use them vindictively. Common people will not have a chance to air their real grievances if the district administrators do not allow any sorts of public expressions in the name of security. People might suffer from not having opportunities of enjoying their hard won liberty to put forward their complaints.

However some people have abused the liberty to go on strike and to halt road traffics during the last ten years of democratic governance in Nepal. Currently a few people can disrupt the road traffics putting hundreds of people if not thousands of people in jeopardy. Political parties often call a nationwide traffic stoppage causing tremendous economic losses to the country. No one dares drive a motor vehicle during the traffic strike because anyone can throw stones on a driver or passengers and even burn down such vehicles. In other words people do not feel safe to drive during the traffic strikes. Thus some people enjoy their democratic rights whereas millions of others lose their rights to move around. It does not do any justice to them. This is certainly the abuse of the rights.

The duty of the government is to ensure that all people enjoy their rights. Every person has the rights to travel to work by a car or a motorbike but strikers calling the traffic stoppage deny others’ rights to travel by a vehicle. The duty of the government is to ensure that everyone enjoys his or her rights. Therefore, it is necessary to make the closing of the business of others by force is illegal so that other people will not suffer from losing business. This is what the Public Security Regulations have to ensure.

Of course everyone has the rights to go on strike in the democratic system of governance but they have no rights to trouble others. If you are students you have rights to go on strikes not attending your lessons but you cannot go to Bazar and force the storeowners to shut their shops. If you are transporters you have the rights to stop plying your vehicles but not these of others. The Public Security Regulations should provide security to the people to enjoy these sorts of rights.

Political parties have rights to call a nation wide strike. They may call to close the business of all people. But closing of people’s business should be voluntary. People empathetic to one party or another will voluntarily close their businesses on the call of these political parties. However, the current practice is to force everyone to close his or her business. Even a daily wage earner cannot go to work when political parties call a nationwide strike. This is a gross violation of human rights. The government needs to defend people’s rights in the democratic system of governance. This might warrant the Public Security Regulations.

We have seen unprecedented assaults on democracy during the last ten years of the democratic system of governance in Nepal. We have stayed at home quite a number of times fearing to go out when someone calls a nationwide strike because the government cannot provide security for safely moving around. Storeowners close their business because they are not safe to do business. Some patients lost their lives because they could not reach a hospital due to not having any means of transport. These are certainly the assaults on the newly acquired democracy. No one seems to be responsible for such sorts of unfortunate incidents. However the government is responsible for saving the life of any citizen in the democratic system of governance in order to guarantee the rights of all people to life. That is why the Public Security Regulations may be essential.

Our honorable members of parliament went on strike for 57 days of the 19th session of the parliament. That is their rights. They practice their rights. People have nothing to say about it but they got paid for the period of strike from the public money! The universal truth is if you do not work you will not get paid but this truth is not applicable to our honorable members of parliament. Perhaps these honorable members of parliament after the promulgation of the Public Security Regulations feel insecure about not being able to indulge in such various political activities that do not make sense to the common people. The government should not use these Public Security Regulations for protecting corrupt people who are supposed to be behind bars. We know that one of the former ministers is supposed to be in jail for his part in the irregularities in the aircraft deal. However he has been spending nights in the cozy bed. The government should use the Public Security Regulations to send such a person where he deserves to be. The government will not certainly benefit from protecting such corrupt persons.

If the recently promulgated Public Security Regulations stop the people from stopping others’ business then these are the sorts of regulations we need. We cannot tolerate any more people stopping us from going to work or from doing our businesses, and denying us our rights to earn bread. However, these regulations should not stop political parties to call a nationwide strike, and any other people to go on strike not hampering other people’s business. We are living in a democratic society and everyone should enjoy his or her rights.

Recently people have been suffering from the phobia of not having adequate security. People walked under the bombs suspended from the banner at the heart of Kathmandu a few days ago. We almost daily read in newspapers the killing of people at one area or another. How long Nepalis will tolerate such indiscriminate killings in the name of one person or another. The government has to safeguard the rights of the people to live. The government should strictly enforce the Public Security Regulations if these regulations ensure the rightsof the people to live. Some people think that the Public Security Regulations are the assaults on the rights of media to express without fear. We want the media to be sincere, moral and ethical, and we want the media to work for the people in general. We do not want yellow journalism. Currently some of our media have been unbridled by ethics, moral and sincerity. We need some sorts of regulations so that the media will be trust worthy. Why should not we accept the Public Security Regulations whole-heartedly if these regulations can bind the media to sincerity?

Some people claim that the Public Security Regulations of 2001 is not constitutional. The Constitution of 1990 of the kingdom of Nepal provides freedom of expression, rights to work and earn, and security. The regulations are not against the Constitution if they provide those things acting against the unscrupulous politicians, insincere journalists and unrelated strikers.

Any government has no rights to stay on in power if it cannot provide the people with security to live, work and earn bread. Hence the government should use all sorts of Acts, rules and regulations to defend people’s rights to work and earn bread. This will be the real democracy we are looking for, the chaos, we have experienced during the last ten years.

Never Too Old To Sit For Exams

By Gyan Rai

IT’S never too late to learn, goes a popular adage. By the same token, one is never too old to take one’s examinations because learning and giving examinations are part and parcel of any education system. The recent achievement of Mr. Bal Bahadur Karki, a resident of Solukhumbu district, in his School Leaving Examinations is a case in point.

Better known as "writer baje" by the Solukhumbu district residents due to his former occupation as a "writer" (scribe) in the district court, Mr. Karki, at a ripe age of 85 sat for his School Leaving Examinations for the year 2057 B.S. Although the SLC results (which were published only just recently) were not that encouraging, especially because of the low pass percentage, Mr. Karki managed to be included among the lucky few who passed with flying colours. He secured first division.

But more than this, he went on to bunk many a view being bandied around by the younger citizens about their seniors. The more so in Nepal where senior citizens, needless to say, are generally viewed by the younger ones as those who have already passed their prime in almost all fields of endeavour.

Be that as it may, what was more interesting to note about Mr. Karki’s recent achievement in his SLC examinations was that he passed his exams in his 14th attempt! In other words, despite his earlier 13 failures, he kept on persevering in his pursuit to gain an SLC certificate. His achievement is definitely not a mean feat. Especially coming from a man who has seen 85 summers, is a widower staying apart from his sons and is also having to look after his unmarried daughter.

But what is really astonishing and wonderful about Mr. Karki—and which would put the younger citizens and generation to shame—is that he is still full of beans! If not, why is he, at a very ripe age, all prepared to come to the capital city to further his studies? That too when everything, from his age to his precarious financial situation, seems to be going against his keen desire to continue his studies. This does show that Mr. Karki is indeed a man of substance. His achievements and, more recently, ambition to continue climbing the academic ladder, are therefore worthy of emulation. The more so by all those SLC examinees who have not done well in their SLC examinations and are either thoroughly frustrated or even thinking of completely giving up their studies.

Of course, being young does have its plus and minus points, especially the latter. For, if 85-year-old young Karki has the advantage of experience his side, then the youths, inspite of their boundless energy, tend to get frustrated quickly. This, in turn, make them vulnerable to all sorts of whims—giving up their studies just because they failed once or twice being just one. Anyway, whatsoever may be the reasons for SLC failures, after a few tries, to throw in their towels, one thing is for sure—it is definitely a loss to the SLC failures, their parents and, through them, to the nation as a whole. Every year, the government makes quite a sizable amount of allocation of its meagre resources to the education sector. Hence, any drop-outs at the primary and secondary levels means that the nation’s limited resources are being frittered away.

While the need for the education authorities to come up with some kind of scheme to channelise the SLC drop-outs’ frustrated energies is always there before they take to unsociable activities, it looks to reason on their part to implement the district-level and the pre-SLC examinations without any let or favour. It needs no reiteration here that these two types of examinations were solely instituted to ensure that only those Class Eight and Class Ten (or SLC candidates) students who are academically sound would proceed on to higher classes or give their SLC examinations.

But that these examinations are not being implemented to the dot by the education authorities can be gleaned from the low pass percentages in successive SLC examinations. Or, are they just failing the SLC examinees in their yearly SLC examinations because they have already decided over the pass percentages?! Perish this thought, for it would not only be too cynical but also completely beyond one’s wildest imagination. After all, why would the concerned authorities fail the SLC examinees just because they have already decided the pass percentage? Would it not be akin knowingly draining the nation’s limited resources, not to speak of breeding a volatile generation of frustrated youths?

So, the only way out seems to be for the concerned authorities to take charge of the district-level and pre-SLC examinations. Like, for example, in Singapore where all Class Six (or primary school leavers), before they go on to secondary schools, have to sit for a standardised all-state examination. Not only that, the Class Six examinees are sent to the secondary schools of their choices on the basis of their performances in the said examinations. (All Class Six examinees are given three choices of secondary schools)

And what about those who fail the examinations? Well, they are given one more chance, possibly in the same primary schools. And if they fail again, they are send to the vocational schools to learn a trade for two years. Of course, this does not mean that the doors to higher studies are closed for them. They can go to night schools to continue their studies. For, after all, the more skilled or knowledgeable the citizens, the easier it would be for the nation to expedite the development efforts.

Of course, there may be other better options. It is for the concerned authorities to explore, study and choose. But one thing is for sure—we simply cannot go on frittering away the nation’s scarce resources while at the same time dampening the SLC examinees’ enthusiasm and breaking their well-meaning parents’ hearts.

After all, not all students are like Mr. Bal Bahadur Karki who is verily an exception—and hence worthy of praise and assistance.

Fighting Poverty Technologically

By Krishna Sharma

AFTER going through the UNDP’s Human Development Report-2001 nearly half the Nepalese living below the poverty line must have thought of the way the protestors had behaved at last year’s G-8 Summit regarding the application of new scientific technologies for humanity. In September 2000 thousands of supporters at Okinawa, Japan where the Summit was held, had showed their wrath against proposal for the utilisation of new technologies saying, "we can’t eat computers". Their call was towards giving more emphasis on eradicating poverty and minimise the gap between the ‘haves’ and haves-nots? Now, when the HDR-2001 talked about the making of new technologies for human development, poor and ignorant people say they have little to cheer about. They think technologies are meant for rich people only and that the haves could not contribute to those people and areas where poverty has been ruling for centuries.

However, UNDP administrator Mark Malloch Brown is hopeful that the new theme — "Making new technologies work for human development" — would work a lot for the overall development of the humanity. He argues that information and communications technology and biotechnology can actually make major contributions to reducing poverty from the whole world. With confidence he warns that ignoring technological breakthroughs in medicines, agriculture and information will mean missing opportunities to transform the lives of the poor.

The UNDP official seems to be addressing to both the governments and the people of the respective countries that ignore the potentials and uses of new technologies for the development of entire humanity.

The report concludes by reiterating that information and communications technology (ICT) can also make an important development impact because it can overcome barriers of social, economic and geographical isolation, increase access to information and education, and enable poor people to participate in more of the decisions that affect their lives.

However, it may be a debatable subject regarding the practice of new technologies in Nepal at a time when the country is ranked 69th out of 72 countries in the technology achievement index by the UNDP itself.

New technologies may be potential key to reducing world poverty but for a country like Nepal where almost half the people are forced to live with worries for two meals a day proper application of such scientific discoveries may be a distant dream.

And when it comes to Nepal’s plan of poverty reduction, the current 9th Five-Year Plan has envisaged it as the one and the only goal. According to the government sources, the number of Nepalese living below the poverty line at the beginning of the 9th Five-Year Plan was as much as 42 per cent. Poverty rate was supposed to be reduced to 32 per cent by the end of the five-year long plan. But now that there is only one year left for the termination of the Ninth Plan, poverty rate is still at 38 per cent. Surprisingly, other international surveys find 47 per cent of the Nepalese still living below the poverty line.

Keeping in mind both the data, it could be fairly said that our past attempts were more or less futile and fallow for the noble aim of reducing poverty from the country.

And at this moment of time, when the whole world is leaping forward towards prosperity, we are still unable to fight poverty and are searching one or the other newer means to combat the vicious social malady.

In this regard, the utilisation of new technologies in development activities could be the only way left for us to fight poverty and follow the developed countries, though at a slow pace. If we start using new technologies in the field of agriculture and other profit making sectors, country’s economy could boom up within a very short period of time.

Nepal’s performance of political empowerment in the field of health networks has already been a success story to pave ways for other technological plans to be launched.

There are a number of other potentials in the country. For example: the leasing of the geo-stationary orbital slot, if installation of satellite at the GOS is beyond Nepal’s reach. Had Nepal been serious regarding the utilisation of the slot in a profitable way, country’s information and communications institutions like Nepal Telecommunications Corporation and Nepal Television would not have to invest a lot of money for running their respective programmes.

Thus, the government should not only abide by the UNDP’s recent call in its priority list but it should start working accordingly. If we continue to show our indifference towards such creative calls by not realizsing our reality we would continue to fall far behind.