20th House Session

AS summoned by His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, the 20th session of the parliament begins Monday. The session, which is also called the budget session, is going to pass annual policies, programmes and budget of the government for the Fiscal Year 2000/01. Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Mahanta Thakur said in an interaction programme in Kathmandu the other day that all the necessary preparations have already been completed for the forthcoming budget session. A total of 15 bills have already been registered in the Parliament Secretariat for parliamentary passage and some more may be registered later. This session will have to do additional work because some important Bills, which had been presented in the 19th session of parliament, are pending because of continued disruption of the proceedings of the House. In a parliamentary system of government, the parliament is the supreme body where issues relating to the people and the nation are discussed. The people elected their representatives to the parliament to raise their issues and have policies and programmes made in their best interest and the interest of the nation. If the lawmakers lock horns for their partisan interests ignoring the issues and problems of the nation, it would be a mere waste of time and a betrayal to the people. National interest should always be kept above individual and partisan interests. Conflicts and compromise are the essence of democracy. Political parties do differ and disagree on different issues but they must finally compromise and arrive at an amicable conclusion in the best interest of the nation. But it seems that our political parties, both ruling and opposition, have not been able to rise above their partisan interests. Now the country is marred by a host of problems. Attacking poverty and raising the social and economic standards of the people are the major challenges for development at present. Cooperation and collective efforts among all political forces are indispensable to expedite development. At the same time, certain elements are at work to defame and sabotage democracy for their petty interest. A group of misguided people have waged an armed struggle in the name of Maoist movement, which has created an atmosphere of terror in several parts of the country. As development is not possible without peace and security, the attention of the political parties and the government needs to be directed to maintain law and order and provide a sense of the security to the people. These are the burning problems at present. The 20th Session of parliament is, thus, expected to focus on these burning issues and problems. The need of the hour is to brush aside individual and partisan interests and engage collectively in the process of nation building.

Incense Export

THE export of incense that has shown some potential in the last few years has nose-dived in the month of Baisakh (April-May), according to a news item carried by this daily the other day. According to HAN (Handicraft Association of Nepal) sources, the rupee value of the incense export in the reported month figured at Rs. 259,751 from Rs. 1,385,347 in Chaitra (March-April) on a month-to-month basis. As such, the need on the part of the concerned authorities to not only delve into the reasons for the slump in Nepalese incense export has become a matter of urgency, but also come up with necessary initiatives to boost this item’s demand abroad. For, going by incense export statistics for the last two years, this item, despite stiff competition from similar product from other countries in the international market, seems to be becoming popular among customers abroad. One reason for its ability to hold its own in the market overseas could be that the Nepalese incense is made from only pure herbal ingredients, thereby emitting an aroma that is distinctly unique as well as pleasant. In other words, an aromatic delight of the foreign consumers.

It hardly needs any reiteration that the Nepalese, for centuries, have been making and selling incense and other aromatic products. For, the burning of incense sticks plays an integral part in the cultural and religious activities of the Nepalese. So much so that a cultural or religious function is not considered to be complete unless incense sticks are lit before the programme kicks off. Considering an incense stick’s importance in a cultural or religious function, both the lay people and the manufacturers are loathe to compromise on its quality. This means that only the best and pure ingredients are procured and used by the incense-makers. As for such ingredients, the nation is singularly fortunate in that it still is home to a wide variety of aromatic herbs. As such, it looks to reason on the part of all, particularly the concerned government and private sector agencies, to come up with measures to give the required fillip to this Nepalese item’s export abroad. By doing so, not only would this item be enabled to carve a niche for itself in the stiff incense markets abroad, but would also help generate more employment at home.