Spirit Of Constitution

CELEBRATION of the passage of 11 years of democratic constitutional exercise does inherently engender introspection. How have we fared these past 11 years? Have we been, especially the political class, faithful to the letter and spirit of the 1990 constitution fashioned on the basis of popular will expressed in the spring movement earlier that year? How far have people’s expectations been met? Such questions are only inevitable. For, the ultimate objective of the most important document governing a nation is the welfare of the people. And the success or otherwise of a constitution is tested on the scales of public weal. The Constitution that entered the 12th year on Thursday, gave us everything that we wanted. It gave us constitutional monarchy, popular sovereignty, an independent and competent judiciary, adult franchise, fundamental human rights, a parliamentary system, a multi-party democracy and the rule of law. What more a people, having lived under a one-party rule for 30 long years, could wish for? They asked for and they got a constitution that is regarded more democratic than the constitutions of many countries practising democracy. Respecting the sentiments of the people, the provisions of adult franchise, a system of parliamentary rule, constitutional monarchy and a multi-party democracy were made irreversible.

There have been an argument by some people that our Constitution has not turned out to be as good as was expected and that democracy has not fructified into tangible gains for the common masses. This argument conveniently ignores the truism that those who vow to abide by the constitution should also do their bit in promoting a Constitutional democracy. Indeed, as His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev said in a message to the nation on the occasion of Constitution Day Thursday, the behaviour and actions of every citizen, as well as institutions, must conform to constitutional norms and values, if democracy is to prosper. There is no denying, His Majesty said, that multiparty democracy would be further consolidated if we were mindful of the spirit and supremacy of the Constitution and strove towards creating an environment wherein every citizen was able to exercise without fear or hindrance the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Indeed, respecting the present Constitution in practice and not merely in words would help Nepalese democracy find itself on firmer ground. What is a Constitution but an, as Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said in his message, expression of the people’s feelings and which aimed at the smooth operation of democracy?

Curbing Population For Prosperity

THE recent report of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which cites low literacy among women in the developing countries as the major cause for increasing population needs to be given a thought. The reminder calls on the respective governments to step up their efforts to focus on women literacy campaigns. The report has put Nepal’s current population at 23,214,681 and has projected a growth rate of 2.27 per cent. According to the report, it took more than 60 years for Nepal’s population to double from 5.5 million to 11.6 million during the period from 1911-1971. The population growth rate in Nepal increased rapidly in the years that followed and it took only about 30 years for the population to increase from 11.6 million to 24 million in the 1971-2001 period. The projection reveals that population is growing rapidly giving way to doubts whether an economically backward nation like Nepal can shoulder the enormous burden. Factors like lack of education, primary health care and poor reproductive health have been attributed for the burgeoning population. Though the report shows that adult literacy rate has increased from 39.6 in 1991 to 57.6 in 2001, there is no room for complacency as more than forty per cent are still illiterate. It is quite obvious for a country with such a high illiteracy rate to have a high rate of population growth. The report has put the women literacy rate at 44.9 per cent. As there is a close nexus between rapid population growth and high illiteracy rate among women, the government needs to address the issue with due seriousness. Launching of literacy campaigns together with awareness programmes could serve as the conduit towards addressing the issue of growing population. The deeply rooted superstition in the Nepalese society that has given undue importance to a male child is one of the causes for the growing population. The role of education hence cannot be overlooked. A high rate of population growth for a resource strapped country like Nepal could have a negative impact on the overall development process. Thus it would be sensible to curb the growth rate so that a balance is maintained between the available resources and the number of mouths to feed. Countries that have launched effective family planning and literacy programmes have made significant achievement in their development endeavours. It would certainly augur well for Nepal to gear up towards promoting the twin programmes to overcome the hassles posed by an uncontrollable population size.