Technological Progress
Source Of Development

By Tanka Raj Niraula

TWO formulations have now been well established in the economic development. One is the technology of production that is a distinct input as distinguished from the traditional inputs, namely land, labour and capital. Another is advancements in technology that play a crucial role in the growth of a country.

In economics, Production Function is a basic ingredient, which may be defined as a mathematical relationship between various levels of inputs and outputs. Now-a-days, technology is included in the production function, in contrast to the traditional setting. That’s why reasoning and historical evidences have proved beyond doubt that technology is central to the growth process. It is more important than the traditional factors as it enables a country to produce more irrespective of whether other factors increase or not. Equally significant is the fact that progressive technology alters the living conditions of individuals and societies.

A very common definition of technology is "skills, knowledge and procedures for making, using and doing useful things." It is often identified with the hardware of production-knowledge about machines and processes.

Technology is a function of time and the first derivative of it is always positive and increasingly changing. Therefore, change in the way inputs are transformed into outputs will be always advanced to the past ones. This change reflects to more output with the same inputs or same output with lesser inputs. Technology is not only about hardware but consists of software too. It includes methods used in non-marketed activities as well as marketed ones. Technology extends to services, administration, education, banking, law, manufacturing and agriculture and so on, which are supportive to development process.

A basic problem of every economy system is the means of achieving an allocation of resources that will result in maximum efficiency. Maximisation of allocative efficiency is resulted through technological advancement. It is imperative for any country to undertake technological innovation all the time in order to fulfill the growth objective. Technological change increases productivity of the factors of production, overcomes scarcity of resources and also raises welfare. Through a large increase in the productivity of labour, there will be an increment in the per capita output too, which correspondents to people’s welfare. Apart from the economic benefits technological progress causes profound social and cultural changes in a society. It is reflected in terms of not only consumption of new goods but also in new ways of doing things, opening vast opportunities for new life styles, new thinking and emergence of different social organisations.

The Characteristics of technology are largely determined by the nature of the economies for which they are designed. For a significant economic structural change to take place, a society needs transformation in attitudes, institutions and ideologies. Since modern technique is not a matter of just getting a modern tool and using it, but also following modern thinking. This is the reason behind the success to technological change in achieving the development goal. The technology applicable in the United States may not be applicable in Nepal. Furthermore, the technology, which is appropriate
for Kathmandu will not be suitable for Palpa.

Technological advancement has harmful consequences too. It has done irreversible damage to the environment, which is evident from the pollution of air and water, deterioration of soil, forests, wildlife and so on. It has also adverse effect on employment scenario as well, because sophisticated modern technology is more capital-using and labour-saving.

Since improvements in technology are of great importance in compared to disadvantages, it is natural to suggest that the less-developed countries should endeavour to change their existing backward technology. Now holistic approach of development, decentralised mode of technology transfer and a wide scale of social mobilisation and community participation are in the front line of development practices. In Nepal’s case efforts have to be made along two lines: generating new technology, and diffusing the same in economy. Taking the case of agriculture sector, majority of the population depends on this sector and is mostly poor. The poor households have low quality and fragile land suitable for limited activities. Therefore, to increase the production, new technology is necessary. But mainly it has to be suitable for the rural setting because of the literacy factor. Nepal can adopt new technology through learning by doing, research and development, and import of technology. For this, appropriate technological policy is needed in accordance with the changing scenario. But Nepal’s skilled manpower and mostly technicians are out of the scene. Efficient manpower are going abroad in a great numbers everyday. This creates a Brain-Drain situation in the country. For this reason, the state has to give due incentives, protection and recognition to the able manpower.

Thus, it can be concluded that technological advancement is the strategic factor for development in this new millenium as evidently shown by the developed countries.

Plight Of Garment Workers

By Prakash Dahal

DHAN Bdr.Magar 41, came to Kathmandu, the capital city of a country which his great grandfather left 150 years ago for a military service in India, during the British Raj. Two generations lived and served in Guwahati, north-eastern city of India, as an army personnel, gateman and watchman. They wanted Dhan to be different and enrolled him in a business college where he obtained a Masters’ degree in business administration.

Ten years ago, while still in Guwahati desperate for a job matching his college qualification, he was offered a white color job in Kathmandu. A local industrialist planning to start a garment factory in the valley went there looking for technicians. It was there he encountered Dhan and a deal was struck.

Dhan came to Kathmandu along with four dependents: his wife, son and his parents living on meager pensions. Dhan’s managerial works in one of the leading garment factories earned his family a better living. His son now goes to college and he owns eight ropanis of land. The only thing he doesn’t have is a roof over his head. He, however, is confident that he would have one in the near future.

Life is not as cool to Sunita Tamang 21, as Badri, her boy friend, had promised her back home. A class 10 student at Nilkantha High School, Rasuwa, Sunita met Badri when she was appearing her SLC test. Badri Bika, who did the petty works of loading and off-loading garment materials, started illuminating her tender mind with the urban glitters which he promised her in Kathmandu. Sunita swallowed the sugar-coated pills that Badri prepared for her taking time. She ran off with Badri.

In a week or so after landing in Kathmandu, the sugar coat around the pills melted and life tasted bitter. A dingy, sleazy room in the basement around the corner of the dark alleys of Gabahal, Patan, was where she had to pass her days and nights. Many a times, she slept half-fed or unfed.

One evening, a Terian tailor, the garment factory employee where Badri loaded and off-loaded garment stuffs, came with Badri. They ate and drank and a deal was struck. Couple of days later, Sunita got the stitching works in the factory.

She has now shifted her from Patan to Chabhil where she lives with Badri Bika, who doesn’t work any more. Now, Sunita is the bread winner. They live together, they haven’t married though.

Dhan Bdr. Magar, business school masters from Guwahati, and Sunita Tamang, the hill lass from Rasuwa, have different life style, but they encounter similar problems. And, the problem, that surfaced only last week not only ran their boat in turbulent waters but threatened to bring them to the street.

The Maoists handed out the garment owners their Act that laid down guidelines for them to follow. They found it unbearable and decided to pull down the shutters.

Both Dhan Bdr. and Sunita see no light at the end of tunnel. The problem with the business school graduate is that he doesn’t see anyone around who would be willing to buy his 10 years long garment experience. With Sunita, no silver linings around dark clouds.

Over the past ten years, Kathmandu saw a burgeoning garment and carpet industries with a booming tourism industry and the mushrooming cabin restaurants. All of them have shrunken one after the other. In the events of Indian airlines highjacking, the Indian satellite media blew the news out of proportion painting the Himalayan Kingdom in bad colors.

They didn’t only draw back the Indian tourists but forced the foreigners to give a second thought before planning Nepal as their tourist destination.

Then came the Royal Palace tragedy. The news rode high in international communication networks. In Tokyo, according to one Nepali businessman trading in Japan, they asked what security cover a country could provide to them when it failed to protect its own King and the Royal family. Not irrational though unpalatable to Nepalis, a Nepali can challenge them to prove if any foreigner has ever been abducted, held for ransom, or brutalized by Maoists or any other Nepali?

Nepal has remained by and large peaceful compared to other countries in the region. The bitter reality the country is made to face at the moment is, with the Royal Palace tragedy followed by Maoists’ gearing up campaign, the national economy has been hit hard. While the tourism industry is feeling the worst jolt, the country’ other industries are closing down for fear of safety.

The garment industries, the other major foreign currency spinner, have begun to be eclipsed under dark clouds. If the dark clouds keep on hovering over Nepali industries, the nation is bound to suffer a catastrophic collision.

The problem that the whole nation is engulfed in will darken the future of not only Dhan Bdr. and Sunita but thousand of the likes. They are right when they say, they don’t see silver linings around the dark clouds. The hanging question is when they can see light at the end of tunnel.

The Punctual Professor

By Shreedhar Khanal

GEORGE Washington, the first President of the USA, was very punctual. It is said he was neither ahead of nor behind time in garden to stroll at 4 p.m. everyday. Many people corrected their watch on seeing him in the garden. Everybody knew beforehand when he would start but nobody knew when he would finish. I know a man who was punctual in starting as well as in finishing. He was late Ashutosh Sen, a professor of physics in Tri-Chandra College during the Rana regime. He was never late even by a few seconds to enter the class-room in his period. The same way, he left the class as soon as the bell rang after forty-five minutes. He was like a stop-watch. He was also so methodical that he completed in forty-five minutes, according to his lesson plan. Ashutosh Sen was a Bengali of Calcutta. He was called by the then Rana Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher and appointed a professor of physics in Tri-Chandra College. He left India for good and remained in Nepal until his death.

Many students of professor Ashutosh Sen have already expired and those who are alive, still remember him for his excellent and methodical teaching. They particularly remember him whenever an arch or rainbow appears in the sky. He had made them memorise VIBGYOR. The students, me included, never forgot the seven colours of a rainbow, i.e. Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red in serial. He was regarded the best professor not only because of his knowledge in physics but also of his punctuality. He did not take private tuitions because he was against it. He used to say that he taught in the class was more than enough for intelligent students. A student who depends on private coaching spoils his academic career. In spite of his sermon, the students weak in mathematics found it hard to grasp his class-lectures. They tried in vain to pursue him to impart them private coaching in his house at Jamal. But he was adamant that he should not teach privately.

But fortunately one of my friends was allowed to visit the professor for private coaching. Later we came to know that my friend’s uncle who could speak Bengali very well had requested the professor in his native language (Bengali) and the request was granted. The student had to reach the teacher’s residence at six O’clock in the morning. The professor would come down into his study-room punctually at six and teach for one hour. He would come one minute ahead of six, holding a small table-clock which he would put on the table and sit down. As soon as the clock struck seven, he would stop teaching and get up. He would pick up the clock and leave telling the student to come a few minutes ahead of six next morning. My friend as instructed, would reach three minutes earlier every morning. One morning he became late by five minutes. The professor was not in the room. He waited in vain for fifteen minutes and returned. He knew that the punctual professor would not coach him that morning.

Ashutosh Sen had taught us the technique of reading also. According to him, a silent reader gets only visual affect while a loud reader hears what the has seen and gets both audo-visual effects. Thus, he can commit his lessons to memory faster than a silent reader can. Knowing that the students were not convinced of his reading technique, he challenged us to verify it. He told us to memorise two different poems—one by silent reading, and another by loud reading. If we could memorise the first poem by reading silently for ten times, the second one could be remembered by reading loudly for only five times. We did the same and found him absolutely right. Then I came to know how my late father could recite all the eighteen chapters of the GEETA with his eyes closed.