Constitutional Amendment
Hectic Discussions On

By Ritu Raj Subedi

THE nation’s political and intellectual elite are now hectically engaged in discussions about the amendment in the Constitution after the chiefs of the ruling and opposition parties agreed to do so. The issue received further highlight when the government nodded positively to this agenda with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s announcement that the government was ready to amend the Constitution if political forces of the country hammer out a consensus to the points of the amendment.

Behind the rationale of the amendment, the key political parties argued that such move was not only imperative but a must to resolve the law and order problem and economic crisis facing the nation.

Meeting Point

They viewed that the idea was floated to find a meeting point between the parliamentary parties and the underground CPN-Maoist, which is branded terrorists by the state after it threatened by attacking the army, an ultimate base of nation’s security.

The other logic is that there must be some revisions in the main law of the land to bring drastic changes in the social, economic and political fronts as well as to curb rampant corruption.

Nonetheless, the question may arise: Can the much-talked about Constitutional Amendment be instrumental in bringing the Maoists into mainstream politics as claimed by the heads of the two major parties in the country? But the Maoists have not yet responded to the amendment proposal. It is yet to be seen.

After the nation was plunged into the cycle of violence and economic slump, the political actors seem to have seen no alternative but find shortcomings in the Constitution hampering the right functioning of the state.

However, there is no dearth of critics who blame that the political parties twisted the discussion on the amendment to veil their ineptitude in handling state affairs after the reinstatement of multi-party democracy in 1990. For the bundle of distortions and anomalies that raised their head during the 12-year-long democratic practice, the popular sentiments have it that it was not the Constitution, but bad governance, insincerity and corruption bent mind of the politicians.

Some experts, who were involved in drafting the Constitution, plead that it is not the proper time to amend the Constitution when the state of emergency has been imposed in the country to tame the terrorists and restore peace. Some ruling party leaders are also against the amendment move. They say that the Constitution should not be blamed for the sorry state of the country.

However, amending the basic law of the land should not have become the subject of such intense controversy. Indeed, the Constitution itself has made clear provisions on how changes dictated by the requirements and realities of the times are enacted. There should not be hue and cry regarding the issue because it is a worldwide natural political process to give dynamism to steer the nation.

Besides, there must be a total involvement of the people from different walks of life in the amendment debate since it would have a far-reaching impact on the national social and political life. The Constitution is not a property of any individual party. The amendment should not be directed to fulfil the interests of any party. It cannot be a ladder for someone to come to power. If there is to be an amendment, it must encompass the people’s sentiment and democratic spirit. Moreover, the process should further consolidate the hard-won multi-party democracy.

There can be no disagreement anyone that the amendment should address the burning problems of the country. If the amendment can’t succeed in resolving the social, economic, law and order and other problems, it would have no meaning. Thus, the main thrust of the amendment agenda should concentrate on tackling the Maoist problem peacefully and politically because the six-year-old insurgency has some crippling impact on social, political and economic structures. It is the main worry of the nation. The focus must be here.

Likewise, there should be clear-cut provisions for the transparent functioning of the political parties. The Constitution must compel them to follow a code of conduct.

Some have even mentioned the need for a caretaker government to hold free and fair elections and national government at the time of crisis. The ideas are not bad in themselves. However, a caretaker government consisting of people not belonging to any party might also be effective in conducting elections. The people represented in such a government should not be candidates in the elections. Moreover, the Election Commission should be made powerful during elections like in India. The Commission should be equipped with all the requirements for it to handle matters efficiently and conveniently.

More Power

The Constitutional bodies such Public Service Commission and Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority should be granted more power for ensuring good governance and corruption free society.

Likewise, the issue of decentralisation and self-autonomy and the problems of the downtrodden and ethnic communities must be the points for discussion. The Constitution should also address the feelings of the millions of ethnic and indigenous people.

Tea Output Meeting The Demand

By Mohan K. C.

ALL may not be going well for the tea industry in Nepal. Despite tea production being initiated in the country over a century ago, it was only since a few decades that export of this commodity was done in a big way. The establishment of the Nepal Tea Development Corporation was the step in the right direction. Like in almost all sectors, the government preparing the groundwork proved to be useful as it spurred the industries of the private sector as well.

Increasing Demand

The popularity of drinking tea has increased manifold in the country in the past 50 years when, for instance, there were only a few tea shops. Now tea has become the most popular drink whether starting a day or on social occasions. This explains for the great demand of tea in the domestic market.

Over the last two decades most of the tea requirement was met from imports mainly from India. Gleaning through the statistics the past decade itself has seen great changes. Now 70 per cent of the demand is met by tea produced here but ten years back almost seventy-five per cent of the tea demand in the country was met through imports. This shows the rapid pace of tea production in Nepal. If the total tea production is taken into account, it has grown by almost four times in the past decade. This speaks of the popularity of tea farming.

It may also be recalled that Nepal produces both CTC and orthodox tea. The tea that is most in demand in the market is CTC. This is because of the suitability of such to make the cup of tea that Nepalese are used to—tea powder, sugar and milk mixed together and then brought to the boil. This veriety of tea is limited to some places and a few people. This means that the demand for CTC is very much higher than that of the orthodox variety.

Contrary to this, orthodox tea is in high demand in the international market. The countries that import such tea from Nepal include Germany, Japan, UK and so on. About 90 per cent of the orthodox tea produced in the country is exported and earns valuable foreign exchange.

Due to the slack demand in the international market tea exports have fallen in recent years. It fell by almost 15 per cent last fiscal year (2000/2001) as compared to the previous fiscal year. The fall has definitely affected this industry.

Recently the fifth National Tea Day was observed. The basic purpose for marking it was to identify the problems and finding the solutions for the many problems faced by the industry. Though the National Policy 2057 has been anounced, it has not been able to address all the problems of this industry effectively. Those in the field of tea production, processing and export have felt an urgent need for the govenment to lend its supporting hands so that exports can increase.

As tea cultivation requires manual labour to a great extent, it means more employment opportunities. It also helps in covering denuded hills with a mantle of greenery, it helps in checking soil erosion and maintain the beautiful landscape. More than anything it brings in better income than many other occupation. These are some of the reasons why tea farming must be vigorously promoted in the country.

Prospects

Nepal is a suitable place for tea cultivation as best output is made at an altitude of 2000 meters. The country is bestowed with hills and mountain ranges very suitable for cultivation of tea. Ilam, Jhapa, Dhankuta, Tehrathum and Paanchthar are places most suitable for tea farming and this is proved by the fact it is a very popular preoccupation there.

Despite the bright prospects, there is still more room for improvement of the tea industry. What the tea farmers and others concerned with the industry need is more flow of investment together with technical assistance. The policies must be more conducive to take into consideration the problems being faced by the industry. If all these are done then there is no reason why Nepal cannot compete to its advantage in the international tea market.