Uplift Their Status

NEPAL houses a diverse group of ethnic communities with their own unique cultures, traditions and language. The best thing about this diversity is that, these ethnic communities have been living in perfect social harmony since centuries. This was the reason why late King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the Great, mentioned Nepal as a 'garden of four castes and 36 sub-castes' some 250 years ago. Even today, Nepal has remained a common garden of all those communities and linguistic groups. But it is sad that some of these ethnic groups lag in terms of socio-economic conditions. These people are yet to be fully absorved in the national mainstream for various reasons such as lack of access to basic facilities for education, health and other such facilities. Speakers gathered at a programme organised to mark the World Indigenous People's Day the other day spoke for the indigenous people and demanded that the state give serious attention for the promotion and protection of their religion, culture and language. Considering the importance of the social and economic development for the overall development of the country, the United Nations announced the 1994 - 2004 period as the decade of indigenous people.

No doubt, a country cannot tread on the path of development unless it brings its entire population into the focus of development. The present government is well aware of this fact and is committed to uplift the socio-economic status of these indigenous groups as Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said while addressing the Nepal Tamang Ghedung Association's programme. He termed the indigenous groups as citadels of this country's unique religious and cultural aspects. He expressed the government's commitment to make efforts for their upliftment and at the same time asked the civil society for cooperation to bring up the socio-economic status of the indigenous people because the efforts of the government alone are not enough to meet this end. Giving more emphasis on the development of the ethnic and indigenous communities is all the more important when efforts are being made to mislead them. A country's status means the development and well being of its entire people, including the indigenous and the ethnic ones, and policy makers should not forget this while framing development policies for the nation.

Floriculture's Advantages

THE people of Kavre district, as per a news item carried by this daily the other day, are taking to floriculture in a big way after a three-month training in floriculture that was conducted by the Dhulikhel Technical School (DTS). That floriculture, of late, has become a vibrant enterprise in some districts where hotels and other tourism-oriented businesses are located hardly needs any reiteration here. More particularly in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts where the concentration of hotels, lodges, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses is more than in other districts. For, after all, it is these establishments that place orders for flowers to decorate their rooms and premises. Or, even to welcome their valued guests with beautiful garlands and bouquets. As all know, where there is a high demand for any commodity, there will always be efforts from various quarters to fulfil this demand. The emergence of floriculture as a flourishing enterprise in the Kathmandu Valley can be viewed in this light. As for some people of Kavre district opting for this venture, what can be surmised is that the demand for flowers is still high-and that the floriculturists in Kathmandu Valley, for reasons best known to them, are not able to fufil the demand for flowers. However, demand alone simply cannot sustain a flourishing floriculture industry. Along with the demand, the price should also be right-at least to enable the floriculturists to recoup their costs entailed in growing these flowers. The more so since the demand for flowers here is more or less dependent on the tourism-related sector-and which, needless to point out, is itself influenced by the seasons. On the other hand, floriculture, for it to be a profitable enterprise, has to have a year round demand for its flowery products. This is where the need to develop the floriculture sector as an export-oriented industry arises.

In this regard, the nation's floriculturists have a distinct advantage in that Nepal is not only home to a mind-boggling variety of exotic flora such as orchids that command a high premium at home and abroad, but is also endowed with congenial weather and climatic factors that enable the floriculturists to grow flowers that are in high demand overseas. As such, if floriculture is to flourish as an enterprise in the country, the concerned authorities should avail the floriculturists with necessary inputs and facilities to optimally harness the nation's natural advantages.