Peace, Security And Polls
Government's Priority

By Prem N. Kakkar

IT IS a little over two months that the government led by Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand has been in place. Much is expected from the present government as the two main agendas are its primary focus. First peace and security has to be maintained together with holding the general elections. The government has committed itself to do the necessary in this regard. Though it is not easy task, but sincerity to purpose can do a lot.

Expectation

There are many expectations from the government as it consists of select people, many of whom had not come in the broader political scene in the past.

The first and foremost task is to bring to an end the Maoist violence that has wrecked much havoc both in terms of life and property. A return of peace will only give relief to the people and development activities can pick up. The negative growth rate in the last fiscal year points to the fact that the economy has suffered. When the economy suffers the greatest effect is on the people.

Poverty has remained as the biggest problem of the country. Without its elimination or rather reduction the people's life cannot be better. In the last twelve years priority had been laid on poverty alleviation. There were some achievements especially for assisting the underprivileged people but it was not a major victory, that is to say, the poverty alleviation programmes were not as successful as was expected.

Now, the Tenth Five Year Plan has envisaged reducing the poverty level to 30 per cent. But with the gloomy economic growth rate, it will take more than the usual effort to materialise it. However, it is on an optimistic tone. It is to be seen how effectively the plans and programmes are implemented in this direction.

The government has also focussed its attention on bringing about necessary reforms in the educational sector. This is needed because education is the key to economic prosperity. The government's decision recently to introduce reforms in the sector is noteworthy. It has made provisions for the children of the underprivileged families to receive free education. This will provide them the access to education which otherwise is not possible with the economic status they have. In the long run, it is not only the children who will gain but the country also benefits.

Howsoever, the present indefinite closure of educational institutions has posed a big problem. It has been almost two weeks since all the schools and colleges have closed, all due to fear. It is a burning problem that has to be resolved at the earliest so that the students do not suffer. Everyone is worried about the future of the students.

With the government being serious towards the problem, it can be hoped that the problem will be resolved soon.

On the question of how soon the elections will be held, there is no doubt that peace has to return. For this the government alone cannot do everything, the support and cooperation of all is necessary as has been reiterated time and again by Prime Minister Chand. The political parties know that holding the general elections as soon as possible is what is needed. For this the right environment has to be created. Without an end to insurgency, holding the polls will be difficult so there is a need for all to join hands on this issue.

The problem that the country is facing at present is not an overnight growth. It has been simmering since the last seven years. Many people both civilians, security personnel and even the Maoists have been killed. The development infrastructure have been destroyed in many places. All these point to gravity of the problem so an outlet must be sought.

The past shortcomings are responsible for the state that the country is in at present. They have to be corrected before the country can move ahead on the right trail. It is true that instant solutions cannot come about just by wishing for them. It needs the right planning and implementation for which there must be consensus among all the concerned. It is a common problem. So all should work together to bring normalcy in the country.

Need

In a democracy, there may be differences of opinion and ideas but when it concerns
the national interest it is a common cause. Time is very crucial and the slide in the economy has to be arrested. Rhetoric alone will not work, there is a need for action as well for resolving the problems that the country is facing. It is working together that increases strength when the goal is the same.

Mainstreaming Women In Development

By Prativa Subedi

THE concept of mainstreaming women in development has been discussed since the 1980's. It holds the most promises for social change and is widely supported by southern feminists and women's organisations because it fully utilizes human resources while recognising shared responsibilities between men and women.

Desire

The mainstreaming of women in development is a desire for women to be at center stage and the participation of women as decision makers in determining development priorities. When women participate in all development decisions and through this process it will be possible to bring about change in the existing development paradigm.

Mainstreaming is well mentioned in the periodical plans of government in Nepal. For the first time in the Sixth Plan women's involvement in development was mentioned. In the Seventh Plan, policy for women's development was formulated. The Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Plan have mentioned a lot about mainstreaming women and development. But still many women are absent from the mainstream decision making process and programmes. In our country the majority of women are still being exploitated.

It took a long time even to reform some laws regarding women which were contradictory to the Constitution 2047 of the Kingdom of Nepal. Yet, we still have many discriminatory laws in existence and it will take many years to bring change into action. As long as discriminatory practices remain, women will not be able to enter into the mainstream.

Women have potentialities and are contributing in development work even with their limited opportunities. However, very few women are able to work in the decision making levels. Many are working as activists influencing government policy for mainstreaming women in development. Until her position is strengthened, she will not be able to make any decisions. Women need social respect and to be treated like first class citizens.

The concept of gender and development (Mahila Purus Samabikas) can help to bring women in the mainstream because it addresses both short term and long term approaches for gender sensitive development which can raise women's position in society. The short-term goal is to address welfare programmes such as health education, child care, and credit programmes. The long-term goal is to empower women questioning the patriarchal institution which subordinates women and prevents them from having land rights. But in order to see women in mainstream development, gender sensitive planning and programmes need to play an important role.

For twenty years the government has been implementing some targeted programmes for women's development which has shown some positive signs. However, instead of strengthening these programmes during this decade the government is just introducing new ones. There are many good programmes in the area of community development and credit programmes, but they are not recognised by the government. The main problem that we are facing is that there is a gap between who is in need of support and who is suppose to give support.

The government should direct funding towards poverty reduction through effective NGOs because they usually make a difference with a gender sensitive approach. It doesn't mean that the government should not implement the development programmes, but in many cases they are very patriarchal which goes against the whole idea of development. Because women's organisations are not getting proper support and funding from the donors and the government, most are working with little resources and they also lack training. Many programmes are project oriented and usually are implemented into a village for only a limited time of one or two years. However one or two years is a not sufficient time to develop mechanisms to handle all development activities. A minimum of five years duration is needed especially for women to run an autonomous organisation by themselves. Women also run all the development activities in their areas in terms of programme and resources during this period. However, it doesn't mean women are now in the mainstream it is just the first step on the way to mainstreaming. Due to their new political freedom, women are now able to automatically organize themselves for development activities.

Although the government has been talking about mainstreaming for years, we must now ask why has it not been implemented? Why isn't it working in our country? Still 80 per cent of women are giving birth in the home. Only 40 per cent of women are literate. Many women are excluded from doing economic activities and women's work is not recognised as an economic contribution. Some women are participating in political and bureaucratic level.

Unless development includes all people, men and women, mainstreaming is impossible. Development in this country is very slow because the documents and plans for development are not implemented. These documents are produced in a centralised way and there is no participation from all the stakeholders. To speed up our development, all the stakeholders need to be involved from the beginning of the any development project.

Best Strategy

It is obvious that the pace of women and development is very slow. Strategies to bring women into the mainstream are even slower. Women are under represented in many areas and there are inadequate opportunities, which are the major obstacles that prevent mainstreaming to occur. The best strategy for mainstreaming is to involve men and women equally while having a welfare and human right approach in the development area.

Lesson From Shrisha's Suicide Case

BY RRS

NEPALESE Press still lingers over the suicide case of actress Shrisha Karki. Though the tense environment, that was created, has now gone down completely, the case has offered lesson to the players of the Nepalese cine world as well as to the press.

One thing it has done is the revaleation of the very working style of our cine people. They instantly heated up and cooled down soon. The episode moved and shook them immediately after the news of her suicide spread in the city. They held procession almost daily demanding on stern action against the vernacular that published a nude photograph of actress and compelled her to commit suicide. Though they knocked the door of courts lately for justice, they did not think it necessary in the beginning.

However, the important things of the suicide drama are others. To borrow a phrase of an American politician, it exposed ' axis of three evils': blue cine business, yellow journalism and wickedness of police personnel.

It reminds us the Bombay underground world where criminal persistently threatens and blackmails the actors and the actresses. It sounds ghastly when one comes to know that a former actress and film director coerced another budding actress for sex trade.

It hints that there may be many Shrishas, who for their brighter career are ready to compromise with unethical conditions. Carried away by the colourful dreams, shown in the reel life, many aspiring girls can easily become victims to the players, who always run after innocent damsels. So why do the cine people not realise this fact and show their willingness to break this 'blue net.'

It is certainly shocking news that a journalist and police officer joined hands in the dirty business. The blackmailing on the part of press is and can not be tolerated

There is no doubt that the press must be given right to perform it business in an unfettered way. But it does not mean that they are beyond the censor. They should respect human privacy and dignity. There is Code of Conduct to follow for healthy and creative journalism. The papers should not forget what Nepalese culture and taboos are. Nepal has not yet reached to the level of western countries where sex revolution occurred a century ago. They have broken sex taboos and cultural shyness and have learnt to digest them. Faced with many scandals, actors and actress from these nations hardly go committing suicide for merely publishing objectionable pictures. Rather they go to court against such libel.

The Nepali press must have learnt a lesson that people have private life and it should not hurt at any cost. Although there is not law to punish the alleged ones in such a case. The tragic episode has certainly left traumatic experience to the Nepali cine journalists. And the cine people too have learnt what consequences they had to bear while establishing too much close ties with journos.
Talking about traumatic psycho of the deceased actress, she could not bear the mental tension she underwent after the publication of her naked photo. The news was a big blow to her social prestige. It also tarnished her image as she was going to knot a nuptial tie soon. It seems under utter frustration, she committed suicide.

But one question rose: Why did she escape from life and choose death? Did she not face situation as many Hollywood and Bollywood actresses do? For instance, take Manisha who recently took legal cudgel against her 'blue' presentation by film director in Chhotisi Prem Kahani. She was shown posing for some objectionable scene. Later, she claimed she was not that woman who gave such a scene and filed suit against film producer for libel. Was it not possible for Shrisha to take the path as Manisha did against the wrong doer?