Importance Of NDF Meet
EVER since Nepal opened its doors to the
outer world for forging development partnership some decades ago, it has received an
overwhelming response from the donor community. Nepal’s hilly terrain and landlocked
feature have remained as the major stumbling blocks to move ahead in the path of
development. In view of the development constraints faced by this Himalayan Kingdom rich
in natural resources, the donor countries have extended their valuable support over the
years. The support coming mostly in the form of financial aid and logistics has
contributed immensely to develop different social sectors such as health, education,
tourism and water resources. The development scenario has certainly taken a leap forward
in the course of the past decades. With the modest objective of assisting Nepal in its
development endeavours, the Nepal Development Forum (NDF) known as the Paris Club was
formed some two decades ago with the initiation of some developed countries like France,
New Zealand, Canada and others. The meeting of NDF is being held for the first time in
Nepal from February 4 to 7. The meeting bears a lot of importance in that the donors will
have the opportunity to interact with Nepal’s policy makers and planners. Unlike in
the meetings held in Paris, the NDF meeting in the offing will enable donors to listen to
development experts from a wider cross section of the society. This would in turn help the
donors to get a true picture of the constraints being faced by Nepal in the development
front. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is holding a series of preliminary consultations with
experts, politicians, industrialists and intellectuals as homework to the NDF meet. The
preliminary meetings with experts from varied disciplines would be instrumental to assess
the achievements made so far and also to identify the shortcomings that have come on the
way of development projects yet to receive the finishing touches. Politicians, experts and
representatives from UNDP, ADB and non-governmental organisations will extensively discuss
on draft papers on various sectors. Discussions will primarily be focussed on Medium Term
Expenditure Framework (MTEF), Government-Civil Society Partnerships, Civil Service Reform,
Decentralisation, Private Sector Partnership and State Owned Enterprises Reform,
Consultations on Rural Development, Consultations on Financial Sector Reform,
Consultations on Foreign Aid Policy and Review of Development Partnerships. The Medium
Term Expenditure Programme is the first such effort of the government to link up the
periodic plan and the annual budget. The meeting will also discuss the policy papers on
different sectors in order to draw inputs for the final NDF meet. There would be no
denying that Nepal has a better opportunity of apprising the donors regarding its problems
this time around and work towards a more sustained and productive development partnership
after the NDF meet concludes.
Koshi Hospital’s Woes
DESPITE the presence of sufficient doctors
and nurses the Koshi Zonal Hospital, is said to be finding it difficult to deliver
necessary medical services to the patients due to the lack of sufficient budget and funds.
If the news report is true, then it looks to reason for the concerned ministry,
departments and agencies to delve into the reasons as why the hospital is lacking in
sufficient budget. For, as the hospital’s very name indicates, it is catering to the
medical needs of the people of Koshi zone. And, no doubt, even for those people living in
other districts and zones as this very same hospital is one of the few designated referral
hospitals of the nation. As such, in keeping with its zonal and referral hospital status,
the concerned medical authorities have upgraded its infrastructure and facilities so that
it can not only cater to the medical needs of the patients coming to the hospital but also
of those being referred to it for better diagnosis and care by other district-based
hospitals and health centres. That this zonal hospital is being kept busy in dispensing
with its medical services throughout the year can be seen from the over 184,000 patients
who visited the hospital for medical treatment in the fiscal year 2057/58 alone.
Considering the yearly rise in the nation’s population, more patients from eastern
Nepal would be knocking at the doors of this hospital for medical care and treatment in
the near future. But without adequate budgetary allocations, it would be quite difficult
for the doctors and nurses of this zonal and referral hospital to meet the medical needs
of the patients hailing from all over eastern Nepal.
However, for a perennially cash-strapped,
resource-crunched government of a least developed nation like Nepal, upgrading the
existing facilities of its district and zonal-level hospitals so that they can cater to
the medical needs of more citizens is becoming an increasingly challenging proposition.
Nevertheless, with the government firmly committed to realise its laudable objective of
medical coverage for all citizens by the year 2020 and since access to affordable and
reliable medical services is one of the fundamental rights of all citizens, the concerned
medical authorities should leave no avenues unexplored to ensure adequate budgetary
allocations for hospitals like the Koshi Zonal Hospital. |
