Vanishing Public Land

ENCROACHMENT of public land has been regularly reported but decisive action against the culprits has always been missing. This is not only the story of Kathmandu but elsewhere in the country as well. In Kathmandu the problem is very much glaring but due to indifference of the concerned authorities public land has even been registered in the name of individuals while irregular settlements have come up at different sites. The land, which is a government property, could have been better used than being grabbed up by unscrupulous people. It is also a matter of concern that at times there seems to be collusion with the employees of the land revenue offices. What it calls is for updating the land ownership and action initiated against those who claim public land as their own. The scientific method is urgently needed to maintain records because without such a system in place, the land grabbers have it all for themselves.

The extent of the damage done to areas marked as green belt can be gleaned while observing the 15-metre stretch separated for such on both sides of the 27-kilometre Ring Road. The green belt envisaged when the Ring Road was built is but nowhere to be seen. The idea was not only to enhance the aesthetic look but also provide the breathing space for the city which was expanding at a fast rate both in terms of population and settlement. The rapid urbanisation, however, has out paced any move undertaken for planned development. This speaks of the lack of commitment on the part of those whose duty it is to maintain the city and prevent the encroachment of public land. It is a complicated situation wherein the land earmarked for the green belt belongs to the Roads Department while the Kathmandu Metropolitan City does the job of demolishing unauthorised structures on the public land. The Roads department may have its own reservations on managing the land it owns but the way it is being used as workshops, vegetable markets, dumping ground, parking lots and so on needs proper management. When such an area is being encroached upon in blatant violation of the existing legal provisions, one can just imagine what would be fate of other public land which has not received attention. For this, a beginning has to be made by identifying the public land and necessary action taken to utilise it in a fruitful way. And, most importantly, there needs to be proper coordination among the agencies which have a stake over such land.

IT For Growth

IT IS unthinkable that in this age and time of globalisation, a nation can move much without the support of a growing information technology industry. Experience of many nations particularly over the past decade has demonstrated that IT has to be an integral part of economy if a nation is to score much in the struggle to grab a piece of the global economic pie. A country can be at a great disadvantage in trade and commerce regionally and internationally, if its IT industry remains vastly underdeveloped. Application of modern technologies in various sectors of national life these days means the difference between keeping these sectors down or giving them the basic tools to rise. It is unimaginable for most sectors of national economy to bypass the IT tools and still hope for development. In so far as international trade is concerned, IT is indispensable for a country like Nepal to hope to get any benefit out of joining the World Trade Organisation, which is only a matter of time. Indicators are plenty that IT industry can grow, given a sustained effort to develop it by both the government and the private sector. As Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said while inaugurating the CAN Info Tech-2002 and Eighth Nepal Information Technology Show on Thursday afternoon IT has a potential to grow at a rate higher than any other sector of economy.

The potentials are there, no doubt. But at the same time there are constraints. Given the pace of the advances in information technology, the production of quality IT manpower remains a challenge for a country like Nepal. Further constraints in the growth of IT include limited infrastructure in electricity and telephone lines and lack of resources. The government’s efforts to popularise computers in the rural parts of Nepal through a scheme is a significant step in trying to demystify the technology and get more Nepalese hooked to IT. Besides, a clear benefit of such a scheme is the generation of employment. The educated youths have a greater chance of finding employment when they become more familiar with IT. For some years, IT sector appears to have been receiving some extra attention from the government. But clearly it is not enough. This industry, which has positive rippling effects on economic growth, deserves more.