Poverty Alleviation
Broad Thrust Of Tenth Plan

By Uttam Maharjan

POVERTY is a duanting problem confronting the Third World countries, including Nepal. Since the Eighth Plan, poverty alleviation has been given prominence in the country, yet, the country has not been able to extricate itself from the vicious circle of poverty.

According to the National Planning Commission’s nation-wide survey of 2034 BS, 36 per cent of the Nepalese were found to be living below the poverty line. Similarly, Nepal Rastra Bank’s family budget survey of 2042 BS put the rate of poverty at 41.5 per cent. It may be recalled that at the start of the Eighth Plan, 49 per cent of the people were found to be poverty-stricken. This rate came down to 42 per cent at the start of the current Ninth Plan.

The Ninth Plan has envisioned a 20-year long-term target of reducing poverty to 32 per cent at the end of the current plan, to 32 per cent at the end of the Tenth Plan, to 15 per cent at the end of the Eleventh plan and to 10 per cent at the end of the Twelfth Plan. However, the mid-term review the first three years) of the current plan showed poverty to have come down to 38 per cent only. This has not only made the target of reducing poverty to 32 per cent by the end of the current plan out of the question but also has compelled development planners to reschedule the 20-year plan of poverty mitigation.

The draft paper of the Tenth Plan has been completed and the plan is getting off the ground from next fiscal year (2059/60). Poverty alleviation is, no doubt, one of the main thrusts of the plan, the others being sustainable high economic growth, social infrastructure development and good governance. The plan has a target of reducing poverty to 30 per cent from the current rate of 38 per cent. The plan has identified backup areas for poverty alleviation such as agriculture, tourism, information technology, social development, social security, human development and local governance.

It is true that Nepal is poor in resource mobilisation. It is, however, a paradox that the country has to look to donors even for the mobilisation and utilisation of its indigenous resources. At the same time, heavy dependence on foreign aid has made the country donor-dependent at the cost of the use of internal resources. The Tenth Plan has, therefore, unambiguously zeroed in on utilising such resources to the maximum extent possible for the overall development of the country. The government, private sector and community-based institutions should act in union so as to reap maximum benefit from available resources. In fact, the equal distribution of the fruits of development to various strata of society would help reduce poverty to a great extent.

The mid-term review of the current plan put economic growth at 4.8 per cent. Agricultural growth at 2.88 per cent and non-agricultural growth at 6.04 per cent. The current economic growth is estimated at 5.03 per cent. This rate of economic growth is not adequate to mitigate poverty substantially. The Tenth Plan has set the target of attaining 6.5 per cent economic growth. To attain this growth, savings, investments and capital formation need to be enhanced. As a matter of fact, one of the major reasons for not being able to raise economic growth is low investments in productive sectors due to inadequate capital. Therefore, there is an exigent need for boosting both domestic and foreign investments in the country by creating a conductive environment.

With the adoption of liberalisation policy by the government in the early 1990s, a large number of NGOs have mushroomed in the country. Such entities are working in various fields of socio-economic development. It is incontrovertible that such organisations have contributed to the national economy in one way or the other. In order to make them more effective so that they can further their contributions to the country such as through capacity building measures, the upcoming plan has envisaged their effective mobilisation for poverty alleviation by enacting appropriate laws to make them self-reliant.

Poverty is a juggernaut that is exerting tremendous pressure on the government to fulfill the basic needs of its people, who are mostly peasants. About 81 per cent of the population is involved in agricultural and allied activities. But this sector has not developed to the desired extent. So the farming community in the country is highly marginalised and neglected, leading a precarious life. Although the 20 year Agricultural Perspective Plan is in place, its tangible results in terms of bettering the socio-economic status of the poverty-stricken people have yet to come out.

It is obvious that poverty alleviation is not an easy task. There are several sectors that need to be revamped for poverty mitigation such as education, employment generation, hydropower and tourism. However, the participation of the private sector and the local people with indigenous knowledge could add an important dimension to the government’s development endeavours. So these groups should be motivated to participate in the development process as active development partners.

The government has initiated several activities aimed reducing poverty such as the BP with Poor Programme, Food for Work Programme, decentralisation and regional rural development banking. Similarly, the country has received foreign aid from donor countries and agencies for development activities. It is interesting to note that such donors have, in recent times, taken a high interest in seeing if their aid will target poverty mitigation. This is a positive sign as far as poverty mitigation is concerned.

It may be noted that a draft for foreign policy, which was announced in July, 2001, has been finalised and will come up for deliberation at the forthcoming National Development Forum meeting scheduled to be held from 4 to 7 February. The policy is expected to give fresh impetus to foreign aid management so as to utilise aid money more effectively. This will, in turn, accelerate development projects and contribute to improving the lot of the poverty-stricken people.

Poverty is multi-dimensional menace. To eradicate it, several fronts need to be activated. Therefore, it is imperative that a holistic approach be adopted to attack poverty deep down to its root. And it may be hoped that the Tenth Plan will address the challenge of alleviating poverty in an effective manner.

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