Long-Awaited Relief
THOUSANDS of families all across the country
have been at the receiving end of the ongoing mindless violence in the name of Maoist
insurgency. The trail of death and destruction has visited many places in the country.
People in rural parts of Nepal have been particularly hit by the devastation of essential
infrastructure -- i.e. what little they had. Though precise estimates of the loss of
property are not available yet, it is easy to guess that particularly over these past
months, when an increasing number of bomb blasts and arson have been occurring, the nation
has lost billion of rupees worth of vital infrastructures. It is not only the public
structures like transmitter towers and hydroelectricity plants that have come under
attacks by Maoists. Even offices providing essential basic services to the people have
been hit, depriving the poor of even that minimum services available in their midst.
Destruction of drinking water projects and health centers, for example, have caused untold
suffering to the rural populace.
Against such bleak situation has come the
announcement of a relief programme from the government. The Thursday announcement of a
38-point “immediate relief package” is the first time since the Maoist violence
began that a comprehensive relief package has been announced for those in the
Maoist-affected districts across the country. The relief package announced by Deputy Prime
Minister Badri Prasad Mandal is focused, as it should, on rehabilitation, reconstruction
and income-generating programmes for the poor and for those people affected by the Maoist
insurgency. Rebate on loans to the poor farmers, food for education scheme for 450,000
students, reconstruction of health centers, Rs. 180 million loan to the poor and the needy
for income-generation, reconstruction of some 228 drinking water projects and priority to
victims of Maoist insurgency are some of the highlights of the relief package. Along with
the relief package, the government also seems to be serious about implementing the
economic reforms and corruption control programme, as stressed by the Deputy Prime
Minister. Indeed, while the implementation of this long-awaited relief should receive the
utmost priority as it intends to bring urgent succor to the people in great distress, a
strict implementation of the overall reforms announced by the finance minister some time
ago is equally necessary if the process of economic recovery is to set off in earnest and
more people to receive socio-economic benefits.
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