Reforms In RNAC
MINISTER for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Kuber Prasad
Sharma has said that His Majesty's Government was making an alternative plan to improve
the financial as well as managerial conditions of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation,
Nepal's national flag carrier. In an interview to The Rising Nepal the other day, Minister
Sharma spoke of three alternative plans for the development and improvement of the
services, management and financial situation of the national flag carrier. One of the
three alternative ways, as said by Minister Sharma, is converting the Corporation into a
public limited company. The condition of the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) has
been very bad over the last few years. Despite having monopoly until a decade ago, RNAC
had not been able to run in profit. With the introduction of economic liberalisation, the
government opened up the aviation sector to private investors. As a result, more than a
dozen private airlines have come up in the domestic as well as international market. RNAC
has now been facing stiff competition. This is the age of competition. In this changed
context, RNAC also needs to make changes and improvement in its services as well as
management in order to compete with the private sector and march ahead in the race.
However, the national flag carrier does not seem to have changed its style and management
as it used to be during the monopoly era. As a result, RNAC has suffered a lot. Other
reason for the deteriorating condition of RNAC is political intervention. The past
experiences have shown that the RNAC leadership changed with the change of Minister or
government. As RNAC has long history and goodwill in Nepal's civil aviation sector its
image and history must be protected. For this, an effective plan is a must for the
improvement of the national flag carrier. The alternative plan and corrective measures
that the government is seriously working out is the demand of time if RNAC is to be
protected and improved. Once political interference was discouraged and corruption curbed,
it would be a big step forward for the improvement of the Royal Nepal Airlines
Corporation. Similarly, professionalism and business motive also seem to be lacking in the
management of the RNAC. Ever since the present government came to power political
intervention has been reduced and the corporation has started seeing some signs of
improvement. However, the sense of competitiveness is lacking. Unless the sense of
competition was developed in the management as well as among staff, it cannot prosper to
the desired extent. If implemented, the alternative ways that the minister has mooted
would definitely go a long way in the history of RNAC.
Dig Deeper
ONE thousand pieces of coins said to be dating back to the
times of King Biswodev in 329 A.D. of the Kushan period have been, as per a news item
carried by this daily the other day, found during an excavation of the Dhando Stupa at
Chabahil. Similarly, one Shiva and one Parvati idol, 99 small Buddhist stupas, a Bishnu
Narayan idol from the second and fourth century A.D. and a brick-like stone inscribed in
the ancient Brahmi script from the Lichhavi period to that of King Rajendra Bir Bikram
Shah's period were also discovered during the excavation. All these priceless historic
artifacts were found when water entered the northern inner sanctum of the Dhando Stupa
last year. Of interest to note is that had the water not seeped inside the inner sanctum,
most probably these archaeologically important items would have remained where they were.
And, in the process, forfeiting the archaeologists and historians from the much-needed
opportunity to not only delve into the times of the periods to which the artifacts are
said to belong but, more importantly, to fill up some of the blanks in the nation's
ancient and medieval history. More especially concerning the economic, trade, cultural and
diplomatic links that the various dynasties and kings of Nepal had forged with their
foreign counterparts during their times.
But then, as the history of archaeological discoveries has
eloquently proved, sometimes if sheer lady luck seemed to lead the archaeologists to
stumble upon sites of great historic, cultural and religious importance, then others were
discovered through the archaeologists' meticulous works that, more often than not, spanned
over many decades. While the archaeological findings in the inner sanctum of the Dhando
Stupa at Chabahil can be safely attributed to the former kind of discovery, nevertheless,
in archaeology, nothing can possibly substitute thorough studies backed by sheer
labourious works on the part of the archaeologists. Hence, if more historical, cultural
and religious knowledge is to be added to what is already known about the Dhanko Stupa as
well as the Charumati Vihar, then the archaeologists need to dig deeper not only into the
corpus of historical, cultural and religious knowledge already available to them but also
in the grounds surrounding the above mentioned sites. Only then would these sanctified
sites' importance be fully brought to light. This, needless to point, is equally true for
other sites of historic, cultural and religious importance. |
