EDITOR'S NOTE
The budget estimates for 2057/8 presented by
Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya has sparked off a big controversy as usual. Acharya is the
one man who has presented six budget estimates in the parliament in Nepal's history.
Starting with his first when he was immature, inexperienced and lacking in
self-confidence, with the sixth he must have been a man bubbling with confidence and
maturity. Why he should have presented a budget that is so ambitious that it could be
termed even unrealistic is totally beyond one's comprehension. Acharya, who is considered
the blue-eyed boy of the veteran Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has staked his
intelligence and even his political future to fall in step with the stereotyped thinking
of his mentor. Why he failed to realize that his mentor is on the wane and has just a few
years of politics, if any, but he has a long and arduous future ahead? Considered as a
sharp and intelligent man, Acharya should not have gambled his credibility by presenting
such a populist budget. The hike in the salaries of the bureaucracy was, indeed, overdue.
But the kind of raise he has given is sure to affect the socio-economic life of the nation
as a whole quite adversely. The chain reactions this hike is going to generate in the
daily life of ordinary and poor consumers who are neither civil servants nor politicians,
the resentments it is going to create in the labor force of the nation and the absences of
measures to counteract its evil effects is sure to upset the applecart. If Acharya thinks
this hike will, in any manner, lessen corruption in the administration, he would be sadly
mistaken. Corruption in our system has taken such deep roots that no ghost from hell can
mitigate it not to even think about uprooting. Only the leadership can play a healthy role
in arresting corruption. And the present political leadership in Nepal is steeped to their
bones in corruption. To expect honest direction from them is like to straighten the dog's
tail. Acharya has only whetted their vile appetite by doubling their privileges to one
million. Since this kind of tax payers' money has never been accounted for over the last
one decade, doubling it at this juncture is not only an action to win over their loyalty
of the parliamentarians but a crime against the nation. Knowing fully well that the money
will go straight into the pockets of the parliamentarians, this gross neglect of the
finance minister's obligation to the tax payer (or the donors?) cannot be justified in any
manner. It would be a shame to call this regime democratic when the taxpayer's money can
be misued without any transparency and accountability. It maynot be very far-fetched if
some one said the finance minister has tried to bribe the bureaucracy and the
parliamentarians. Indeed, after this, no Nepalese parliamentarian would demand the
dissolution of the House. But to think that this action of the finance minister would
instill in them any spirit of integrity may prove to be chimeric.
The big money appropriated to create a
para-military force in the form of armed police has generated lots of doubts and
misgivings in many minds. When the prime minister stresses all the time that the Maoist
problem must be resolved through dialogues why does he need a separate armed unit under
the government's direct control? If force is to be used after all, what's wrong with the
Nepalese army? That the use of force is sure to embroil the country in a civil war and
long drawn out bloodshed, killing sons and brothers on both sides, the imbroglio must be
settled through peaceful dialogues only. The Government's intentions in planning a
para-military force have become suspect. Their thinking that Royal Nepal Army is loyal to
the Palace and not to the government is the product of a sick imagination. If the army is
loyal to the King, what's wrong in it? The political leaders have failed to generate any
respect in the hearts of not only the army but even a common man in the street. It is time
the politicians did some introspection and mended their overall behavior so that they earn
some respect from the Nepalese people which includes the army. The money appropriated to
create a paramilitary force must be used to develop the backward areas where Maoists hold
their sway. That the Nepal army is a part of the government and ready to serve the people
and the country must be brought home to the politicians.
Acharya himself has accepted that the budget is
over ambitious. We can understand the constraints he had to work under to prepare such a
budget. Since, no budget in Nepal's budgetary history has been implemented successfully,
there seems to be no reason to harbor any optimism about this one. Since the character of
the men in charge is not above board and since the mechanism that implements the budget
can come no where near the expectation to perform a good job, entertaining big hopes about
the end result is bound to be belied. If the government is sincere to implement the budget
for the betterment of the poor Nepalese, they have to change their mindset, start being
less subjective and manifest a little bit of commitment and dedication. The Finance
Minster has at least ventured to wander away from the beaten track. But his vision and
dynamism is sure to get lost in the jungle of self-oriented and partisan politics. It is,
indeed, a great pity that Acharya had to work in an environment not congenial to further
national interests. And unless Nepalese politicians learn to behave a little more
patriotically, no budget howsoever good will deliver the goods..
| Chief-Editor & Publisher |
: Madhav Kumar Rimal |
| Editor |
: Sarita Rimal |
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Gupta(Nepalgunj) |
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