NATIONAL 5 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Endorsing Tenth Plan

The National Planning Commission focuses its attention on poverty alleviation programs

By KESHAB POUDEL

If development planning in Nepal has any continuity, then the key link is Prithvi Raj Ligal, vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC). He has been actively involved in the formulation of the last three five-year plans.

Ligal was on the NPC team led by Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat in the preparation and execution of the Eighth Plan after the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990. By the time the concept paper of the Ninth Plan was being drawn up, Ligal had moved up the ladder to become vice-chairman of the NPC.

Ligal : Continuity

While drawing up the Ninth Plan, Ligal faced all kinds of political upheavals and uncertainty. At the end of the Eighth Plan, he resigned following the fall of the Nepali Congress government. He was reappointed when the Nepali Congress formed a minority government in 1998. For the last two years, Ligal has been leading the review of the Ninth Plan and actively engaged in drawing up the approach paper of the Tenth Plan.

Ligal's vast experience would have a positive impact in correcting the lapses experienced in the past. The element of continuity he represents in the NPC, bolstered by his previous experience in the Ministry of Finance, can be expected to come handy in constructing a new mechanism for the Tenth Plan.

With certain amendments, the National Development Council (NDC), headed by the prime minister, has endorsed the Tenth Plan, which will concentrate its efforts on poverty alleviation. Because of political instability marked by frequent changes of the government, the previous two five-year plans were unable to achieve their targets. The NPC seems to have chosen a different modality this time in terms of executing the plan.

As the number of people living below the poverty line continues to increase, the Tenth Plan has focused its attention on programs meant for that segment of the population. The plan has proposed broad-based economic development, social-sector development, targeted plan and governance as the key pillars through which the government is expected to achieve the targets.

During the one-day NDC meeting, members of various political parties proposed amendment to the plan in order to make it more effective and purposeful. To achieve broad-based economic development, the plan puts great emphasis on the effective implementation of Agriculture Perspective Plan. It also envisages more active participation of the private sector in economic affairs.

According to the Tenth Plan approach paper, rural poverty in the terai and hills has shown little sign of change. In the case of urban poverty, the terai shows a 16.6 percent rise and the hills show a nearly 45 percent drop.

"The Tenth Plan will lay down certain basis to reduce the level of poverty. To achieve this target, the government will direct all of its resources towards poverty alleviation," said Ligal.

After the Ninth Plan failed to achieve the target set for GDP growth, the NPC seems to have become extra cautious this time. "One of the objectives of the plan is to develop a broad modality to alleviate poverty," said Dr. Shanker Sharma, a member of the NPC.

The key public actions envisaged in the process include policy changes, institutional reforms, programs and projects. According to the concept paper on poverty alleviation, 38 percent of the country's population lived below the national defined poverty line in 1999. Large segments of the poor are barely eking out subsistence. They are living in fragile and vulnerable ecosystems. Moreover, large areas of the country lack even the most basic infrastructure.

The NPC maintains that the Tenth Plan, which will be formulated through a participatory approach, will be based on the so-called ëbottom-up' approach. Draft sectoral studies in priority areas as well as other chapters will be shared and reviewed with all stakeholders, including civil society, non-government organizations, the donor community and the private sector.

As Nepalis understand well, the challenge lies in effectively implementing the policies and programs envisaged by the plan document. The people will be watching the NPC every step of the way.