National 4 (Spotlight Weekly)

“I Want To Help Poor And Needy People”

— Mrigendra Mani Dixit

Mrigendra Mani Dixit belongs to prestigious Dixit family. After serving for several years in government service he joined the Asian Development Bank (ADB). His career as international civil servant continued for 24 years before he retired and returned to his motherland. With the objective of helping the poor and needy people, he recently made a big donation worth 12.5 million rupees to the Blood Donors' Association. Dixit spoke to SANJAYA DHAKAL on his past experiences and present zeal for social service. Excerpts:

Could you please tell us about your family background and experiences?

I belong to Dixit family. My father Mr. Narendra Mani Dixit was a well known personality. As far as my education background is concerned I did my M.A with economics as major subject from Calcutta University. I have a wife and three daughters who are presently studying abroad. I started my career with the government service and later joined the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

How long were you associated with the ADB?

After the completion of my studies I joined the government service in 1957 when they were looking for fresh graduates to work on the first five year plan. After working in various sectors of government service for 15 years I joined the ADB in 1972. I worked in loan processing and project implementation departments at the ADB headquarters. I also traveled extensively to 12-15 countries. I retired from the service in 1996. Right now I sometime work as consultant.

What prompted you to make such a big donation?

Ever since I returned I wanted to involve myself in some social service. My family was also very enthusiastic about this idea. We all wanted to help poor and needy people and were searching for suitable projects. Then we came across the Blood Donors' Association (BDA). We found that the BDA had been doing a remarkable service to the country even though they did not even have a house of their own. So, I decided to donate them a house. I had a house in Sainbu area in Lalitpur. The house was built in nearly 2 ropanis of land. I donated them the house last year. Initially the donation is valid for two years and if we find their job is impressive we are willing to transfer the ownership of the house altogether.

Why did you choose this project in particular?

Well I always wanted to help the poor and needy people. My family was also fully supportive about this. After scanning through various projects and NGOs, I found BDA as the most suitable candidate. It was involved in remarkable job of donating blood and saving lives. Nowadays due to acts of violence the need for blood is rising by the day. What better way to help poor and needy than by saving their lives. Besides, the BDA despite being involved in such a sacred service did not have a house of its own. Now that we have donated our property to BDA we will be closely monitoring on its activities to ensure better results. We also have plans to take mobile health camps to far-flung villages.

After living abroad for such a long time now you have come back to your motherland. Are you interested in serving your country in any capacity?

Well I do want to engage myself in consulting jobs. But I may not be able to do such jobs on a regular basis.

How do you find the political and economic situation of the country at present?

When we left Nepal, it was so peaceful. Now all that peace is gone. I only hope that peace will return to country soon. I wish the political and economic situation of the country improves and that the country marches on the path of progress.

You were involved in ADB for a long time. Did you ever come across or had to evaluate projects in Nepal run by ADB during your tenure in Manila?

Well, the policy of the ADB is to keep the staff from home country away from the projects there. So, I did not have that privilege. But I did come here to oversee projects in Chitawan and Kankai. But because I was a Nepalese, I always took interest in ADB projects in our country.

There are allegations of slow implementation of projects in Nepal. What do you say?

This problem is not unique to Nepal. The slow and delayed implementation as well as poor maintenance of projects are common to many developing countries. The important thing is we have to convince donors to provide loans in projects that are meaningful to us.