Creating new jobs

Apropos of the article “Nepali Youth — a plan for creating mass employment” by Jagadish Sharma published in THT on July 26, I think most of us agree that our previous attempts to create jobs have not been able to amalgamate the majority of illiterate youth and make them participants in the process of State building. Generally, our plans are crafted out in haste without enough homework to study their effectiveness. We should understand that there are no shortcuts to creating more jobs. And it may take years for the right plan to be chosen. Thanks to Sharma for presenting his innovative ideas. His proposed solutions are practical and might just work.

J Bhattarai, via email

Unrealistic

With due respect to Jagadish Sharma’s views, I think his proposed plans are unrealistic For example, he proposes to teach villagers entrepreneurial skills. But where are these people

going to use their learned skills? Most will probably flock to the capital that is already teeming with people. While Kathmandu is having trouble providing its residents with proper amenities, how will it be able to support the constant flow of people from the villages? This will further lead to the centralisation of manpower and resources. The entrepreneurial skills are useless unless the government has the infrastructure in place to employ these skills. For that to happen, the development of important sectors like transportation, education and communication is essential. Moreover, Sharma plans to train the villagers with military skills. But what will happen if these villagers don’t find any other work and decide to join hands with the Maoists?

Manish Bikram Shah, Putalisadak

Inconvenient

The luxurious days when we employed pre-paid mobile phones for virtually anything are gone. While in operation, everybody from school students to government officials used them. But for the last six months, our mobiles have been useless. Although the government keeps

announcing new facilities for the pre-paid mobile users, like its recent decision to make incoming calls free, without the resumption of the services, it means nothing.

Chandan Das, KU

Omission

You have missed a crucial part of ex-American senator Tom Daschle’s speech on July 27 in your news “Disband RCCC, says Daschle” published on July 28. During the press meet, Daschle had criticised the political parties for the lack of democratic reforms within the parties and urged them to be more transparent in their dealings. Being a news media it is your duty to report both sides of the issue without any bias.

BP Sharma, Jamal

Unfortunate

It is sad that cricket is being left out of the upcoming Asian Games. Big events like the Asian Games help to popularise the game in non-cricketing nations. It is important to spread the game to new destinations if cricket is to compete with other popular sports. New formats like the 20-20 competition have been successful in attracting big audiences. But the omission of the game in Doha will certainly not help the cause.

Swaroop Poudel, Babarmahal