Kathmandu:

In newspapers and magazines you will read about Nepal’s and the World’s population explosion and the problems caused by it. TV and radio say the same. On World Population Day on July 11, countries across the globe seek to build international coalitions to further their programmes designed to limit population. Unfortunately, too many of us believe the canard that the world would have been a better place if you and I had not been born, notwithstanding, evidence to the contrary.

If population is the problem, then why do we want to stay in densely populated cities? Why do people from Nepal’s remote villages come to Kathmandu? It is because only big cities offer opportunities of specialisation and division of labour. If computers are your interest, are you more likely to be in Kathmandu, or in Lukla? The story around the world is the same. Urban areas are rich and offer opportunities not available elsewhere.

If population is the problem then how come some of the richest nations are also the most densely populated? Nepal has a population density of 166 persons per sq km. Singapore and Hong Kong have population densities 30 and 40 times greater than that of Nepal. That did not stop them from creating immense wealth. In fact, these small territories would not have been as successful if they had significantly fewer people.

Is, then, the rate of growth of population in Nepal the problem? No. Hong Kong’s population grew from seven lakh in 1945 to 5.6 million in 1987 — a faster labour force-growth rate than any other country. Yet during the same period per capita income also rose dramatically. If Nepal’s population was to more than double to 60 million from its present 24 million it would still not be as crowded as the Netherlands or Korea is today.

Are people in Nepal to remain chronically underemployed or unemployed? Again population is not the problem. Isn’t there enough to be done in Nepal? Don’t we have roads to build, hospitals to construct, schools to establish? The citizens of Nepal should enjoy a transport, an educational, and a healthcare system, which the people of the West and many Asian countries take for granted. All that Nepal is lacking is a system whereby its people come together and work towards providing these services so desperately needed by them.

What about overcrowding, congestion and shortages that we see daily in Kathmandu? Scarcity and congestion prevail only where government monopolies limit the provision of services: there are traffic jams on government roads, yet no shortage of privately supplied vehicles; congested arrival and departure lounges at Kathmandu airport, but no shortage of private airlines; shortages of government supplied water, but no shortage of private companies selling mineral water or private water trucks valiantly trying to alleviate a problem caused by the government. In fact private companies are suffering from lack of demand; everywhere you look there is overcapacity — hotels going empty, shopkeepers not having enough customers, cars not selling fast enough.

15 years ago the Indian government was complaining of resource shortage as a reason for waiting periods of over seven years for government supplied telephone connections. When private companies took over, connections became cheaper and the waiting period disappeared. ‘Reliance’ even advertises same day landline connections. This happened even as the government collected thousands of crores in licence fees and taxes. The private sector does not face problems of ‘excess’ demand and ‘excess’ population. That complaint is only made by governments. If the government would remove bottlenecks and controls that hamper domestic and foreign investment, Nepal would see an economic boom wiping out poverty and unemployment in a decade. You, the people of Nepal, are its strength — the ultimate resource of the country.

There is no problem here that a dose of smaller government, lesser regulations, lower taxes, freer trade, stronger property rights, rule of law and complete convertibility of the rupee will not set right.

(The writer can be contacted at:

everest@mos.com.np)