Kathmandu, September 20

The wait is finally over!

After over seven years of lingering, the Constituent Assembly (CA) has finally delivered a brand new constitution, generating hopes for a better future.

Yet, as said by CA Chairman Subas Chandra Nembang, ‘successful implementation of the constitution is challenging’.

“Its signs are already in front of us now,” he told the CA, referring to protests launched by different factions in some parts of the Tarai due to differences in a range of issues, especially those related to federalism.

Protests are a part of a democratic culture, so they should not be viewed in a negative light. But this does not mean the state should wait for them to subside on their own, because discontents that are not weeded out well will crop up again, creating bigger problems in future.

So, the state should try to address all genuine issues facing or emerging in some parts of the Tarai to ensure sustainability of federal states that will be carved out later. Stability in the Tarai is necessary because it is not only the nation’s grain basket but a major gateway from where imported goods arrive in this net-importing country.

Already, protests, which have continued for over a month in the region, have disrupted supply of various commodities, including raw materials required by various industries.

This has gradually raised prices of various goods and crippled manufacturing firms, which are facing twin problem of interruption in transportation of finished goods to the market and shortage of raw materials, which are either lying stranded in dry ports in the country or at the dock in Kolkata, India.

And this has raised the eyebrows of the private sector.

“We don’t know how the situation will evolve, but things do not look very promising at the moment. This is eroding the confidence of the private sector,” Pashupati Murarka, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the largest umbrella organisation of the private sector, told The Himalayan Times urging the government to ‘immediately take measures to resolve disputes’ in the Tarai.

If problems continue to persist in the Tarai, inflationary pressure will gradually build, and country’s economy will not expand at a desired pace to ensure prosperity to all the people.

Currently, two major problems faced by economy are soaring consumer prices, which are eroding the value of money, and lower growth rate of around four per cent in the last one decade.

So, problems in the Tarai will only put a shackle on people’s aspirations for rapid economic progress. Hence, the challenge for the country, which has just reached the top of the mountain by promulgating the constitution, is to scale another mountain to address issues raised by disgruntled factions in the Tarai. But problems do not end here.

More problems are likely to surface after the federal states are carved out — especially if provincial governments come up with controversial policies on issues such as natural resource sharing and taxation. This means the country will have to climb many more mountains in the coming days.

No wonder, there is a school of thought that says the problems currently faced by the Tarai are only a prelude to deluge of problems that the country will have to brace for after the formation of federal states.

This may give an impression that issue of federalism is a Pandora’s box. Well, that may be true. But what is also true is the country had embarked on this journey knowing the consequences.

So, rather than pointing fingers or shirking responsibility, political forces should try to reach an agreement with all disgruntled factions. And this should be done immediately because the new constitution has given people hope, which might shatter if signs of a better future are not seen in the coming days.

A truce with disgruntled factions is also necessary because economic issues have failed to take the centre stage for long.

It is known that a centrally-controlled governance system has failed to rope in everyone in the country’s development process, which has widened disparity and created dissatisfaction among people.

But people forgot all this and joined the celebrations right after the constitution was promulgated today, hoping things would change for better.

Experiences of different countries show that what people want are well-paying and decent jobs, quality education for their children, a health system that does not drain all the wealth when a family member gets sick and a society that does not discriminate based on ethnicity, caste or religion of a person.

So, people’s happiness behind constitution’s promulgation stems from hopes for better public service delivery system, inclusive economic development and prosperity. And if the state fails to deliver, more disgruntled groups will crop up in the coming days.