As with all govt plans, the current one is also highly ambitious, requiring huge resources
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari presented the government's policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022-2023 in the joint session of the federal parliament on Tuesday, with particular focus on growth and infrastructure development to create an able economy. The government policies and programmes will guide how the budget will be allocated for the next fiscal. This year's policies and programmes of the government have been presented at a time when not only Nepal but the whole world is undergoing a crisis due to the war in Ukraine. Highlights of the government's policies and programmes for the next fiscal include giving priority to growth of production, infrastructure development, sustainable development and eradication of poverty; utilising the income of Nepali migrant workers abroad and their skills for generating employment in the country; adopting industry-friendly policies and encouraging the private sector; promoting 'Made in Nepal' and 'Make in Nepal' policy; completing the feasibility study of Kathmandu-Rasuwa railway service; getting cooperatives with similar objectives and nature of work to merge; providing grants to the provinces and local governments on the basis of objective grounds; and distributing identity cards to poor families.
A major focus of the government's policies and programmes is improving agricultural productivity and production in a bid to substitute imports. A big chunk of our imports makes up agricultural produce, from rice, wheat and corn to meat, vegetables and fruits. Although priority has been given by all previous government to agriculture, it has failed to make a dent on the heavy import bill of agricultural produce. The government will, thus, initiate programmes to increase the production of paddy, maize, wheat, onions, apples and potatoes. Irrigation facilities will be extended to 22,000 more hectares of land, while subsidies will be provided to the farmers based on production.
A policy to protect the farmers is also to be adopted. The need to grow enough agro produce has been felt not only from the perspective of the outflow of precious foreign exchange but also in light of the shortage and price hike of food in the international market caused by the Ukraine stalemate.
It is a particularly challenging period for the country, with anxiety about whether the country might go the Sri Lankan way. The dwindling foreign exchange reserve is a big worry as the country is having to pay more for imports due to rise in oil prices and other goods. Although entrepreneurs have termed the government policies and programmes as being satisfactory, they are a continuation of the previous years and are unlikely to address the innumerable problems facing the country at this particular period of time. The painful structural reforms that are needed to tackle the economic woes by the horn are largely absent, which is understandable given that this is an election year, with the provincial and federal elections slated for November. As with all government plans, the current one is also highly ambitious, requiring tremendous resources. So unless there is adequate budget allocation, the government policies and programmes cannot be implemented.
Take stern action
No sooner had the police arrested Manoj Pandey, an organiser of beauty pageants, on charges of repeatedly raping a minor in a hostage-taking style some eight years ago than two teachers of St Lawrence College of Kathmandu were arrested for alleged sexual harassment of their girl students. The girl students have accused the teachers – Janardan Adhikari and Rajan Kumar Poudel – of inappropriate touching, groping, passing lewd comments and proposing sex. Both the teachers were arrested under child molestation offence. The teachers deserve maximum punishment under the existing law to deter others from committing similar crimes. Police had to arrest them after the students staged a protest rally throughout the day on Tuesday, demanding action against the wrong-doers.
Teachers are supposed to be the moral standard bearers, who are expected to guide the students in the right direction through quality education and good conduct in life. What can one expect from such teachers when they themselves indulge in immoral acts with their own students? The girl students, who gathered courage to file the FIR with the police in time, deserve a pat on their back for bringing the sexual harassment case to public notice.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 26, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
