" None of the political parties has unveiled any plans for generating resources to fulfill their promises"
Making tall promises or giving false assurances to the electorate during election time is nothing new, be it in the developed or developing world.
There is a deep-rooted mindset in almost all the political parties, big or fringe ones, that they will not be able to win the hearts and minds of the voters if they do not come up with grandiose plans of action during the elections, either for the local level, federal parliament and provincial assemblies. The general people also do not have an option other than to vote for the political parties that they have been supporting since long. Candidates are fielded by the political parties not based on their popularity among the people but based on their own choices. Almost all the major political parties have unveiled their political manifestos for the May 13 local level elections. But most of the promises made in their manifestos seem to be beyond the financial, technical and human capacity of the local levels. The political parties are very much aware of the fact that what they have promised to the public cannot be fulfilled within the five-year term. Still, they make tall promises that cannot be accomplished.
It is not the fault of the general people who have to believe them. It largely reflects the intellectual bankruptcy of the political parties, which always make the same promises time and again.
The local level elections are held basically for addressing the local problems, ranging from providing drinking water and sanitary services, supplying electricity, providing basic health care services at an affordable cost to running the public educational institutes effectively, among others. Most of the candidates have given false assurances that they will operate mono-rail or metro train services inside the Kath- mandu Valley – they also promised the same last time – without analysing their financial capacity and technical know-how. Such projects are national pride projects, which should be handled by the federal government. Providing free electricity up to 30 units to a poor household is yet another popular pledge made by most mayoral candidates in the rural and urban municipalities. From where will they generate the resources for this scheme? In the rural areas, the candidates of all the political parties and even independents are making pledges to create job opportunities in the villages and carrying out mega development projects, such as hydroelectricity plants, motorable bridges and roads with the limited resources provided by the federal government.
None of the political parties has unveiled any plan of action about the ways of generating resources required to fulfill their promises. The fact remains that the people do not believe what they say. Instead of giving false assurances to the people, it would have been better if they focussed on just providing basic services, such as drinking water, electricity, better education and health services and also prompt services to the locals. It would have been much better had they promised to increase food production and productivity in their given areas with technical and financial inputs to the small and medium scale industries and agriculture, both of which are possible provided that they come up with a detailed plan of action.
The candidates should know their limitations.
Donkey work
The donkey has been one of the most useful animals to humans throughout the ages, and it is a matter of regret that it continues to remain the butt of jokes and an object of ridicule. Undemanding and docile, the animal has been used for a host of purposes, from transporting goods to ploughing the field to irrigating the fields, depending upon the geographic location. Although our festivals set aside a day to celebrate the helpfulness of the dog, cow and the crow, no one seems to appreciate the contribution of the donkey, or its close cousins, the ass and mule. It is thus gratifying that Nepal has begun celebrating World Donkey Day, which fell on Sunday, May 8.
Although there were no official functions on this day - it would be difficult to find a political figure to grace such a programme - it was marked to create awareness about the need to provide care, shelter and treatment to these beasts of burden, who tend to become weak and endure injuries in the last stage of their lives. While this is a commendable initiative, perhaps it is time we started using politically correct language while addressing the donkey and gave it its due. This is, of course, donkey work and will not happen overnight.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 10, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
