People often do not complain because they know that the administration does not act

This year as in previous ones, there is a rush to book bus tickets from the Kathmandu Valley to various destinations in the country as many people want to go home for the Dashain festival. It is expected that three to four million people will be leaving the capital city this time around. However, this time the ticket booking counters were opened after a protracted delay. In the past, the booking counters used to be opened at least a month before the festivities. The reason for the delay was a dispute between the government agencies and the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs on various issues. After a long standoff, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) gave in, providing the transporters with the right to allow top-carriage on the passenger vehicles. The DoTM has also assured the transporters that it would evaluate the transport fares after the festivals.

Although the department claims that the bus tickets would be made available conveniently to the revelers this is not the case. People stay in serpentine queues late in the night and early morning to book tickets. This is an old story repeated over and over, and the government agencies have not been able to provide bookings for the needed bus tickets. Although the DoTM claims that the tickets would be available conveniently this year this is clearly not case. As usually happens, the tickets are available in the black market. The authorities should see to it that there are no irregularities and the genuine passengers should be allocated the bus tickets. The department also claims that it has published the transportation fares for various destinations to prevent the transporters from overcharging, which they often do.

The DoTM has said that if there were grievances about booking the tickets so far no one has lodged such complaints with it. People often do not complain because they know the administration does not act. This does not mean that the DoTM should not act in order to ensure that the people are provided with the booking facilities. The bus tickets can be booked at Gongabu Bus Park, Kalanki, Sundhara, Purano Bus Park, Chabahil, Saushala and Koteshwor. Those wishing to book the tickets would be facilitated if the counters were opened throughout the day considering the massive demand for such tickets during the festival season. Moreover, the booking counters are opened at 6.00am and closed at 10.00am which means that many service seekers would be returning empty-handed without the bookings even after queuing for long. Furthermore, taking into account the high demand for bus tickets the transporters should make the necessary arrangements for plying more vehicles on the various routes. But availability of tickets should not be at the cost of passenger safety. Unfortunately, many vehicles meet with accidents because of overcrowding. The poor condition of most of the roads could result in tragic accidents too. The drivers also are responsible because they tend to drive at a high speed and in a reckless manner. The concerned government agencies and the transporters should expedite the bookings of tickets without hassles. But this seems unlikely given that the administration is often found to be helpless before the powerful transporters’ organization.

Soft targets

Child abuse is still widespread in the country despite all efforts made to curb it, including legislation and child rights NGOs. Paedophilia, one form of child abuse in which an adult is sexually attracted to children, is not uncommon in Nepal, particularly in the Kathmandu Valley. Besides the home-grown variety of paedophiles, Nepal seems to have been an attractive destination for foreign paedophiles, as has been confirmed by the arrest of foreigners for sexually abusing Nepali children from time to time – and this has been going on for years. There must be suppliers of children for tourists, for example, in Thamel area.

It is not always a case of a foreigner sexually molesting a Nepali child, but not infrequently one paedophile has been found to have sexually abused several children, as in the case of an American tourist who molested scores of children and had unnatural sex with them. A number of tourists of different nationalities have been indulging in this crime. Most cases of child molestation go unreported as it is done secretly and children often do not have the courage and the idea to go to the police for justice.