Consumer rights

THT did a good job by carrying articles regarding consumer rights and awareness. For the vast majority of the Nepalis, these rights have held little significance as the poor have been flooded with duplicate commodities and adulterated medicines. They have also had to cope with other inequities in their daily grind for a living.

It is for the state to structure these rights and then make sure the poor and the marginalised, as much as the privileged and the rich, get a fair share for a price. But awareness remains central to successful implementation of consumer rights.

Alankar Adhikari,

Kathmandu

Development

I agree with the views of Thakur Subba expressed in his letter “Target the rural poor” published in THT on March 11. Every year, millions of rupees is donated to Nepal by the rich countries, and yet we see no effective development work in the rural areas, nor do we see any change in the life style of the poor, especially in the villages. As we all know that the on-going conflict has affected the development projects in the villages, how are the NGOs doing to really help the needy?

Nima Ghale, via e-mail

Help disabled

Last week I went shopping to a busy Kathmandu market place with my family members. At one shop, a poor, disabled, feeble-looking man between the age 32 to 35 came to me begging for some money. He was moving from shop to shop seeking whatever anyone could give him. The incident reminded me of lack of provisions for the disabled in our country. They should be loved and cared for and the government should design policies to help them live a life of dignity. Alternative and suitable job opportunities should be generated for this special lot so that they do not have to beg for a living.

Tilak Rana, via e-mail

Cartoons

I am a regular reader of THT and I am fond of reading cartoons. I remember the time when you included a cartoon review section on Saturdays, but this section was stopped all of a sudden. It would be better if you resumed it for the sake of cartoon-lovers like me.

Sulabh Bista, via e-mail

Stop violence

The Nepalis are now going through what Cambodians faced in the late 70s. But that was Cambodia two decades back. Nepal in the 21st century is still backward; most of its people are illiterate and poverty-stricken.

Unfortunately, we have even lost our Nepali spirit. Worse, Nepal is still at the bottom among the least developed countries. Smuggling, corruption, drug trafficking and gender bias are rampant. Even the dreams of a free and democratic society after 1990 have been shattered.

People are terrorised and insecure. Anti-social and anti-national activities have ruined Nepal’s growth. So we are virtually living in a state devoid of vision. Since monitoring, evaluation and control systems are very poor in Nepal, there are no effective reward and punishment systems. We are also facing brain drain. Until the conflict comes to an end, there is no hope for any development.

Kalyan Basnet, Hetauda

Expulsion

The news “Maoists have expelled Bhattarai, says RNA” (THT, March 15) was an unsubstantiated item. There was also no concrete information from the other side of the picture to validate the claim. Kusum, via e-mail