Need realistic budget

I would like to thank THT for its in-depth coverage of this year’s budget. The investigative facts and the opinions of different stakeholders are pithy.

The country is passing through a difficult time and the economy is in a bad shape. In such a situation, the honest presentation of true facts can by themselves address many problems. All major sectors — agriculture, tourism and export industry — are having hard time surviving. These problems need immediate solutions. Realistic plans and policies are the need of the hour.

The views expressed by Jeevan Nepal, however bitter, present the true picture of our economy.

Indeed, agriculture is the backbone of our economy that provides employment to about 80 per cent of the population and covers 40 per cent of the GDP. The policy-makers should not forget that this might be the only sector in which we possess comparative advantage over many other developing countries. But due to the escalating violence, the government and other financial institutions have restricted their services to the urban areas. If this situation

persists, a great divide will be created between the urban haves and the rural have-nots.

The common taxpayers can only hope that the coming budget will be realistic and that it will put greater emphasis on implementation rather than on policy making only. We expect the budget to address the ills of the nation.

Akesh Jaiswal, Shankar Dev Campus

Nothing new

The news “Tour operators eye new opportunity” published in THT on July 7 was mostly based on the speeches made by the minister for culture and other high-ranking government officials in Kolkota during a meet to appraise the operation of Cosmic Air to that city from Kathmandu. There was nothing new in this news.

It is frustrating to see policy-makers saying one thing in public and doing just the opposite behind the scene. In fact, Cosmic Air’s request for permission to fly to Yangoon has long been overlooked. Same is the case with its request to operate its F-100 planes to Bhadrapur and Pokhara.

Anupam, Jawlakhel

Unfair

This is in reference to the news published on July 12 about the ouster of Miss Tibet from Miss Tourism Pageant in Malaysia at the behest of the Chinese government. It is sad that even the beauty pageants are politicised these days. Much was expected to come out of the recent round of talks between Chinese officials and the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. But this incident has only served to dampen the friendly spirits.

Tashi Lama, Chabahill

Mundane

There was nothing to write home about Sucheta Dasgupta’s write-up “Naseer’s in Town” published in THT on July 3. She writes more about herself than the play she is attending.

It would have been better had someone with the in-depth knowledge of the

subject written it. Being a theatre enthusiast, I would have loved to read more about the nuances in the performances of great actors like Naseerudin Shah and Ratna Pathak, and less about the mundane details about the writer herself.

Sanjana Shrestha,

New Road