I assume this question gets asked so often because I come from the land of Big Government, where even a little bit of state government is the size of a small country like Nepal. Take for example the Once Great State of California, where there are now over 250,000 state employees that get paid almost US$1.5 billion per month. And these figures do not take into account the “smaller” county, city, and town governments that fill the cracks, as well as the larger putty of federal government installed in California to keep her connected to Washington DC. I say “Once Great” as there is now an exodus of private-sector employers, leaving only government workers fully employed in the state. Everyone else is eating beans and trying to survive a 20 percent unemployment rate and the crashed 7th largest economy in the world.
But to answer the question about GoN, I must first flashback to my experience with GoD—the Government of Dollars. I always think back to my days as a government worker—the short workdays, the many holidays, and the big dream of early retirement at age 55 with about 90 percent of my salary as retirement pay. I don’t quite remember the feeling of job satisfaction – being a public servant and dedicated to the betterment of society and all – but I’m sure that must have been there. I took my job seriously (replacing street light bulbs) and did so with some semblance of intelligence. So, of late, I’m beginning to wonder if GoN workers do the same, albeit on 1/100th of the pay and with none of the fringe benefits of an American government worker.
Take for example Dr Om Gurung, who is currently heading a government-formed taskforce to make a list of indigenous nationalities, and not on the Nepal Tourism 2011 Board as far as I know. He was recently quoted in the The Kathmandu Post:
“If people can be tempted to taste frog-meat served in a five star hotel in Paris, they would definitely be interested to taste the rats in Nepal. I am sure this could make it to a five-star hotel menu if marketed properly, as the frogs do.”
Not being an expert on attracting tourists to Nepal, I can only surmise that marketing rat meat at the Hyatt is not going to be a big hit with jetsetters from Paris, nor backpackers from Israel.
One stupid remark is not enough, I agree, to condemn all GoN workers, but after reading this quote on the same day from Ganesh Rai (KMC) on the issue of KTM’s stray dog population, I had to pause and wonder:
As long as local governments refrain from saying, “Let them eat rat,” or do other foolish things, I’m all for it.
“Due to some people and organizations raising animal rights issues, human rights are taking a back seat.”
Now if Dr Gurung and Executive Rai were to work together, I suppose we would see stray dogs being poisoned (again) with strychnine, and the resulting explosion in the KTM rat population winding up on our dinner plates, instead of inside dog bellies.
However, in the land of GoD, governments spend many more dollars on dumb ideas even more outrageous then the one that sells rat meat to 5-star hotels. Take for example the recent Californian initiative to tax emergency phone calls. Folks will soon start paying $300 for each 911 call – when they need an ambulance or have to report that their house is on fire. This is in addition to the taxes they already pay for the paramedics and fire fighters.
But to finally answer the question—I think no matter where you live, less government is better government. Nepal is a prime example of getting by with less, or as some say, where less is more. We have less government here than in California, and things that a government is expected to do, still gets done—well, almost. The trash almost gets picked up, and the fire truck almost gets to your house on fire. So I suppose sometimes you just get what you actually pay for.
But in California, you don’t get what you pay for – you just pay more! For example, the new suite of taxes being rolled out from Sacramento is astounding: A tax on parking in front of your own home, a carbon tax on all businesses that use petro or diesel fuels, an additional 9 percent sales tax on all pet health care services, and an additional tax on movie tickets that are already over US$15 in some theaters.
So when I think about the future of GoN, I hope it strives to remain small and nimble, and figures out ways to act like a successful business and not waste precious tax rupees, or distress taxpayers more than they already are. Like today, when I went to NTC to upgrade my Internet service to 512 Kbps for our home business, and was turned away on a technicality. My request letter asked for “faster service” instead of “5-1-2” service, so, “application denied.”
But I don’t hold a grudge. Governments are actually people helping other people in the most basic of ways. As long as local governments refrain from saying, “Let them eat rat,” or do other foolish things at enormous tax tags, I’m all for it, and I wish the new GoN the best of luck in the years to come.
(Writer is quirky-kinda expat happily living in the Kathmandu valley with Nepali family, friends, and a very large dog.)
herojig@gmail.com
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