But, we have not seen priorities and agendas to support us from our election candidates,” told Republica Karna Bahadur Bohara, who have been running a small-scale factory to make bee-hive frames in Alital village of Seuradi in Dadeldhura district. [break]
In this remote hamlet, which is also a constituency of three-time prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, most of the locals have no major demands to put forth before the hopefuls to become member of Constituent Assembly (CA).
Though this a small valley flanked by a not-properly-conserved government forest and small rivulets, locals have seen immense opportunities there to run small enterprises to help themselves with income generating work. But, what they need is support from the government with financial resources to operate local-based industries to generate local employments.
“We are ready to do any kind of hard work to generate income at our village-level, what we lack is sufficient funds and easy market opportunities for our products,” said Bohara, who is also a bee farmer.
Unlike the youths in other parts of the country, those of this in the village do not think it necessary to leave the country for employment as they have seen prospects utilizing local potential, especially in the agriculture sector.
“Foreign employment is not our priority. We want to bring something better into our lives by entrepreneurship especially in the agriculture sector,” said Bohara, who returned from Malaysia a few years ago to run a business from his own house.
Bohara is not an exception among most of the youth in remote areas of the Far Western region, the most backward region of the country.
Like Bohara, local youth of remote villages of the far western districts, including Doti, Dadeldhura and Baitadi, are in need of financial resources and market for their produces rather than high-sounding promises of economic growth and other agendas that are difficult to fulfill.
Candidates of the upcoming elections to the CA have been intensifying their door-to-door campaigns with economic targets which are, according to economists, not achievable in the near future even if the political situation improves drastically.
Despite the huge potential even in the outlying parts of the far western region for agriculture and tourism, a limited number of people are engaged in these crucial sectors of the economy in the absence of proper attention from political parties and the government alike toward their real necessity.
Election manifestos, which are full of economic jargons, offered by different political parties on the eve of the elections are not attracting the attention of the local people most of whom are illiterate and have a poor economic background.
“Even the poor are seriously taking the economic targets of the major political parties as such not achievable at any cost given the economic slowdown and distant prospect of getting drastic recovery in the economy,” said Bishwambher Pyakuryal, a senior economist.
Graduating Nepal from Least Developed Country (LDC) to Developing Country status within ten years, ending load-shedding in three year, achieving double-digit growth, generating 300,000 employment opportunities per year, producing 10,000 MW within a decade and offering employment opportunities for at least a 100 days a year the unemployed are among the high-sounding but unachievable economic targets which have not attracted the voters, specially the poor mass.
Voters could not be wooed without reading their real needs and making promises that are possible to be fulfilled.
Even the government saw the huge deficit in achievement compared to the development targets set. For example, the government succeeded in generating only 21 MW of electricity during the last three-year interim plan, well down from the targeted 118 MW.
Parties should know the facts that the investment climate is still not favorable in the country to achieve such ambitious targets. Lingering problems of power shortage, political interference in business enterprises through trade unions, rising cost of production, hassles in starting and doing business, rising cost of production, soaring inflation and skyrocketing trade deficit are the worsening problems facing Nepal’s economy.
But political parties are void of concrete vision to deal with such adversities.
“Political parties failed to understand the real needs of the youth. So, they are carrying superficial agendas,” said Keshav Acharya, who is a former chief advisor at the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
Real problems in the villages are the absence of access for the poor people like Bohara to the financial institutions for credit.
Over-concentration of financial institutions in urban areas and lack of effective mobilization of funds through saving and credit cooperatives for the benefit of the poor people are the root causes of resource crunch in rural areas.
However, people in the urban areas are showing less interest for new start-ups in the industrial sector as they increasingly prefer to be engaged in trading and services rather than manufacturing.
“We have not seen any export-based business entering the market as business people, especially in the urban areas, are not willing to take the risk of running a manufacturing business. They are switching to less risky businesses such as trading. In such a situation how can we bring down the ballooning trade deficit?” said Uday Raj Pandey, the president of Garment Association-Nepal (GAN).
According to the Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC), Nepal imported goods worth Rs 601.21 billion and exported amounting Rs 77.35 billion during Fiscal Year 2012/13.
“Entrepreneurship among the business people has been winding down in the absence of incentives and increasing challenges,” said Pandey.
We have a number of cases in different countries where merely achieving economic growth and availability of modern infrastructure is not the end for equitable development unless the people in the lower strata are the real beneficiaries.
“Higher economic growth never ensures that all sections of people will be the beneficiaries of the gain. Fruits of growth must reach the people at the bottom of the pyramid,” Pyakuryal said.
Keeping in view the deficit of resources for under-privileged people, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank, has encouraged opening of branches of Category ´D´ Micro-Finance Companies in remote districts and increased threshold of loan from them to deprived groups at zero interest rates through its current monetary policy to expand financial access to poorer entrepreneurs in the rural areas.
The current budget has also given priority to generating youth employment through necessary skill and entrepreneurship development trainings benefiting 22,000 youth, providing business oriented trainings to 50,000 youth and launching youth employment campaigns, besides other incentive programs.
However, the chances of such programs reaching the door steps of the really under-privileged groups are slim.
Related story
Elon Musk Brings His Mom, Not New GF, To The Met Gala After Buy...
