7/feb17 Editorial (The Kathmandu Post)

The Kathmandu Post

Editorial

Chasing dreams

"All is not well with overseas employment." That is an understatement when we look at the Nepali’s experience with overseas employment. Not many years ago, a Nepali national committed suicide near the Royal Nepalese embassy in Bangkok. This incident, was the doing of a desperate Nepali youth the embassy had refused to help. It was a sad commentary on the government’s attitude and responsibilities towards its citizens abroad.

The situation is not very different at present either. The difference lies in the fact that many more Nepalis are chasing dreams today, further exacerbating the situation. A large percentage of the educated elite want to make it to the US and an even larger percentage of the workforce have their eyes set on the Gulf, Japan, and the ‘Tiger’ countries like South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore etc. Even the Philippines, which has on numerous occasions, gone to great lengths to rescue its stranded and victimized citizens appears to be attracting Nepalis. How bad things are in Nepal can be gauged from this fact?

It is anybody’s guess that things can only get worse. What else can be expected with continued brain-drain and consistent depletion of able-bodied workforce which cannot find good enough reasons to stay back in the country. And to make things worse, there is always the government, standing by, helplessly, unable to do anything about the situation. Forget about responding to this unhealthy trend by creating opportunities within the country itself, the government has not also done anything about the rising number of unsuspecting Nepalis who are being duped into paying their way to 3 D (dangerous, difficult and dirty) jobs abroad.

It is understandable that there is precious little that the government may be able to do to help Nepali migrant workers whose status abroad is illegal. What is however not understandable is why the government is not doing anything to curb this illegal trade that has swindled thousands of Nepalis? Spurious overseas employment agencies operating through illegal channels here and abroad have increased.

If the government does not intervene, the number of Nepalis working under extremely exploitative conditions is bound to soar. Measures must be initiated so that such agencies cannot operate even as cases of such swindles are investigated and action taken against agencies that are found guilty. This is the least that the government can do for the people even if it cannot create the necessary economic conditions that would make them stay back.


The politics of health in Nepal
By Janardan Subedi

All political, economic, educational and religious institutions are closely interrelated. An institution cannot be changed in isolation. A change in any specific institution is met by coordinate alterations in other institutions. In Nepal, this complex web of interdependence has broken down. Recent changes in politics have had a devastating effect on the health care system, for instance.

Politics is related to health because economic power lies in the hands of politicians. Unfortunately, as it now appears, there is no relationship between competence and political power. Political power has more to do with attaining popular support based on individual personality or party ticket rather than supporting the policies and ideas of a party for societal development. An individual’s identification with a party has become a substitute for the more traditional tribal system rather than a critical decision collectively based upon political and intellectual views.

The predominant view of the Nepalese political process has insinuated itself into every aspect of the social structure. Politicization is evident in education, health care, bureaucracy etc which has directly led to system-wide dysfunction. There is growing professionalization of politicians without accreditation. Therefore, sometimes the achieved status is not based on merit. The political infection predisposes susceptible actors to deviate from and ultimately denigrate their socially defined functions. As this epidemic progresses, the systemic poisoning that it induces leads to a structural disequlibrium that is increasingly difficult to correct. Such an evolutionary trajectory towards maladaptation certainly leads to societal cataclysm. For example, consider the incongruities present in Nepal - with scores of teachers acting like prime ministers but failing to educate, physicians behaving as ministers but ceasing to heal, and students engaged in street politic, failing to learn their lessons. The result of this is a downward spiral that we now witness.

The crawling chaos resulting from the abrogation of duty has in some cases led to the dubious prominence of NGOs, INGOs, international agencies, and donor countries as contractors of development. Because these institutions are extrinsic to Nepal, they are perceived to have a cloak of competence. However, it is evident to all that, upon closer inspection, this mantle is not without serious perforation. This blind acceptance of the Western model of development often clashes with indigenous culture. The flood of Western mores carried in the backpacks of Thamel tourists have a disposable feature indicative of the culture from where they sprang. This attendant horizontal transmission of some of the more undesirable aspects of Western "culture" cosegregates with the interposition of deviance from norms. The rapidly urbanizing streets provide a pathological environment in which the parasitism of acculturation can thrive. This occurs even in the face of the long extant Hindu-Buddhist spiritualism.

The whispering winds of Eastern fatalism so prevalent in our spiritual reckoning is equally destructive for the path of development. The blind acceptance of the masses to the stasis propounded by the political elite has its roots in philosophy, a fact that is ruthlessly exploited by politicians.

The dolorous darkness that hinders Nepal’s development is specially evident in the poor health of its population. A nationwide overreliance on treatment versus prevention greatly exacerbates this problem. Unlike in the West, where chronic diseases are the foci of health care delivery, Nepal’s fundamental problem remains the rampant prevalence of infectious diseases whose cause lies in medieval hygiene practices. The solution to most of these ills is obvious--the establishment of a universal clean water supply and effective use of human waste management. Widespread infection with parasitic diseases is common. Children infected with hookworms suffer cognitive deficits at potentially sensitive periods. It is a loss difficult to recover from. While pharmacological intervention is undoubtedly effective in the short term, if the source of infection is not eradicated, reinfection is the rule and not the exception. Even community-wide biomedical intervention with drugs ultimately fails when such treatments are halted by economic exigencies.

The shortsightedness of political leaders and parties and the bias of medical professionals represent significant structural barriers to progress. Until these powerful constituencies can be shown the errors of their policies, they are doomed to a never-ending cycle of failure. Millions of dollars will be wasted and the health of the population will remain as it now stands. Political leaders are certainly cognizant of the health care debacle as evinced by their seeking medical treatment abroad. Such a luxury paid by public monies is not available to the hill-dwelling Nepalis. While they build medical schools of questionable distinction for their children and relatives, many positions at rural posts go unfilled with the overwhelming number of physicians preferring to stay within the confines and comforts of Kathmandu Valley.

Hence, the politics of health in Nepal is, in actuality, the abuse of politics.


Post Platform
Neta ki abhineta ?
Kavita Sherchan

There was a time when we were taught sabai Nepali pancha ho ra sabai pancha Nepali (all Nepalis are panchas and all panchas Nepali) in schools. Though this statement doesn’t hold true anymore with even the real panchas refusing to be panchas, the statement can be changed into all netas (leaders) are abhinetas (actors) and all abhinetas are netas.

There is indeed a very thin line separating the two because we have one acting like the other. The actors live with the delusion that they rule the nation. So they keep on giving their valuable (?) advice on des bikas from time to time. They give long lectures on what should be done and act like des ko thekedars going on tours, spreading the message of environment preservation and poverty alleviation.

Not that I have anything against them, their effort is indeed commendable and deserves applause. What bugs me no end is the way our leaders act. It’s no secret that our leaders are good actors making even Oscar winning performances look pale in comparison but sometimes they simply go overboard. It’s okay to act in parliament as everyone knows that our parliament has been reduced to a mere stage where in every session a new drama unfolds. But when they take their role as actors so seriously, it gets too much for people like us.

Though by now all journos know what to expect from ministers at programmes, sometimes it gets too much even for them to digest. Like the incident that took place a week ago. Our yuva karnadhars from Sankhuwasabha had arranged a symposium on drug addiction and its impact on society. They invited the PM to inaugurate the programme. Our PM who can’t say no, accepted the invitation and so the youth sent grand invitations to all journos to cover the programme.

However, at the last minute, our PM gave them a royal ditch and the poor youths had no choice but to go running to the minister of state Deepak Banskota and ask him to be substitute chief guest. Banskota had to accept the invitation as he couldn’t afford to irk the youth of his hometown lest they refuse to help him in the election. So, though it wasn’t quite a pleasurable experience to stand in for the PM, he arrived at the venue on time.

Poor Banskota had to go through humiliation the second time when he saw that there were only a handful of people there. Seeing that all those present were youngsters and not realizing that young people can be journalist he asked the organizer bhais to postpone the programme promising to bring a larger crowd, around hundred people, from Sankhuwasabha himself. As luck would have it NTV arrived at that time and our publicity ko bhoko neta, not wanting to let go of the opportunity to be seen on TV agreed to preside over the programme. The funniest part was when he stood in front and asked all those present to move forward and cluster at one place so that NTV could show that there were a lot of people present at the function.

So, now, can you blame me for being confused? Our netas deserve to be abhinetas as they know exactly how to behave in front of the camera. If NTV hadn’t arrived then we would have to go back empty handed. Wah netaji, you are really an abhineta!

 

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