EDITORIAL
We are heading towards the worst state in all sectors. The government is helpless when its citizens are going abroad and even joining foreign armies in countries engaged in war. The country’s outstanding policy is to send our youth to foreign countries for jobs. Inefficient as well as highly qualified professionals are in a rush to go to foreign countries for better jobs and better futures. Students also aim to go abroad for their further studies and jobs. They plan to settle down in foreign countries. There is a pathetic situation in the country. Except for politics and the political leaders, all other sectors have been ruined. The politics and politicization of the professional sectors have flourished enormously and the major base of the nation, the national economy, is seriously ill. Increased non-productive sector expenditure has compelled the government to meet the expenditure through foreign and domestic debts. For the last six months of the current fiscal year, the government has been continuously taking debts to meet the expenditure as the country’s revenue is unable to meet the government expenditure since the country adopted federalism.
Among the South Asian countries, Nepal is the country in which a heavy tax burden has been imposed on the citizens. Besides, the citizens are compelled to pay multiple taxes plus double taxes on the commodities they are using. If the taxpayers’ money was utilized properly in the development projects, the citizens could feel their contribution to nation-building. Unfortunately, the taxpayers’ money is being misused by those in the government. Already, there are elected people’s representatives, who enjoy the monthly salary, allowances and other facilities. Besides, those ministers and other authorities in the federal and provincial governments are appointing a big team of aides–mostly relatives and party workers–as advisors and experts. Neither they are the elected representatives nor they have taken the secrecy oath from the authorities, even though, they can see confidential government documents.
The situation is hopeless but we don’t say that it cannot be improved. To bring back the nation on track, the present system with federalism, secularism and republicanism should be removed. There is the need for reducing non-productive sector expenditure by scrapping provincial structure, the district-level coordination committees and the appointment of the advisors and experts’ team. Accordingly, scrapping of the national assembly and also proportional election system is necessary. By removing these structures, the government could save an attractive amount of government revenue, which could be used in development projects empowering the national economy. We have two paths ahead–either fall into a debt trap or make the nation economically prosperous.
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