By Shashi P.B.B. Malla
“Lumbini will be developed as global centre for peace: PM”
“Lumbini Master Plan sees 3% percent progress in 3 years” – The Rising Nepal
The above front page headlines and the accompanying stories appeared in the official government newspaper “The Rising Nepal” on May 24.
The newspaper unwittingly laid threadbare the paucity of the current Communist-led government’s policies.
- PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Prachanda has the propensity of habitually making announcements of various grand projects, but there is seldom a concrete plan to convert them into reality – he is continually building castles in the air.
On the occasion of the 2568th Buddha Jayanti, he proudly announced: “The current government is dedicated to promoting Buddha’s teachings, guidance, and birthplace as a destination for world peace and religious tourism.
Unfortunately, there is a cavernous dichotomy between words and action.
As reported by The Rising Nepal, the sad fact is that the Lumbini Master Plan, one of the national pride projects of the government, has not been completed even 46 years after the government announced its inauguration.
The Lumbini Development Trust said that in the last three years, only 3 % percent progress had been made!
The Vice-Chairman of the trust, Dr. Lharkyal Lama said that the government did not allocate sufficient budget so that various works of the Lumbini Master Plan failed to make the desired progress.
This is just another instance of the lackluster state of the political class – in the government and the opposition – and their incapacity to tackle the myriad problems facing the country.
- They are too embroiled in various scams roiling the country
- They have too little interest in problem-solving and more in lining their own pockets
- The dons of the main political parties are just too old and antiquated , poorly educated, fully incompetent and ill-equipped to take on the challenges of a country striving for progress and sustainable development.
Nepal’s problems are two complex for these old fogeys.
Above all, our dons are not capable of putting country first and then only party or self.
That’s what distinguishes former King Gyanendra from these terribly self-aggrandizing dons.
King Gyanendra has signaled that he is willing and able to shoulder the burden of being the unifying force of all Nepalese.
To pin our hopes on the next general election would be a grave mistake and tantamount to self-delusion.
Our so-called electoral democracy is a self-perpetuating scheme for the prevailing Loktantra — ‘people’s democracy’ — where the people, in fact, have no say at all!
We have to establish a new system where people’s participation is evident at every level of political devolution.
The governing principle will be of responsibility and transparency, and the people must have the inherent right of recall of all their elected representatives at every level.
But first, we have to find ways and means of achieving regime change.
The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
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