Nepali Times

#103 19 - 25 July 2002 16 pages Rs 20 Lal Darbar 8-9 Nepal’s girl footballers 15 KUNDA DIXIT EXCLUSIVE South and North It is still as King Prithvi Narayan Shah said: Nepal is a yam between two stones. This week, his descendant, King Gyanendra has completed important visits to Sick of war in DOTI ARUNA○○○○○○○○○○○ UPRETY ○○○○○ Western Nepal faces a food emergency he woman had visited the health post with her sick and a health emergency. Women and T baby. The health worker gave her some tablets and told children are affected the most. ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ her to give them to the child after meals. Two days later, the also run a health clinic. (See “We don’t know what will health worker asked her how the “Women are dying in the far- happen when the potato and baby was doing. “I haven’t been west” by Aruna Uprety, #52). grains are exhausted.” able to give her the medicine Thirty-five health workers from Most health workers say they India and China. The king has because you had told me to give Accham and Doti were to take will abandon their health posts sought and got support from both it after food,” the woman part. Only half of that number once food supplies run out. They for the government’s counter- replied. “I have no food at home, attended because they just have no choice. This could create a insurgency campaign. “China and we haven’t eaten for days.” didn’t get the message. The humanitarian crisis in a region supports the efforts of King The Maoist insurgency in phones are down, the postal where services were poor even at Gyanendra and the Nepali western Nepal is taking its toll service doesn’t work, the buses the best of times. Even by Nepal’s government in cracking down on on the health of villagers, and the don’t ply. dismal human development armed anti-government forces,” conflict is eroding many of the And then the poignant standards, the west is the worst. Chinese president Jiang Zemin gains of the past decades in question put to us by a nurse The far-west has traditionally had said after meeting the king on 12 from Achham, for which we the poorest maternal and infant July. Chinese leaders refuse to immunisation, maternal and call them Maoists, and say the child health. But the crisis goes had no answer: “As a health mortality statistics in Nepal. The rebels are besmirching the name beyond lack of medicines and worker, am I of any use in this status of women in society is lower of the Great Helmsman. vaccines: there is a danger of situation? Most of my patients here than elsewhere, and female widespread malnutrition as the don’t need medicines, they need literacy is only nine percent. So, conflict makes food scarce, with food.” The mule trains that although no one is healthy here, the No grass, no roots repercussions on children and traditionally transported food burden of disease tends to be The cabinet decision on Monday their mothers. to Accham are stopped by both heavier for women because of lack not to extend the terms of elected We were in Doti to organise the security forces and the of access to health care. All this is village and district councils has a follow-up training of auxiliary Maoists. “They should leave the now made much worse because of Girl in Doti made a lot of people angry. They midwives and staff nurses and locals alone,” said one nurse. the conflict. see p5 KUNDA DIXIT see the hand of Deuba’s all- powerful home minister, Khum Bahadur Khadka, to gerrymander elections. The UML, which dominates local bodies has the most to lose, “The answer is no.” and the party’s Rajendra Prasad Pandey can barely hide his fury: In a candid interview “This is what the Maoists wanted all along, Deuba has done it with the Nepali for them.” Times, Ken Ohashi, Donors are also livid. One diplomat told us: “This decision World Bank director creates a vacuum, it is clear the in Kathmandu, Maoists are going to fill it.” Last discusses his Friday, donors jointly wrote a terse letter to Deuba warning him that concerns about such a decision would only help budgetery support, the Maoists. banking reforms, and UNDP, German GTZ and Dutch SNV work at the decentralisation, and VDC level in 60 Editorial p2 the Bank’s priorities. districts, as well Act locally as the Norwe- NEPALI TIMES: What do you make of the governmentís spend- gians and the Danes who support ing plan for 2002/03, vis-‡-vis the goals and policy statements? these programmes. The projects KEN OHASHI: Commenting on HMG’s spending plan has been a will be directly impacted by the hazardous exercise, because the actual spending typically has dissolution of local bodies. “It is a differed much from the budget. However, this year, HMG has gone problematic decision,” the UNDP’s through quite a serious process of prioritising expenditures in most Henning Karcher told us guardedly. sectors. The 2002/03 budget reflects this effort pretty well. So I feel it “The best solution now would be to is consistent with HMG’s poverty reduction objective. Of course, the have both elections together.” proof of the budget is in actual spending. But is it good enough for donors to extend budgetary support? Weekly Internet Poll # 43 Well, no matter how polite I try to be, the answer is no. The budget is Q. Should it be a national holiday each time only a plan. We cannot assume that the actual spending will be close His Majesty the King leaves or returns from a to the plan. In a pre-election period, there may be a lot of pressure to state visit? divert funds to lower priority projects that are nonetheless politically attractive. To Prime Minister Deuba’s credit, he did overcome severe political resistance to cuts in unproductive spending. The true test, however, will be whether he and HMG more generally can stick to their guns, in a manner of speaking. There are two basic requirements before donors will consider budget support seriously. First, HMG must show that it is now able to keep actual spending close to the budget. Spending it well is quite another matter. The basic problem of public spending in Nepal has Total votes: 2456 been the quality of spending, more than its quantity. The second requirement is effective implementation of the Immediate Action Plan. If Weekly Internet Poll # 44. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q. Do you approve of the cabinet decision to these two things happen, then I think donors should get ready to offer dissolve local government units? budget support. see p7 222 EDITORIAL 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES NATION 19 - 25 JULY 2002 NEPALI TIMES 333 Nepali Times is published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Chief Editor: Kunda Dixit Editor: Anagha Neelakantan ANALYSIS by PUSKAR GAUTAM Design: Kiran Maharjan [email protected], www.nepalitimes.com Advertising: Sunaina Shah [email protected] Subscription: Anil Karki [email protected] Sales: Sudan Bista [email protected] Sanchaya Kosh Building, Block A-4th Floor, Lalitpur GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 01-543333-7, Fax: 01-521013 Printed at Jagadamba Press: 01-521393 One great leap forward, two leaps back? he long-awaited Maoist party The government response since The Maoists have used the political confusion in Kathmandu to re-strategise their plenum during the first week of July November has been to launch a nationwide ACT LOCALLY T was, from all we can tell, not so cordon and search operations. However, “forward leap”. But there may be factors they haven’t taken into account. o, what if the Maoists started with their destruction of one- smooth. To begin with, there were there are logistical and numerical limita- third of all VDCs in the country, this government has logistical hurdles caused by impaired tions to an operation of this size and extra-judicial killings in the media communications between between local duration. The result is that the security and delays in foreign support could S finished off. It has gone ahead and done exactly what the Maoists wanted. cells. All signs point to the plenum being forces have been forced to spread them- change things. Through a cabinet decision this week, it dissolved elected held in secret safe havens somewhere in selves thin, and not been able to take the Then there is the India wild-card. councils at the village and district levels. That the government is northern India. The conference itself battle to the Maoists too often. Indian home miniser Lal Krishna legally entitled to take that decision is not the point. The point is appears to have brought out sharp It has in fact been the rebels who Advani’s statement on the eve of the that after dismantling parliament to save his own skin in re- divisions about both strategy and tactics in determine where and when to fight. The royal visit that Islamic militants were sponse to an intra-party feud, prime minister Sher Bahadur view of recent political developments in Maoists have made best use of the terrain, sheltering in Nepal was one of the most Deuba has now effectively dismantled democracy at the Kathmandu, especially the dissolution of climate and the open border with India. direct statements by a senior Indian grassroots as well. After the Congress split, this has not just parliament, the split in the Nepali There appears to be a strategy to keep the leader.

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