What has the government done?

The country is certainly in a mess. We are talking about not only the miserable conditions that the people in the lowest bracket of income are living in or the people who have to live a difficult life due to natural catastrophes, but also some pretty well-off people, who are trying to develop the country through self-reliance. Only the politicians and bureaucrats are making money beyond their wildest dreams. If there is a real sincere government with good bureaucrats, then just going by the richness the corrupt people have now and what was their situation some years back will make the situation clear. But no one wants such a thing to happen as they are corrupt themselves and while small-time wrongdoers are arrested, the powerful ones get away free, whether they are politicians, bureaucrats or officials in the security departments. This sense of immunity and the feeling of being able to get away free of crimes has brought in the tendency to overstep the law, specially if some people are politically powerful or they are connected well. Meanwhile, there has been a lot of turmoil not only around the world but also in this tiny nation due to many unthought-of developments. The political situation is in chaos, the economy is sliding into a dangerous precipice, the society is in turmoil and the people, especially those in the poor income level and also those living an honest life are facing hard times while the government seems nonchalant about such problems.

It is not for nothing that thousands of people are coming out on the streets on one pretext or the other to pour out their frustrations against the government.

Forget the political leaders and the present system, they are angry at almost everything and the bureaucrats and security personnel cannot escape from this anger of the citizens. Of course, the present system or the constitution alone cannot be blamed, but just because he is a soft target, the former King also cannot be called a culprit in the worsening development of the country. But the politicians try to divert the attention of the people to their own greed for money and power by putting all the blame on the former King. As a journalist said in a TV talk programme, "What wrong has the King done? He is simply living the life of a normal citizen, so he also has a right to express his opinion in the system where the freedom of speech has been guaranteed."

But sadly, it seems the political parties themselves are wrong and their only intention is to get to power and earn money. This they will do even if they have to follow the orders of foreign powers. One politician who was a powerful leader in his own time and he also belonged to one party or the other, correctly said that "no government is bigger than the nation, therefore the nation's interest should be looked into first".

But such wisdom does not seem to have entered the minds of our political leaders who always talk big about bringing changes in the country and throwing out dynastical rule, however, they themselves are indulging in all manners of corruption, nepotism and cronyism for their personal benefits. They just overlook the problems faced by the nation and the hardships hundreds of thousands of Nepalis are going through.

For example, though many promises have been made, the people in Jajarkot and West Rukum are suffering from the severe cold and lack of shelter as well as food and warm clothing. But what has the government done? Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal went to the quake-devastated place for only a few hours and he gave instructions by going to safe Surkhet and then returning back to safer Kathmandu where again he held meetings. Just giving instructions and holding meetings are not enough when thousands of people are suffering.

Starkly, in contrast, is the personal effort of a young girl who works in an agro-based NGO called Centre for Agro-Ecology and Development (CAED), who has rallied cousins and people she knows to contribute whatever they can for the victims who are in dire need of help. If there is any one person who must be rewarded by the government it is a person like her. Her name is Kalyani Thapa and she has raised almost a million rupees and also food and clothing for the children and elderly which she will distribute directly. Not only this, she will be living in the most severely hit area of Jajarkot for several days overlooking the work of the goods being distributed by the local bodies. Have the Prime Minister, ministers or any other government officials done such a thing? They just visit these places like "tourists" come back in hours and then hold meetings and give instructions. So kudos to individuals like Ms. Kalyani and others who give us old people some encouragement to stay back in Nepal while they go to difficult places and help the needy and not choose to go abroad like many other young people are doing so.

But to come back to our own political leaders and also the so-called "learned" bureaucrats, they have been total failures in either doing any welfare for the country or gaining the sympathy of the entire world by remaining as a non-aligned state and not being mixed in international intrigues which we are seeing again after the end of the Cold War between the United States and the then Soviet Union which is fighting one of its own states Ukraine. God forbid that such a situation come to Nepal, when one communitydominated federal government will have to fight with some province or the other and again the people in general will have to suffer. But once more, such situations have come to Nepal, always termed as "the freedom of the Nepalese, for free speech and also for their prosperity", by foreign powers who have their own axes to grind by bringing more chaos and turmoil to this once peaceful and harmonious country. Let us hope youngsters like Ms. Kalyani will contribute in changing the attitude of the government and also youths will prefer to stay back to make a good Nepal instead of handing power to the "thugs" that we see in almost every sector including politics.