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Fifteen years is a long time, even in an ancient country and a young republic. Without beating about the bush, let’s get the facts straight. Fifteen years ago, Nepal underwent a political transformation of Himalayan magnitude. It consigned a unitary system of governance and the monarchy that formed a part of it to history. The erstwhile Hindu state of sorts embraced secularism despite reservations from a large section of the Nepali populace. After the monumental change in polity, it was but natural for the people to expect things to get better. But that hardly happened. New political parties came to power and soon got corrupt. Governments came and went, leaving behind a legacy of corruption scandals, misrule, cronyism and chronic instability. The new order was supposed to build institutions to run the republican system efficiently and effectively. It ended up institutionalizing corruption instead, with major corruption scams like PLA cantonment, Yeti, Omni, Wide-body and Bhutanese refugee scandals. Without giving a hoot about the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances, the executive rode roughshod over the judiciary and imposed its will on the legislature, instead of letting it act as the truly sovereign body reflecting the people’s will. Federalism was supposed to bring the state to the very doorsteps of the people. Instead, what people have gotten are the Singhadurbars of their own—at provincial and local levels—that are quite hard to keep. Paradoxically, these monoliths resemble the state of affairs in the princely states of the yore. Like those palaces, the republican durbars also impose heavy taxes on their ‘subjects’ and they too are neck-deep in corruption and instability-plagued, with frequent changes in provincial governments becoming a new normal. Indeed, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Or do they get worse, actually? Not a day passes by without the country bidding farewell to an increasing number of youths heading abroad for jobs, education or permanent settlement. Hardly a day passes by without youths driven away by endemic corruption, instability, breakdown of law and order and a deepening economic crisis returning home dead. The transformation that was supposed to bring cheers to the people has ended up pouring cold water on popular aspirations. This has emboldened forces that were against the transformation all along. Things cannot get any worse than this, can they? Even in a gloomy scenario like this, there’s a glimmer of hope. The police probe into the refugee scam has given the government a unique opportunity to dig into infamous corruption scandals of yesteryears, those related to policy corruption in particular, and bring the guilty to justice. It can go a long way in cleansing the governance system through and through. Singhadurbar should exhibit the political will to do this, if it is indeed serious about protecting and institutionalizing the gains of the political changes that have taken place since the end of the Rana regime in 1950.

The ongoing police probe into the Bhutanese refugee scam has given the people a glimmer of hope. Fed up with chronic corruption, misrule and instability over the decades, people want a free, fair and transparent investigation into this scandal that has netted a few powerful figures. But some of the recent developments are making the conscious citizenry wonder if efforts are underway to influence the probe. Ever since the arrests started in connection with this scam, top leaders of major political parties have huddled together more than once. It is natural for the birds of a feather to flock together, but these birds are quite different from each other, right? There was a time when these figures would never get tired of hauling each other over the coals and presenting themselves as holier than thou. At a crucial juncture of the probe, what has made them go for marathon parleys? Some kind of national emergency that the fourth estate is unaware of? Anyway, the conduct of top leaders of major political parties is giving ground for suspicion based on which fertile minds are busy developing their own conspiracy theories. In the wake of these hush-hush talks, people have started suspecting that the top brass may be trying to shield themselves as well as their kith and kin. To retain public faith in the investigation and lessen the damage to Nepal’s image in international fora, the government should publicize the findings of the probe on a regular basis by engaging the media—both national and international. How about conducting a regular press briefing to deal with rumors surrounding the scam and bring the facts to the fore? This can help retain public faith in the investigation and discourage conspiracy theorists. It can also be an effective way to engage the international community, which is also a stakeholder in this case as it has given shelter to more than one lakh Bhutanese citizens of Nepali origins, driven away from their motherland by a dictatorial regime. While carrying on with this probe, the plight of these people should not be forgotten nor the state of affairs in Nepal that is literally forcing the people to ‘flee’ by paying human traffickers. The silver lining in this dark cloud is that the scam has given the government a golden opportunity to cleanse the governance system and restore public faith in it. If conducted properly, this probe will mark the start of a mega-probe into a series of cases of corruption, including policy corruption, that have rendered the country gravely ill. The government should not squander this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As for the people, they should stay ever vigilant to ensure that the government stays the course. After all, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.  

The police probe into the Bhutanese refugee scam has thus far netted 12 people, including a former home minister and a government secretary, while another former minister remains at large. Why the long arm of the law failed to get hold of him while he was attending a program in Arghakhanchi or right after remains a mystery. The police probe follows complaints from about 100 people against a powerful group involved in scamming gullible Nepali people by promising to send them abroad as Bhutanese refugees through forged papers. Leaders of different hues and shades blowing hot and cold amid the probe indicates that there may be skeletons in their cupboards as well. Also in the wake of the probe, the top leadership of the Nepali Congress, the largest party in the parliament and the CPN-UML, the second largest party, have met more than once with Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Prime Minister Dahal has tried to clarify that these meetings have nothing to do with the scam, but the timing of these meetings give enough ground for suspicion. Not to be forgotten is the fact that a large majority of people have lost faith in the tried and tested political leadership because it has failed to deliver even after getting popular mandates for change over the decades. Prime Minister Dahal, Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Nepal Police leadership, new political parties and change-seeking leaders of the old parties should keep in mind that the refugee scam is but one among many scandals plaguing the country for decades. This probe has offered the people, tired of endemic corruption in the country, a glimmer of hope. It is clear that the people want investigations into all cases of corruption, policy corruption in particular, and action against the guilty. Over the decades, corruption has gotten institutionalized in every walk of life—from Singhadurbar to combatants’ camps, from the parliament to the streets, from Baluwatar to the very huts, from the public enterprises to the private firms and from the mountains to the deserts. For the political leadership, waging a war against corruption may be more difficult than waging a clandestine war. It will need tremendous political will to open stacks of files related to corruption and bring the ‘proverbial’ big fish to justice, which may not always bring results favorable to them and their respective parties. But a long, in-depth and failproof investigation into corruption cases is the only way to cleanse the federal republican governance system and start the process of restoring public faith in it.

The Constitution of Nepal 2015 has regarded the right to health as one of the fundamental rights of the Nepalis. Article 35 (1) of the constitution states that every citizen shall have the “right to free basic health services from the State, and no one shall be deprived of emergency health services”, Article 35 (3) stipulates every citizen’s equal access to health services whereas Article 35 (4) envisions access to clean drinking water and sanitation. These great legal provisions notwithstanding, the right to health remains on paper for most of the Nepalis. This daily has published a series of investigative reports detailing a sorry state of affairs at government hospitals. Whether it’s Civil Service Hospital, Bir Hospital or Maternity Hospital, all have been suffering from serious illnesses like the lack of human resources, cleanliness and other occupational safety and health measures, equipment, budget and infrastructure, to name a few. Despite such a state of affairs, these facilities are bursting at their seams, with service-seekers waiting in serpentine queues daily for treatment, not to mention thousands of others, who wait for months on end for surgeries. Apparently, these public health facilities, which form the backbone of a public health delivery system, pose a serious threat to public health, especially in the times of a pandemic. Who is mainly to blame for the ills plaguing the public health delivery system? Governments in deep slumber, over a prolonged period of time. Governments that come and go in this instability-plagued country in quick succession have no time and energy to treat these diseases. Why would they pull up their sleeves and dirty their hands anyway? After all, whenever the ruling elites or their kith and kin fall ill, they can avail themselves of medical treatment abroad, with the state always ready to foot their medical bill. Over the years, a number of VIPs and VVIPs have availed themselves of services available at state-of-the-art medical facilities abroad, while lakhs of commoners continue to wait for their turn at ill-managed health facilities, bearing with the pungent smell and other associated difficulties. Sadly, a large number of people cannot even make it to these medical facilities as people begging on our streets for medical treatment of their own or their near and dear ones show. The onus is on the government to take urgent measures to fix our health system and work toward health and well-being, not only of VVIPs and VIPs but also of the commoners.