Bista’s Malaya coup
Any way you look at it, the recent labor agreement between Nepal and Malaysia is a landmark deal. Nepali laborers will henceforth not have to pay a single rupee to go and work in what is Nepal’s number one labor importing country (besides India), with a floating population of around Nepali 400,000 workers. The recruitment service charges, two-way air fares, visa fees, medical check-up cost—all will now be borne by the employers in Malaysia. Nepal government had stopped sending workers to Malaysia five months ago, in protest against the hefty fees being imposed on its poor workers: on average, a worker had to fork out at least Rs 80,000 to cover all costs.
Minister for Labor Gokarna Bista had gotten a lot of flak for it. The south-east Asian country could never be forced to accept Nepali workers, the critics said, when it could easily import cheaper labor from Bangladesh and Pakistan. But Bista held his ground, firm in his belief that the quality of Nepali workers was superior—in that they are considered more adept and reliable—than those from other competing labor-exporting countries. His faith has been vindicated. This is another feather in the cap of Bista, who in his earlier avatar as the Minister of Energy had also done a commendable job.
Manpower agencies in Nepal are now cribbing and complaining. According to the new agreement, they will from now on be paid directly by the companies hiring Nepali manpower. Their cut will amount to half a month’s salary of the recruited worker. They say it is nearly not enough to cover their costs and have threated to stop recruiting people to go to Malaysia if they cannot get at least a month’s salary of the recruited workers. The way we see it, with Nepal exporting an average of around 600,000 workers a year, the manpower agencies can still earn enough. If they want still more, they are in the wrong business.
No business should be allowed to thrive on exploitation of some of the poorest people in the society. Having inked the deal with Malaysia, the government must now not give in to the manpower agencies’ pressure tactics. It is unlikely to, in any case. Rumors are that the government is preparing similar agreements with other big importers of Nepali labor in the Gulf. Perhaps the days of the unscrupulous manpower agencies are truly numbered.
Federalism and growth
The Asian Development Bank’s latest Nepal Macroeconomic Update is reflective of the fears surrounding the implementation of federalism and operationalization of the three tiers of government. It projects the national economy to grow by 5.5 percent in 2018/19, well below the government target of 8 percent, but still respectable considering an average of 4.3 percent growth over the past one decade.
Boosting growth this year will be expectation of political stability, as well as normal monsoon and implementation of mega-infrastructure projects, says the report. But it then points out limited capacity of sub-national government units and complications in implementation of federalism as the biggest obstacles to growth. “Slow progress in requisite legislation and deployment of staff, the need for further clarification of mandates and responsibilities of the three tiers of government, and inconsistencies in revenue mobilization regarding fees and taxes at local levels” could all hinder smooth operationalization of fiscal federalism.
Clearly, for Nepal to prosper there should be a high level of coordination between the three tiers of government, and a level of agreement on resource mobilization and spending. Yet what we see is the opposite. Local units complain that even though they have been saddled with many responsibilities, the center has been miserly about giving them the needed money and manpower. Likewise, the seven provincial governments are unhappy that between them ‘the center and the local units have appropriated all vital powers’ and the province-level governments as such have been made redundant. The federal government for its part says these are birth pangs of federalism and things will be sorted out in due course.
In other words, there is currently little trust between the different tiers, which in turn is crimping their growth prospects. If the ruling coalition under Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is serious about honoring its promise of all-round prosperity, it will have to start trusting the lower tiers more, and not hesitate to delegate vital powers and resources. In a federal system, the center acts not so much as guardians of lower tiers but more as facilitators of their aspirations for development. Yes, there is room for abuse of such delegated powers. But then the old unitary dispensation was hardly a model of economic rectitude. The onus is on the all-powerful federal government to honor the letter and spirit of federalism.
#metoo, unsafe too
As the world marks the first anniversary of the #metoo campaign this month, the topic of sexual harassment of women could not be more relevant for Nepal. In a recent APEX poll, 93 of the 100 Nepali women who were surveyed reported having experienced some form of sexual harassment. The finding was hardly a surprise. Even though there have been efforts to ‘empower’ Nepali women since the 2006 political changes, including by ensuring their greater representation in vital decision-making bodies, ours is still a predominantly patriarchal society where the dice continues to be heavily loaded in favor of men.
The built-in social bias against ‘weaker and less capable’ women can often lead to horrendous consequences. Incidents of rapes in Nepal have rocketed: there have been more rapes in the past two months than in the previous two years, combined.
It would be hard to call Nepal an equal country so long as its women and girls continue to feel unsafe in public space. True, there are some legal measures for their protection. For instance, someone convicted of sexual harassment at workplace can be jailed for up to six months and/or fined Rs 50,000. Yet most women who have been harassed at work remain quiet fearing stigmatization and curtailment of their career prospects. That would not be the case if sex offense was taken more seriously and sexual offenders were seen to be harshly punished.
So there is little for Nepali women to cheer on the first anniversary of the #metoo movement. They continue to be constantly abused at home. Heckled by rowdy men out on the street. And sexually harassed at workplace. And yet, there is also a ray of hope. The whole country has rallied around the bereaved parents of Nirmala Pant, the 13-year-old girl who was brutally raped and murdered on July 26, and whose killers are still at large. Awareness of sexual crimes has increased and, increasingly, so has the realization among women that keeping quiet is not the only option. As a result, more and more women are coming out with their personal stories of harassment and discrimination. Starting of these difficult conversations is a rare silver-lining in an otherwise gloomy climate of fear and anger.
Trees for airport
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari has been repeatedly saying that the environmental fears over the Nijgadh International Airport are overblown. It is true that the airport, as envisioned, will cover over 8,000 hectares, which will make it the biggest in South Asia in area. It is also true that an estimated 2.4 million trees will have to be felled. But as Adhikari points out, the media and the broader public is missing a crucial catch.
In the first phase, only 2,500 hectares will be used, and as such just around 760,000 trees will have to go. As envisioned, after the first phase the airport will be able to handle 15 million passengers a year; after the second phase, in another five years, it will accommodate 30 million; and 60 million after the third phase, in five more years. If the airport does not get expected traffic after the first or the second phase, then it may not be expanded.
But the larger goal is to establish Nijgadh as a transit hub with easy access to 27 major Asian cities. If things go as planned, say the project’s backers, the airport could be a game-changer for Nepal, laying a firm foundation for national prosperity and development. But is the environmental cost of bringing down 760,000 trees in the first phase worth it, not to think of the two latter phases? Has the government done enough homework on the likely damage to the rich flora and fauna, as well as to human settlements nearby, after destroying the last remaining patch of dense forest in the Tarai belt? And was there really no option to Nijgadh?
The country without a doubt needs a second international airport to relieve the pressure on the overburdened TIA, and the government says expanding Bhairahawa or Pokhara airport was not an option. So perhaps Nijgadh is really irreplaceable. If so, the developers will have to be extremely careful about inflicting minimal ecological damage, in a country already beset by climate change-induced natural disasters. Perhaps it is also worth reevaluating Nijgadh’s role as a ‘transit hub’ after the development of passenger aircraft capable of flying 20 hours non-stop. While the ecological damages certainly have to be minimized, it would also be a tragedy to build another Hambantota, often dubbed “the world’s emptiest international airport.”
