Raj Kumar KC

Dearth of research culture in our society has been a major challenge to our development goals. There could be various reasons why our development projects in most of the cases are failing to operate for their expected period to or get dropped in the middle of the stream. Corruption, poor engineering and sub-standard materials could be blamed for failure of the projects, but questions can be raised whether adequate research works have been done.
There are multiple examples of rising cases of perennial failure of the development projects in Nepal. Keeping other things aside, poor research works based on poor information/ statistics can be blamed for all these mess in the Nepalese context. Multiplier effects of bad research, poor data base and mishandling of information have posed a serious impact on policy making. A good policy is possible only when information and facts are professionally and honestly analyzed.
In one way or other, it can be said that Nepal’s policy making process as of now has undergone a serious threat of poor information, baseless speculations and data manipulation. Prof. Pushkar Bajracharya, while he was the member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), had acutely felt the need of data and research based analytical information.
Having realised these challenges in planning and policy making, Prof. Bajracharya, who has been keenly observing Nepal’s development paraphernalia for decades has revealed a comprehensive and in-depth evidence based enquiry on Nepal’s economy and development initiatives.
The book entitled, “Nepal’s Economy in Disarray” – The Policies and Politics of Development in which Prof. Bajracharya along with co-authors Mohan Manandhar and Rojan Bajrcharya have meticulously dealt on development issues of Nepal with sufficient reasons responsible in the historical economic, political and geo-political realm of the country. Hence, the book under review can be taken as the critical, fact based documentation of the country’s development process that nobody has yet endeavored. Altogether the book contains nine chapters including the historical perspectives of Nepal that portrays evidenced based events of the economic history of Nepal.
There are hundreds of books dealing with trade/economic developments of in Nepal, but the authors are distinct in the sense that they have succinctly described the process of transformation from the civilization of the Indus valley and Gangetic civilization and Hwang Ho, Yangtze and Si Kiang (Chinese) civilization. In Chapter -1, the authors have left no stone unturned to describe different facets of Nepalese economy which gives the glimpses economic developments before the implementation of First Five Year Plan in 1956.
The authors in the first chapter have outlined that Nepal has been grappling with serious challenges in the forms of poverty, a widening gap in income between the rich and poor, increasing unemployment and inequality in social indicators between different social groups.
The authors have boldly put forth their views that the political transformation that took place in 1990 yielded no significant outcome to reduce gap between the rich and poor. The country’s economic development process is totally at the crossroads now. The authors have revealed all these facts that have plagued the country’s development process. The second chapter is mainly about the major development activities including the economic transformation, institutional framework and statement administration prior to the restoration of democracy in 1990.
The authors are not historians; they are management/development experts and economists; hence readers get fact based analysis of the events. Prof. Bajracharya who is the lead author of the book has displayed his professional integrity without any hesitation. The book first of its kind in Nepal is an anecdote of economic history of Nepal, but it is totally different than that of others. Historians put the facts, but the authors in this book have meticulously synchronized economics with research and history. The third chapter is about the Post 1990s economic scenario.
The authors have clearly noted the reasons behind political unrest and Maoist insurgency that began in 1996. Their analyses are based on the reality. Had the political parties following the restoration of democracy in 1990 had a clear economic vision, the country today would not have bogged down in the morass of uncertainty.
The authors have portrayed the facts in their book. Is the country on the verge of being a failed state? Though the authors seem to be very neutral while elucidating Nepal’s development process and economic planning, readers after reading the book can draw a conclusion that dearth of proper economic vision in the country’s economic planning and policy making is the major challenge.
In their book, the authors have deliberately kept the country’s political domain aside. But there arises a question whether development of a nation is possible without addressing political issues. The book contains lots of information on agriculture, industry, markets services, education and human resource development and infrastructure. Nepal is an agro- based country, its contribution to the GDP is almost 26 per cent which was more than 40 percent before 1990.
On the one hand, Nepal heavily depends on the import of agricultural and food items from India with no possibility of product specialisation and export diversification. On the other hand, foundations of manufacturing sectors are becoming shakier with the closure of a number of industries in the recent decades. On top of that, economic policies of the governments formed after 2000 have virtually failed to drive the country’s economy.
The book clearly mirrors the overall economic and development challenges the country has been facing.
The book is very analytical and insightful. Hence, Prof. Prithivi Raj Ligal, former vice chairman of the NPC, has reaffirmed that the book’s validity and reliability to understand Nepal’s development, planning and economic development framework. The authors should be appreciated for their efforts and readers expect more from them in the days ahead.