Nepal is moving ahead with the ambitious plan of development and prosperity which is hard to achieve until poverty is eradicated. The slogan of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’ can be translated into reality only when the nation ably overcomes the stumbling block of poverty. Ensuring citizens’ rights to health, education, job and robust social security schemes enables the country to meet the national goal of prosperity. Achieving inclusive growth and prosperity is indeed a tall order but it is not insurmountable challenge either.
In this regard, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the government is actively exploring ways to generate employment within the country. It also needs to bring programmes to meet the immediate needs of people on the economic margins. For this, it should collaborate with the non-government sector and development partners because they have the resources, experiences and expertise for working in this field. But doing this is challenging at a time when we are in the midst of coronavirus pandemic which has had devastating impact on economy.
It has been more than six decades that Nepal has been working in the sector of poverty alleviation. Yet, 18.7 per cent of our population is living in absolute poverty. We have a long to go if we are to meet our target of zero poverty by 2043. Prime Minister Oli has expressed the government’s commitment to achieving this target and eradicating poverty from the country in his message on Saturday on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. However, COVID-19 threatens our sustained efforts towards this end. The pandemic, and the subsequent lockdown and restrictions, badly affected our economy. Our informal sector, which employs more than 70 per cent of the nation’s economically active population, is enduring economic miseries.
Estimates say that nearly two million people working in different sectors are losing their jobs due to the pandemic. This means that our country will witness a huge surge in unemployment which, in turn, will certainly push up poverty. The formal sector has not been left untouched either. Our service sector growth fell to 0.7 per cent, which is the lowest it has been in 18 years. Industrial growth and capacity utilisation dropped from 80 per cent to 46 per cent. Agricultural growth also saw considerable contraction. This is a matter of concern. Inflation, especially the rise in food prices, prohibitions on the transport of fruits and vegetables imposed by local governments, shortages of food items and disruptions in the supply chain caused by the four-month-long lockdown had crippling effects on the lives and livelihood of the people.
The World Bank’s bi-annual Nepal Development Update report shows that inflation in the country reached 6.2 per cent. In a scenario where people are losing jobs and their incomes are going down, it is necessary to accelerate development works which creates employment. The biggest challenge now is to cope with the threat posed by the pandemic. Saving lives is the first priority but it is also important to open economic activities by strictly respecting safety protocol.