Shiva Bahadur Nepali’s ‘Nepal Speaks’ released

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Sept. 17: ‘Nepal Speaks: Conscious Social Order’ penned by Shiva Bahadur Nepali Pradhan, an agricultural expert from the first generation, has been published.

Former Election Commissioner Surya Prasad Shrestha released Pradhan’s book in an event held in Lalitpur, Sunday.

Commenting on the book, former chief election commissioner and ex-Nepali Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shrestha said that Pradhan has presented his thesis of ‘no Nepali should go to bed hungry, remain illiterate and unemployed’ in an impressive way. “The book also contains points on what can be done to achieve his thesis of no one being hungry, making everyone literate and giving them employment,” Shrestha said. He also said that author Pradhan’s contribution to Nepal’s agricultural sector is unparalleled and his premise presented in the book can be a foundation to foster a new and developed Nepal.

Commenting on the book, journalist Ramesh Lamsal said that a glimpse of Nepal’s history, politics, economy and agricultural sector is presented in the book which is a hindsight practicality of developing the country. 

He said that the book contains a roadmap for national development. “The author has emphasized that unless private sector is promoted, the overall national productivity won’t grow adequately,” Lamsal said.

Agriculturist Krishna Kumar Pandey shared that Pradhan was an official who made practical decisions and was always result-oriented and also understood the actual situation on the ground. “One of the revolutions the country has witnessed is an agricultural one and experts like Pradhan have contributed a lot to it,” said Pandey.

Commentator Maheshwor Acharya said that though Nepal needs more and more people like him, favouritism has overshadowed people like him.

He said that Pradhan’s previously published ‘Krishima Mero Bato’ is an inspirational book that every youth should read and added this book is a guide for all those working at the policy level. He pointed out that there is a need to expand the plans started by Pradhan on how subsistence agriculture can be made sustainable.

Pradhan started mushroom cultivation for the first time in Nepal. He also started the work of keeping records of rain in Nepal from Kirtipur Horticultural Office. The first agricultural plan was also made under his leadership. Likewise, he has a great contribution in the promotion of apple cultivation in West Nepal.

“His experience of bringing 100,000 apple plants from India to Jumla in Western Nepal can be a case study for those working in the development sector,” Acharya elaborated. “We talk about startups and sustainable development. The collaboration between the local farmers and the agriculture office that he made to sustain radish farming in Kakani is still an exemplary work.”