Kushal Pokharel

The notion of development remains a highly contested agenda globally. The euro-centric model of development characterised by individualism, competitiveness and economic rationality has come under a huge crisis over the past seven decades coming up to the recent pandemic. Despite the fact that development thinking has come a long way from its original economic oriented thinking coming up to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including social, economic, cultural and political dimensions, development as economic pursuits still remains predominant thinking. But the recent failure of even the economically advanced countries to respond to the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis has bitterly exposed the limits of the conventional development model under the global capital system. Amid this scenario, the idea of a new world order has gained greater currency.

Notable characteristics
A critical observation of Nepal’s development trajectory exhibits notable characteristics with striking resemblance to the seemingly endangered capitalist development thinking. Overt focus on infrastructures has undermined the socio-cultural and emotional dimensions failing to embrace social equity and justice, expansion of fundamental freedoms, promotion of the rule of law, transparency and accountability among others as development values. For instance, establishing smart cities and constructing roads, bridges and view towers are high on agenda of the government. In fact, such development thinking has remained a defining feature of Nepal’s polity irrespective of any political regime and the governments therein. However, important social agendas of general public access to basic social services like health, education and restoring trust towards public institutions with improved service delivery and the like have historically failed to garner an adequate attention of policymakers.
While setting up new infrastructures constitutes an integral part of development, equating development merely with infrastructure expansion could be misleading. During his Nepali New Year address to the public, the incumbent Prime Minister presented the construction of five kilometers of blacktopped road each day and 12 houses a day on an average as the testimony to the progress towards development. Activities of the government and its ministries like repair and maintenance of the Tribhuwan International Airport, suspension bridges, among others, have been projected as development milestones. Ranging from the inauguration of longstanding Melamchi water supply in the Kathmandu Valley to the completion of the post-earthquake reconstruction, the PM had an exhaustive list of accomplishments. What was interesting to observe was his immaculate repertoire of data and information on the ongoing development activities in the nation. It is indeed appreciable that the nation has witnessed some rapid progress in these directions. However, the PM failed to shed light on the present state of other important facets of development be it about the creation of an equitable and just society or the promotion of good governance and rule of law in the country.
Overemphasis on the ‘hard’ aspect of development has also resulted in the downfall of the ‘soft’ dimension. Of late, public sentiment has been characterised by mistrust towards the government and its institutions resulting in widening rift between the indigenous communities and the state authority. Whether we refer to the massive protest against the ‘Guthi’ bill introduced in the parliament in the past or the government’s decision to expand the Kathmandu-Terai fast-track without heeding the concerns of the Khokana dwellers, the development efforts made by the government have taken a backseat. Fostering meaningful public participation in the governance process and improving the overall wellbeing are considered as major obstacles to the attainment of economic pursuits.

Public trust
Though it is welcoming that the PM expressed his commitment to addressing the concerns of the disenchanted young population, more tangible development agendas to ignite hope and optimism have not been visible. An important area of concern in the entire development thinking is the issue of public trust towards the state polity. If the report of Transparency International titled ‘Global Corruption Barometer –Asia 2020’ is anything to go by, the scenario is pretty glim. As per the Nepal country report, the general public hope towards the government working for the general welfare is dwindling. Worrisome is the fact that 12 per cent of the public service users during the survey said that they were forced to pay bribe in the past 12 months.
Re-envisioning development accommodating the public voices and integrating their socio-cultural and political concerns has become really urgent. Equally crucial is to engage multi-stakeholders of development, including civil society organisations, academics and professionals from different walks of life, in the process of redefining development. A unique development model suited to our soil based on good governance, sustainability and resilience can address the public aspirations of development and prosperity.

(The author is an independent researcher and faculty of social science and research. kushalpokharel03@gmail.com)