Oped»
Another interim plan
MAY 24 -
The National Planning Commission (NPC) is preparing a three-year plan that will run from 2010/11 to 2013/14. In order to finalise the draft paper of the upcoming plan, the NPC conducted a meeting of the Nepal Development Council (NDC) from May 23-25. An evaluation of the present interim plan, which is running in its last year, shows that its achievements have been mixed. Revenue collection was quite encouraging during this period. Similarly, achievements in maternal, child and neonatal mortality rates in the health sector were higher than the target. However, financial and macroeconomic indicators depicted a negative trend during the period. Poverty still prevails. Employment and income generation activities in the rural sector could not be effective. Building of physical infrastructure that can help regional development has not happened as expected.
The economy achieved a growth rate of 4 percent during the three-year interim plan period compared to its target of 5.5 percent. Low production in the agriculture sector slowed down the economic growth rate. In the last year of the plan, the farm sector witnessed a very low growth rate of 1 percent against its target of 3.6 percent. However, the NPC has projected that the sector grew 3 percent on average during the plan period. The agriculture sector contributes about 33 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Adverse weather patterns including late arrival of the monsoon and droughts were the main reasons behind the decline in agricultural output. Land detachment and insufficient irrigation also contributed to the drop in production. A new report released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives states that the food deficit increased to 316,000 tons this year from 132,000 tons last year. Overall food production fell by 4.33 percent in the current fiscal year.
During the plan period, the country suffered from a weak law and order situation, impunity, high inflation and absence of elected representatives at the local governments. Policy makers have argued that these factors were responsible for the weak achievement. Load-shedding, a high rate of population growth and galloping inflation are also considered to be challenges in the development process.
The poverty level came down from 31 percent to 25 percent during the period 2005-09. However, the gap between urban and rural poverty is still wide (14 percent). In 2004, urban poverty was 10 percent while rural poverty was 35 percent. In 2009, urban and rural poverty levels were 8 and 22 percent respectively. Moreover, poverty is widespread in remote areas like the Mid and Far Western regions compared to urban areas like Kathmandu. For instance, in 2004, poverty levels in Kathmandu and the Mid-Western Region were 3.3 and 44.8 percent respectively. In 2009, the figures were 1.9 percent in Kathmandu and 37.4 percent in the Mid-Western Region, according to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Report 2009. Some experts have suggested that poverty should be calculated on the basis of population rather than as a percentage. They argue that it may look like the poverty level has come down when seen as a percentage, but the number of poor people increases every year due to population growth.
The new plan targets to reduce poverty to less than 21 percent by building sustainable economic growth and improving the living standard of the common people. In order to achieve this goal, the plan intends to create respectable and beneficial employment, reduce economic disparity, achieve regional balance and eliminate social exclusion. The agriculture sector should be given high priority not only on paper but also in terms of resource allocation and implementation. The farm sector needs to be modernised and commercialised in order to increase the income of the people and create more employment.
Various good attempts have been made while formulating development plans, however, these efforts couldn’t materialise for lack resources and political commitment. Though achievements have been made in the road, irrigation, education, drinking water, information and communication and health sectors, the overall development situation of the country is still gloomy. Nepal still ranks in the list of least developed countries.
Local and foreign investment couldn’t be increased due to lack of an investment friendly environment. In fact, the country witnessed capital flight as a result of strikes and bandas organised by political parties and armed groups. Endless disputes between management and labour have also scared away investors. After the People’s Movement of 2006, there were high hopes that our planners would be able to address the people’s aspirations for development. The interim plan tried to respond to these desires, but the state couldn’t achieve the target in many sectors due to political instability and other reasons.
Political instability has weakened the structure of the NPC as its members are replaced each time there is a change in government. Due to lack of sector-wise experts and political intervention, the NPC has not been able to perform effectively. Though NPC is the planning body that formulates development policies for the state, it is forced to include policies and programmes imposed by political interests. The posting of government employees also happens under
political pressure, which affects implementation of the plans. A free and fair working environment needs to be created at the NPC. Adequate resources should be provided and coordination among the concerned bodies needs to be developed.
After Nepal became a republic, the NPC’s role has become more challenging along with the rising expectations of the people. Moreover, as the country is going to adopt a federal structure, the planners should also consider the relevance of the new plan in a federal setup. The NPC should start preparing a mechanism to comply with local, provincial and national priorities. Development priorities also need to be appraised in this context. A huge chunk of resources has been provided by donors in the name of the poor people. Why couldn’t we achieve the expected outcome? This is the major concern that our leaders, policymakers and implementers need to bear in mind. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal also raised this question during the NDC meeting.
Eliminating corruption, impunity and irresponsibility which have become major obstacles to development, people’s participation with good governance, transparency and accountability should be promoted. Tangible achievements have not happened in the field in proportion to the budget expenditure. Only high-sounding and well-written reports are not sufficient to show progress, there should be concrete achievement. Strong monitoring is essential to implement the programmes according to the plan.
Maina Dhital
mainadhital@gmail.com
Posted on: 2010-05-25 07:38
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