As the country has adopted a federal model for the first time in its history, we have begun a new system of governance and development. In the first provincial level elections, the voters gave our party a strong mandate, and it is now my responsibility to fulfil people’s expectations. Every new task comes with opportunities and challenges. Province 7 hasn’t seen much development; it’s almost as if we have to start from scratch. What adds to the challenge is the lack of resources and budget. Our society also lacks positive thinking, which is a vital ingredient for development. It’s important for everybody to adopt a positive frame of mind and contribute to development in their own ways. People need to shed their traditional mode of thinking. Those in politics should particularly be able to tackle challenges and difficulties.

What led to the problem is that the earlier system could not ensure inclusive development. It is the state that is primarily responsible for development, but if it is prejudiced and doesn’t treat its citizens equally, then problems arise. Remote regions do not get to witness development. Lack of development naturally makes citizens poor, weak and unaware.

Economic development leads to many positive social changes. If we internalize the concept of inclusive development and carry out development activities in the remotest regions, it will bring about overall social improvements. People’s ability to take risks and do something on their own has been hindered by a lack of opportunities. Many, therefore, choose to work in India. A mentality that prefers working in Indian factories instead of being industrious at home is also an obstacle to development.

Areas of Focus

The people of Province 7 have been deprived of development and also of rights. Federalism presents an opportunity to work for our own development. My focus is on four areas.

Our province is comprised of the plains, the hills and the mountains. It has a lot of arable land. We need to move away from traditional farming methods and modernize agriculture. If we can adopt a modern farming system, more people will make it their primary profession and the country’s economy will grow. To this end, we need to carry out systematic studies and figure out which crops—cash and staple—are most suitable for which areas. Of course, we also need more investment in agriculture.

Tourism in another potential area. Province 7 has many prominent tourist destinations. We can identify such destinations and promote religious and cultural tourism in the province. The government will construct roads; it’s the private players who need to build hotels. We’re thinking of a one-house-one-tourist plan. This will supplement people’s income.

Ours is also the richest province in terms of water resources. We are not only focused on mega projects like West Seti and Pancheshwor, but have been trying to encourage small- and medium-sized hydro projects in all the districts of the province. It seems each district can generate between 1 to 100 MW of hydro power.  We can derive much benefit if we can attract private investors and encourage local residents to buy shares in these projects. Many people go to India to work and spend all their savings when they come home for a month. We will show them the path to investment and returns.

The fourth potential area is herbs. Many kinds of herbs such as yarsagumba (also known as Himalayan Viagra) are found in the province. We can set up an industry to identify and process these herbs.

Social Ills

We’re talking about setting up industries in various places. We will pass the necessary laws, set up a system and formulate short-, medium- and long-term plans. We can make a lot of progress in four to five years. We are doing things differently to generate employment and alleviate poverty. We have done homework to identify appropriate development projects and formulate necessary policies and programs. Our first order of business is to set up a robust system. If we can do that, the pace of development will be rapid.

We have to abandon the idea that we will only work for others or that we will start working only after there is proper infrastructure. We have to start with whatever infrastructure we have. People also tend buy a small piece of land as soon as they have some money instead of investing it in productive activities. We have to jettison such practices.

What we also need to jettison is our superstitious belief that is at the root of social evils like untouchability and violence against women and the poor. Three types of violence plague our society—violence based on class, caste and gender. The law should put an end to all kinds of discrimination and violence.

But the law isn’t adequate; social awareness is also necessary. Those with jobs tend to be focused on their work, progress and money, and don’t generally indulge in social ills. But lack of employment opportunities contributes to these problems. Apart from laws and awareness, employment and money also have a link with social ills.

We’re in the process of formulating stringent laws against discrimination and violence. But we also need a movement for social transformation. It has to start from home. Elected representatives have to initiate such a movement. There is violence against women even in Kathmandu. But it’s more prevalent here. To minimize it, we will launch a movement for social transformation under the leadership of elected representatives.

Care should be taken while allocating the budget for the central, provincial and local levels. Kathmandu has always allocated a small budget for the far-west. We can see the continuity of that trend even now. We need to make good use of the resources at our disposal. We need to curb leakages and corruption. Projects have to be implemented properly. The tax bracket has to be expanded.

We will improve our security and business climate to draw private investment. The government will have less financial problems if we can attract private investors. Besides socio-economic improvement, we need to be concerned about the environment, so the Sustainable Development Goals are important to keep our earth habitable. We will formulate our plans and programs in line with the SDGs.

[as told to Development Advocate in an interview]

More articles (Development Advocate 2019)