Will the Real Prachanda Stand Up?

(Courtesy: Dr. Thomas A. Marks)

Just what goes on in the mind of Pushpa Kamal Dahal? His Maoists have lost the reigns of power through their own refusal to foster reconciliation. Yet no sooner has his custom-made (Rs. 110,000) bed been moved out of the Baluwater official residence, than “Fierce One” claims that democratic process is “counterrevolution.”

For good measure, he throws in that the goal of the new leadership is to restore the monarchy, which would seem laughable were it not accompanied by the orders for the YCL storm troopers to take to the streets.

Is this method or madness? Is Robin Just a Hood?

Where to look for answzers? It seems we have but a single book to which we can turn.

In bringing out a biography of “the valiant one” – as per the author, Indian journalist Anirban Roy; “fierce one” as per the most common rendering in Nepal – Mandala Book Point has performed a service. As the only successful communist effort to seize power since the end of the Cold War, the Maoists and their leader require study.

Unfortunately, for anyone interested in something more than various personal details, “the revolutionary” will remain “unknown.” Roy’s book touches upon little of substance and thus leaves us with less than can be gained by reading the often accurate, insightful, and increasingly caustic assessments in the Nepali daily media.

If there is one subject which must be the essence of any book on an insurgent leader, it is the relationship between the leadership and the manpower of the movement. Not only is this critical for understanding the course of the CPN(M)’s people’s war, but also for understanding now the inability of Prachanda’s Maoist-led, pseudo-coalition government to produce little beyond chaos, declining livelihood, and intimidation.

Many have argued – certainly it seems to be the opinion of Roy and a fraction of the Indian foreign policy establishment – that Prachanda is “really” a larger than life version of Robin Hood who has sought only to address the myriad economic, social, and political grievances (as well as hopes and aspirations) of the marginalized Nepali masses. This “moral economy of the peasants” version simply does not consider the obvious: what if Robin is just a Hood?

For the central question of the nasty decade of Maoist insurgency in Nepal has been whether the dog wagged his tail or vice versa. How much that occurred – and it was a bloody decade between 1996 and 2006, with the dead augmented an order of magnitude by mutilations, disappearances, and the like – was planned or simply the result of being astute enough to exploit events as they were carried out autonomously or semi-autonomously by others?

What seems clear is that a fairly typical (in Nepali terms) party structure, the CPN(M), led by marginalized elites (the principal figures among whom, like Prachanda, were Brahmins), achieved traction through linkage with dissatisfied tribal formations, particularly Maggars (who appear historically to have provided a plurality of those recruited to the British Gurkhas). This was not unlike what occurred in the Hmong areas of the north during the unsuccessful effort of the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) or in the northern Luzon homelands of the Igorots during the 1980s heyday of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

There, the leadership was Maoist, the manpower grievance guerrillas. Whether the CPT or CPP actually exercised command and control over the tribal formations remains unclear, as it does in the CPN(M) case.

How the Maoists Wages War

In Nepal, the tribal formations appear to have been the heart of the main forces, Maoist battalions, just as the so-called “Secret Army” of the US in Laos was built upon Hmong alienated by North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao abuse. The Maoist battalions were in essence copies of the Indian Gurkha establishment (no surprise given the prominence in Maoist training of ex-figures from that establishment, which presently numbers more than 40 battalions). They were mixed gender, had good discipline, and fought effectively using standard though innovative tactical doctrine.

These forces, however, were a distinct minority amidst the violence that swept across Nepal. They were linked to the numerous local wars that raged in Nepal’s localities – theoretically, in the 3,913 Village Development Committees (VDCs, counties in Western terminology). It was at this local level that the atrocities largely took place.

Efforts to place the onus of human rights abuses on government forces do not hold up well, since they essentially sidestep the massive level of assault and maiming, not to mention destruction of infrastructure, that was carried out by Maoist local forces. Even as this debate has continued, what has not been touched – certainly not in Roy’s volume – is the connection between such local agency and Maoist central structures.

How much was ordered versus simply exploited?

The CPN(M) leadership throughout has claimed absolute control over the organization – except when it comes to owning up to widespread depredation. To the contrary, the Maoists continue to fall back upon denying that which is undeniable. They simply do not acknowledge that their movement wreaked havoc upon the country.

Yet the only defence is to claim that the main forces were the movement, and the rest occurred as commission by loosely affiliated fellow-travellers. This, of course, means they did not actually carry out the insurgency.

This is far from an idle issue, since lawlessness continues under the official umbrella of the Young Communist League (YCL; reflagged but the same organization), storm troopers drawn from the lumpen ranks but officered by the same Maoist chain-of-command that ran the main forces. As a consequence, the demoralized police, unable to act due to continuous political intervention, have been displaced by armed gangs linked to the major political parties.

It matters very much, too, as illustrated by “Prachandagate.” It is not that UNMIN “miscounted.” It is that the inspectors did not know what to count.

The Maoists packed both local and main forces into the camps, plus thousands of brand new recruits. In any Maoist structure, main forces (the battalions) are the tip of the iceberg. Most “combatants” are local forces, largely unarmed with high-powered firearms.

It is similar to the structure of any state security forces. In Nepal, the bulk of the armed representatives of the government are not in the army but in other forces, such as the police.

Hence – as Prachanda himself said in his defence – most of those in the camps were indeed “combatants” of sorts but not the “real guerrillas” that the world was hoodwinked into thinking it was counting. Further, while it could count weapons turned in, it had no way of knowing what was not turned in – and some of the best and most powerful pieces did not appear in the UNMIN inventories.

It has already been noted by one and all what happened next. The camps were used to expand the actual main forces (with the Maoists allowed to retain a proportion of their weapons), while the chain-of-command stood up new local forces – the YCL.

What, then, do the Maoists have in mind for the future of Nepal? Prachanda speaks constantly of the need to displace parliamentary democracy in favor of a people’s republic (though, as with the actual name of the CPN(M), a new formulation has lately been advanced).

Key elements in the Maoist leadership urge an outright power grab. Prachanda and his faction appear to feel that such would provoke, at best, isolation (not least from dominant India), at worst, external intervention (again, India is a prime candidate). Therefore, they urge caution, noting that the same end can be achieved without provocative action.

The Maoists themselves are rent by factionalism, with some truly odious characters not only urging but openly leading violent acts even as Prachanda consuls…what? As noted accurately in Nepali media, “Fierce One” seems all but schizophrenic in his shifts between conciliatory rhetoric and threats of vengeance to be visited upon any who seek to thwart the grandiose schemes of him or his party.

Revolution in the Revolution

Any student of the Nepali insurgency would have asked that such issues as discussed here be placed at the heart of a biography of Prachanda. Regrettably, they are not even raised much less addressed.

From knowledge, though, comes the ability to act. Would be that there had been an understanding of the basics of Maoist military structure. Key issues which remain for exploration by the media and academia:

• First, a discussion of the strategic thought of the Maoists is needed, especially of the factionalism that led to the fierce debates that occurred within the leadership ranks during the struggle. These offer the Rosetta Stone to Prachanda’s present conduct (and that of his faction).
• Second, how was operational advance during “the war” related to the individual positions of the Maoist leadership, especially Prachanda (who, judging from Nepali cell phone intercepts, spent much of the decade not in the theatre of operations but India)?
• Third, what were the actual mechanics whereby this advance was achieved? How, for example, did the urban commandos function in the Kathmandu Valley? Who gave the orders to kill those who were murdered and left hanging on poles throughout the country?
• Fourth, given the way events have been developing as concerns New Delhi, what was the relationship of Prachanda and his leadership to India? What was the agreement both thought they had reached? After all, it not only did not arrest him (Nepali security forces did provide to the Indians his whereabouts) but ultimately intervened decisively in favor of the insurgents.
• Fifth, what was the role played by fellow-travellers (both domestic and international) in the Maoist effort? At no time did Prachanda or the Maoists exist as isolated actors. They interacted with numerous Nepali political parties and individuals (e.g., elements of the press and the human rights establishment), as well as numerous foreign actors, official (e.g., certain embassies) and unofficial (e.g., certain INGOs). What was the end-game being pursued by these forces and how did it influence the conflict? Was Prachanda central or marginal to these activities?
• Sixth, how do the party factions relate to the present chaos and unwillingness of the Maoist movement to engage in good-faith reconciliation? To what extent is Prachanda a prisoner of the local forces that swept him to power or a shrewd politician playing the ends against the middle?
  

End-Game

Certainly the author pegs him as the latter, though no disinterested observer would accept this position without a great deal of scepticism. Put bluntly, as stated above in slightly different terms: what does “the unknown revolutionary” really believe?

Regrettably, no answers to these and other questions are to be found in the book. What we do know from readily available sources is not encouraging.

Power is the end-game for Prachanda and the Maoists. All they do revolves around that one goal.

Power can be gained “peacefully” – by which the Maoists mean the system surrenders to them and their plans for societal dismemberment. Or it can be achieved violently – what the Maoists are preparing to do with their street thugs (they have announced it).

If Roy’s book provides no answers, there are thousands (literally) which do. Pick up any volume on the rise of Fascism between the great wars. There, a reader will find spelled out chapter and verse what is unfolding in Nepal. Only the name of the storm-troopers has changed to protect the guilty.

An Open Letter to the United States of America

(Courtesy: Birat Simha)

To:
Mr. Robert O’Blake
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia

Your visit to Nepal on 12-13 June, today and tomorrow, is appropriate, timely and welcome. The papers say that you will be discussing a broad range of issues with top officials of the new government in Nepal during your visit to Kathmandu. I further understand that this is your first visit here in your present official capacity. As the representative of the United States and its new dynamic president, Barack Obama, we Nepalis expect much from your visit.

This country is going through a unique process. Some call it the birth pangs of democracy. Others are not so generous. Democracy, as envisaged by the drafters of your constitution, has not even showed its face in this euphemistically termed “New Nepal”. A communist rebellion was appeased by weak political parties with external support from a close neighbour. The country was declared secular, federal and a republic without putting these major issues to the people by the democratic process universally called “referendum”. The election of April 2008 was termed fair by the likes of Mr. Jimmy Carter who did this country no service by his callous statements. The past nine months of the Maoists-led coalition government has not improved this country by even an iota. The increased revenues are cited as an achievement. But these revenues were not able to be utilized for development. They remain useless in government bank accounts or perhaps in the deep pockets of some politicians.

Now we have a Prime Minister who lost the election in two constituencies. Our Foreign Minister is also similarly qualified. The Nepali Congress party, considered the harbinger of democracy in this country, is not democratic within itself. The CPN-UPL, to which party the new PM belongs to, does not even have enough internal unity to choose its ministers for the new cabinet. The Madhesi Janadadhikar Forum, with its quixotic demand for “One Madesh, One Pradesh” is splintered down the middle. These are the three largest parties in the Constituent Assemble, after the Maoists – all with internal in-fighting resulting in political impotence.

The Maoists, as every red-blooded American is aware of, are hell-bent on creating a “People’s Republic”. Their current flirtation with multi-party democracy is merely a tactical step towards their ultimate goal of state capture. No hope of democracy from their side.

So, Mr. O’Brien, representing the most powerful democracy in the world today, what are you going to do to help foster democracy in Nepal? We are fully aware of your country’s interest in Nepal as a potentially soft under-belly of China. But Nepal’s foreign policy vis-à-vis the Tibet issue is very different from the United State’s or India’s. It has to be because we must live with our two giant neighbours. During the past two years, Tibet’s office in Nepal has been closed down. Tibetan protesters at the Chinese Embassy here have been arrested, some rather viciously. Nepal does not have the luxury of American indulgence in Tibetan rights. Your actors, such as Richard Gere, may come here and highlight the issue of “freedom for Tibet”. But for us, China is a powerful neighbour who has also helped us much in development and with whom, I might add, we have no border encroachment problems. If the US wants Nepal to support the Tibet freedom movement, the geo-political equations here have to change drastically. Mind you, as a country which was never colonized, it would also be difficult for us to accept any overt forms of external intervention.

Mr. O’Brien, our new government has stated that the conclusion of the peace process and the timely drafting of the new Constitution are its priorities. And they should be. But how do we conclude the peace process when 19,000 rebel fighters are still camped in various parts of the country at the government’s expense, when it is an open secret that they have access to far more fire power than the few old guns locked up under UNMIN supervision, when the Maoists’ youth wing, the YCL, create havoc at will, when Maoist members of the CA openly declare that they can take over Kathmandu in a mere 12 hours. How is peace possible in this scenario? As for the Constitution, alas we here do not have any Jeffersons, Adams or Franklins which your country was fortunate to have in the 1760’s. We simply have a motley crew of power-hungry politicians. So let not America be surprised if the constitution making process is delayed or even aborted.

Democracy has rights and obligations. Few politicians in Nepal think about the latter. Leadership is a sin qua non. Alas again, we do not have anyone with the leadership stature of a George Washington. Of course, we also do not have anyone with the moral stature of a Abe Lincoln. Enough of what we do not have. We do have, I believe, a vibrant youth population who are seeing their dreams of a happy future fade away. A lot of them are educated and aware. Even the political parties have a “few” of them, except the fossilized leadership in these parties ignores the aspirations and potential of youth. You, Mr. O’Brien, have a President well under 50 years in age. The venerable icon of Nepali democracy (and I do revel in sarcasm at times) is nearing 90!

Let me not ramble on, Mr. O’Brien. We need support from America in the construction of a strong and vibrant democracy in this country. We know you have the ability to help us with this – and without outsourcing it regionally. We expect a lot from the fresh leadership in your country. And we too think, “Yes, we can!”

New Rules, Same Game

(Courtesy: Dr. Hari Bansha Dulal)

It did not take even three years for Nepali politicians, with their “business as usual,” under the table, tit-for-tat mentality, to get back to their infamous ways of mid-1990s. Once again, horse-trading of parliamentarians and backstabbing of fellow party men to grab and remain in power is back in vogue. Rules may have changed but the game remains the same.

The irony of Nepali politics is that the party which won the largest share of votes in the last election does not believe in multi-party democracy and the party – Nepali Congress (NC) – which calls itself the torchbearer of democracy and is the second-largest party in the parliament is the least democratic in its practices. By nominating Sujata Koirala, who is not even a member of the current parliament, to lead Nepali Congress (NC) in the new government, Girija Prasad Koirala (GPK) has put even the worst dictator to shame. As long as GPK is alive, it appears that the scourge of nepotism will never leave NC. Now, we all know what “democracy in peril” talk of GPK during the Maoist rule was all about, don’t we?

If we look around, it becomes pretty clear that dirty politics of yesteryears is here to stay with us as long as the likes of GPK are around. This is probably going to be the last chance to weaken the Maoists, who are hell bent on annihilating the multi-party democratic set-up, but looking at GPK’s actions it becomes clear that he is least interested in securing the liberty and freedom of people and more interested in establishing his controversial daughter with zero political acumen in politics. If democracy is all about the likes of Sujata becoming a minister, then people of Nepal will soon back the Maoists for whatever they stand for. For the poorest of poor, whatever the Maoists will have to offer will still be far better than what the likes of Sujata will offer anyways.

The new prime minister, who actually lost the CA elections to a junior Maoist politician, is here to solve the problem with Sujata as a minister and Kul Bahadur Khadka as the security advisor. Trying to consolidate democracy with the assistance of people like these is like banking on Osama Bin Laden to destroy Al Qaeda. Sujata should have faced disciplinary action and Khadka should have been court-martialed for his treacherous act. Rewarding them is the biggest sham in the country today in the name of democracy. With Sujata as a cabinet minister and Khadka as a possible national security adviser, do the Maoists need a mole in the government?

Madhav Kumar Nepal (MKN), with liabilities like Sujata on board and his flip-flopping past, does not come across as someone who can actually solve the problems that confronts the nation. Hiring the right people to do the job is the most important indicator of whether or not the job at hand will be successfully done. Even though it is NC’s prerogative to choose the members it likes to have in the cabinet, it was MKN’s responsibility to ensure that his cabinet members are competent, non-controversial and relatively clean so that people have faith on their ability to deliver in this troubling time. By caving in to GPK’s irresponsible and morally-repugnant act of nominating his daughter as a leader of the NC in the new cabinet, MKN has actually shown that he is ready to compromise his principles and stoop as low as possible to remain in power. If you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

MKN may try to please everyone from GPK to Pushpa Kamal Dahal (PKD) by nominating Sujata and Khadka to increase the longevity of his tenure but by walking in the middle-of-the road, he has tremendously increased the possibility of getting run over by traffic coming in from the opposite direction.

At this point in time, Nepali people are not asking for much. They would be happy if he could just provide them an opportunity to live in peace. Asking for employment, social safety nets and access to healthcare services, which is by and large the government’s responsibility, would be like expecting a mule to give birth to a calf for us to worship during the upcoming “Laxmi Pooja”. So, no point raising our expectations. If politicians’ words were to be taken seriously, we would already have been like Switzerland long time ago.

On contrary, the politics of social mobilization, which the political parties carried out recklessly has surpassed institutional capacity and has dangerously destabilized the country. Maintaining a certain degree of law and order alone will be a great challenge for MKN as violators of law and order have enough cards at their disposal to play, when busted. Ethnicity, caste and class are the few cards that will remain potent to justify innocence till the government ensures inclusion of the people that have been bypassed by the political elites for decades. Providing cabinet berths to a few people from ethnic and indigenous groups is not the answer. Make everyone equal.

In order to empower people, one does not have to be a rebel. Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery, was not a rebel. Was he? Actually people who have been a rebel have fared far worse when it comes to empowering people. Our very own PKD did everything to extract political support from ethnic minorities but when it came to empowering them, he followed in GPK’s footsteps and nominated a couple of people from selected ethnic groups to show that he was sympathetic towards minorities’ rights.

MKN has a chance of a lifetime. His pragmatic actions, which may not be popular at times – and does not have to be – can whitewash his “flip-flopping” past. But, at the same time, if he is unable to come out of the spell of the likes of GPK and PKD and deliver, he will prove that he is just another goofball always ready to compromise on principles and stoop low to remain in the corridors of power.

(This writing was originally published here. It has been reproduced on NepaliPerspectives with the Author's consent)

Role of Energy in New Nepal

(Courtesy: Kalyan Dev Bhattarai)

To day from politicians to intellectuals all are talking about new Nepal, future Nepal, inclusive Nepal and blab blab. The objectives of the different groups may be different to speak about new Nepal, from deceiving the poor innocent people to fulfill their petty interest to real determination of developing the country in new and progressive way. However, what ever pretext you add in front of Nepal to stress your determination to develop Nepal, it will not be fulfilled until you are able to use your available natural resources like the water, herbs, forest, manpower, natural diversity, traditional culture, and etc to the maximum possible in optimum way.

Our small lovely country is well equipped with many types of resources like human, raw minerals, water, forest, and many others but due to lack of political willpower, rampant corruption and absence of required dedication to develop the country, we are unable to use our available resources even to the minimum level. Here we all must understand clearly that by the rhetoric speech of the present day corrupt politician the country can neither develop nor solve its centuries old problems of poverty, exploitation, illiteracy, caste & religious supremacy, corruption, and lack of awareness. These were the main issues and responsible for the Maoist to raise arms and if we are unable to solve these problems some new power will develop in the country and start another arms struggle. To solve all the mentioned problems country need new leadership of young generation with new vision and determination with self respect earned through the honesty and dedication to wards the country. The same old corrupt bunch of hypocritical present day leadership can bring no change.

The vision of future Nepal can not and will not be materialize by following the same old culture of deceiving people and fulfilling the vested interest of few corrupt and proven failures of the past. Future Nepal must be visualized by youth generation to include their aspiration and fulfill their political, social and economical requirement rather than by the same old bureaucrats and decision makers, who have bitterly failed not only to fulfill their responsibility but also to lead the country in the path of development and also bitterly misused and sabotaged the trust of the people. See how cunningly the present P.M provided millions of rupees to his brother Mr. Sushil Koirala in the mane of medical treatment and also to K,P Bhattraai to build his house. Such type of looting the national property is the main objectives of present day leaders and to hope that the same corrupt politicians will build new Nepal is intellectual bankruptcy.

With this introduction I am limiting myself in this article to the role of energy in future Nepal, provided the country is lead by new young generation. It is a well known fact that Nepal has the vast water resources to develop our country provided the country can come out of the old stupid notion that “Nepal can be rich by selling electricity to India” This totally wrong, and antinational concept is developed and campaigned by water mafia group, who from their illegal earning are able to influence the decision makers and other concerned sector of the society as they have plenty of liquid cash earned through commission and other wrong doings. The simple logic of business is that one who invests will get the fruit of profit. Nepal at present economic scenario can not investment required money for possible mega projects and who invests in such projects they will benefit from such projects. The government can be expected to get the fixed royalty as mentioned in the water law and other benefits mentioned in the agreement if any, which can not be major to make any country rich, as in such scenario no outside investor will come to invest huge money.

If we can come out of this stupid notion of selling the hydropower energy to India and getting rich, the opportunity is there to vastly develop our own country by using our own resources for our own benefit. Hydropower is one of the main available natural resources, if properly used can play very important role to develop Nepal fast and vastly fulfilling the vision of new-Nepal. The vision of new Nepal can not be achieved fully depending upon donor’s co-operation, aid and loan. All such cooperation is required for developing country like Nepal, but only as a secondary source, the primary source should be the proper utilization of our own natural resources, honesty, and strong determination to develop the country. Hydropower is one of the main natural resources of the country available for the development of the country. I see the following uses of hydropower in Nepal to cope with the requirement of new-Nepal.

Present scenario

At present Nepal produces only 397.89 MW (Excluding the three thermal power installation of 55.66 MW in total) out of possible 83000 MW potentialities, out of which 42330 MW is proved economically feasible. This shows how poor is our utilization of available resources.
The 550 KW Pharphing hydropower plant was the first hydropower of country which was installed during 1911. It took more than three decades to add another 640KW Sundarijal plant. Further 2.5 MW plant of Panauti was added in 1965.In 1989 the total installed capacity reached to 250 MW due to cooperation of friendly countries and financial institution like World Bank.
The hydropower development was very slow due to various factors and the period of nineties was wasted arguing on the yes or no for Arun III project. In 1995 World Bank pulled out from Arun III which placed the country in imbalance situation of demand and supply, forcing the country to start load shedding

At present load shedding is regular phenomena and future looks more blink. Even with the present growth rate the projected demand of the country by 2020 will be 1840 MW suggesting big gap in supply.

In this scenario our thrust for the optimum utilization of our available resources of the Hydropower should be to develop Hydropower in the range of 50-60 MW cumulatively in all the 75 districts instead of thinking of Mega projects like Pancheswor, Mahakali etc. This policy of developing of Hydropower in all the 75 districts will provide regional balance on development and provide benefits on social, political, and techno-economic sectors. With this policy we will be able to generate a kind of trust to the people from east to west that they are not neglected and included in the path of development. Further this will provide the required energy to all the 75 districts for the industrial growth as well as for other purpose like domestic etc.

Transportation

Transportation is one of the vital sectors for the development of the country to materialize the dream of the new Nepal. Without linking all the seventy five districts of the country with each other to facilitate the flow of the products of each district easily and cheaply, the vision of new Nepal can not be fulfilled. To day we are in such a pathetic situation where we can not supply our own products like apple of mustang, Junar of Ramachap and food grains of southern belt, to all seventy five districts and force to import the same materials in costly price from outside. I feel shame to accept that even after 56 long years of so called independency many of my country’s districts are not connected by road and poor citizen must walk along the ups and downs of the hills to go from one part of the country to other parts even to fulfill simple requirements of governmental formalities.

The frequent landslides and other problems especially during rainy season which hamper the road transportation is mainly due to, the fact that we are forced to cut the slope during the road construction to maintain its required width.

Net work of Electrical Trains

The best solution to visualize the new Nepal is not to connect the districts by 4-6 lane wide high ways but to connect all the seventy five districts of the country with narrow gauge electrical train. This will utilize the available hydropower of the country and save billions of foreign currency which are used to buy fossil fuels from foreign countries. Further this will fulfill our requirements of transportation network essential for the country’s development. The technology is so well developed that it is not necessary to build wide and standard highway which forces us to cut the hill slope to high degree making the landslide and other natural disaster inevitable, to fulfill our transport network, which can be easily accomplished by network of electric train. In addition to this electrical train along the east-west highway will also save lot of money which can be used for other development process

Trolley buses

Similarly the use of trams and electrical buses in the major cosmopolitan cities like Katmandu, Pokhara, Biratnagar, birgung, Butal, Bhairava and many others will save our hard earned foreign currency which are used at present for buying fossil fuels like petroleum, diesel etc.

Rope Ways

Nepal being mountainous the transportation of any construction or day-to-day usable materials from one place to other is very difficult, costly and time consuming. The rope way which has huge potential in the country and very useful as well as practical also can be well developed by properly utilizing the hydropower of the country and can change the development scenario of the country to fit with the vision of new Nepal.

The only cable car of Manakamna has proved that if properly use, cable car can also play very important role in transportation sector, and also can be successful commercially also. There are many potential sites where cable car can be as successful as Manakamna. In new Nepal I see many cable cars all round the country connecting the important temples and tourist center like Muktinath, Gosaikunda, Pathibhara, Thorang, Pass etc.

Industry

The vision of new Nepal can not be achieved with out industrial revolution in the country. Industrial development of the country is very essential to develop our country fast to fulfill the basic requirement of the new-Nepal and the most important factor for the industrial growth is the easy availability of required energy in reasonable price. Without required energy you can not imagine of industrial growth in the country and without industrial growth you can not fulfill the vision of new Nepal.

Fortunately our country has huge potential of hydropower to fulfill the requirement of energy for fast and vast industrial growth to any scale. To day due to high price and unavailability of electricity many potential industry like cement factory, electrolysis, are not feasible in Nepal even though other requirement like raw materials and labor force are easily available in competitive price. Even the existing rubber factory is in problem simply because it can not depend on the energy supply of the NEA and forced to use high priced diesel generated energy to fulfill its requirement

Not only cement and rubber Industry many other industry like automobile industry, electrolysis of water to separate oxygen and hydrogen where the hydrogen can be used to develop fuel to cars, and oxygen for hospital, pesticide/fertilizer industry, canning industry especially where the available fruits like orange, apple lemon, Junar etc have limited market in its natural form due to various reasons can be easily developed provided the energy is available in cheep price.

To-day Nepal lacks industry not because it has no essential raw materials but because any industry becomes economically unfeasible due to high price of energy and compulsion of under table money in every step of our development. At present the government acts as a hurdle for any type of industrial development or any entrepreneurship and can be said without any hesitation that without bringing change in this attitude the vision of new Nepal is impossible. With the hope that the new government of Maoist will take necessary measurement to curb the rampant corruption through the development of due punishment culture to the corrupt people in the country, the development of hydropower will help for the industrial revolution in the country.

Fisheries

Fisheries development is another sector where the tailrace water of hydropower can be properly used and economic benefit can be obtained.

Agriculture

Agriculture is another sector, the development of which is essential to achieve the vision of new Nepal. Nepal being agricultural country and most of the population of the country being engaged in agriculture and its related activities, to imagine Nepal will develop without development of agriculture and its related sector will be foolishness. In this context the role of hydropower become very important to develop the agriculture sector. Irrigation is one of the important parameters for the development of agriculture sector that cannot be optimally developed without the energy being available at reasonable cost.

The government plan to invest heavily on irrigation scheme especially using the underground water through shallow as well as deep tube well scheme. Today most of the tube well scheme is being unproductive mainly due to the heavy tariff of electricity, especially after the removal of the subsidies in the shallow tube well scheme. At present government is continuing the subsidies in the surface as well as deep tube well scheme, but under great pressure from international donor agencies to remove the subsidies. By optimally using our available water resources for the generation of hydropower, the price of the energy can be brought to affordable rate, which will create such a situation where the subsidies from government will not be required for any type of irrigation scheme.

Cold storage and chilling house

The potentiality of chilling house and cold storage in Nepal is very high due to the transportation problems. To fulfill the aspiration of people, new Nepal need as many chilling house and cold storage as the cold drinks and wine shop are noticed to-day. To day due to high energy tariff few of the existing cold storage and chilling house are also not functioning properly and economically unviable. The unsuccessful stories of chilling house and cold storage are mainly due to high energy tariff and we must make the energy available in cheep and affordable price. This is possible if we start developing hydropower at the range of 70-100MW cumulatively in each districts.

Herbal Plants

Nepal is very rich in herbal plants and all types of medically important plants are available in the country. But unfortunately the Nepalese people are unable to use such available resources of the country which are exploited by few corrupt people. This is because the government lacks the proper planning to tap all these available resources and make the best use of these resources. The vision of new Nepal will not be successful with out using tall such naturally available resources of the country. To use all such herbal and other related plants we must have numbers of pharmaceutical industry in the country and that is possible provided we can supply the uninterrupted energy in affordable price. This is not possible with out developing our vastly available hydropower.

Replacement of Traditional Energy

It is a known fact that to day electricity cover only 3% of our total energy use and rest all are cover by wood, fossil fuel, cow dung and etc. Such use of energy in a country where the potentially for hydropower is huge is very ridiculous. Further the environmental effect by use of all these energy and its ill effect in the health of the population are also well known. In this context the new Nepal must replace all such use of traditional energy like wood, cow dung fossil fuel etc by clean energy so that the environmental ill effect as well as the health hazards are minimized. Such replacement is possible only if we changed our concept that Nepal can be rich by selling energy to India and start using our resources for our own use for the development of the Nepalese people.

Conclusion

In this short article I can not deal all the related matters in details. My stress is just to express that the new Nepal concept can not be achieved simply by formulating plan but require some drastic modification in the development concept. Hydropower is our resources and best use of these available resources for our own development is the only possible and feasible solution. So far country’s policy is prepared based on personal vested interest without giving any importance to the development of the people. Time has come now to change our development concept and start doing something seriously for the development of the country and its people.