By Babbler

The Foreign Minister must look after the diplomatic relations and maintain the foreign policy of the country. Surely, the FM will be frequently visiting foreign countries as it is his/her duty. Nevertheless, there should be a clear mission for such visits. Talking about our Foreign Minister Dr Arzu Rana Deuba, spouse of Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, is fond of visiting either India or Japan so frequently. Many times, she visited India and also spent weeks there without business. She is also visiting Japan frequently. Just last week, she was in Japan to attend a conclave on senior citizens. She attended the event in the capacity of an NGO expert on Safe Motherhood, an NGO run by her.

This Babbler believes that Mrs Deuba is fond of visiting foreign countries, and she is enjoying the trip as much as possible. The burning question is whether the nation has benefited from such foreign junkets except for exploiting the government treasury?

Politics on salt

The nation needs to run government undertakings and also companies run under public-private partnerships (PPP) to intervene in the market. The Salt Trading Company is a business organ operating under the government and private shares. This company was solely responsible for supplying salt but when Motilal Duggar, businessman cum UML leader eyed the salt business, UML’s “clean” chairman and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli decided to reward the license to Duggar for the supply of salt.

The UML government wished to reward the salt business to a businessman, perhaps, appreciating his contribution to the party. 

Decades ago, National Trading Ltd was established by King Mahendra with the idea of trade diversification. It was working properly, however, at the whim of the then prime minister Baburam Bhattarai, it was shut down. Having such short-sighted political leaders, we cannot imagine the prosperity of the nation. 

Electricity business

Just recently, the new Nepal Electricity Authority's executive chief, Hitendra Shakya, informed that Nepal is currently exporting electricity to India at the price of Indian currency, four rupees per unit. According to the exchange rate, it is Rs. 6.40 per unit. India is receiving Nepal's electricity almost free of cost. If the NEA had supplied the electricity to local industries, the cost of our industrial products could be cheaper and we could compete in the international market. Such a government policy could contribute to the industrialisation of the nation. Unfortunately, we are talking about becoming rich by exporting electricity!    

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Provoking citizens to clash with each other out of personal vendetta is extremely dangerous for the country. When a person entrusted with the responsibility of running the country cannot rise above party interests, ordinary citizens do not feel safe within the country. These individuals are no longer worthy of being the Prime Minister of this nation.

Sameer Mani (A) Dixit

What symptoms indicate that someone has completely lost their mind, and what public responsibilities should such individuals not be given? The enlightened psychiatrists of the country should not delay in speaking out publicly!

Laxman Ghimire

Without shame or disgust, people continue to give explanations, but after the drought of morality, they have stooped to such levels. Those who see them as fit for the Ministry of Home Affairs, are they true democrats or just fools? Even if they get a share of 50 lakhs, they must have lost a bit of their sense.

Bishnu Pokhrel

In the last 10 months, there has been a significant improvement in the economy—let's calculate it: 1 month = an average of 30 days! Ramesh Lekhak has been the Home Minister for 10 months! That means 30×10 = 300 days! Daily collection = 5 million rupees, collection for 300 days = 5 million × 300 days = a total collection of 15 billion. It's true, there has been a significant change in the economy of the smugglers. But, the people's kitchen is empty.

Dr Santosh Ghimire

It was not surprising that KP Oli made a violent statement. His past, level, character, and pettiness are well-known. What was shocking was that a party like Congress, which claims to be democratic, is supporting a tyrannical ruler like KP Oli just to keep Arzu as a minister and collect bribes from Ramesh Lekhak. Shame! How does a dictatorial and violent prime minister who instructs peaceful protesters to be violent fit into the Congress democracy? Does any Congress have an answer? Or are they intoxicated by the last supper?

Uddhav Raj Bhetuwal

I am a citizen of that country where the Prime Minister himself says, "Attack on the opponents, move ahead." He orders the party's goons to incite violence from public ceremonies, telling them to attack groups that come onto the streets, killing the rights granted by the constitution. And I just sit and watch.

Basanta Ghimire

When the Prime Minister, whose responsibility is to ensure the security and freedom of expression of the opposition and protect the right to peaceful protests, gives a provoking statement, it will lead the country towards political confrontation and incite violence. Let's not support such actions.

Jainendra Jeevan

I was very young during the Panchayat era, and there are only faded memories about it. There used to be 'protest rallies' by people's class organizations. Now, an individual sitting in the prime minister's chair declares from capturing Kathmandu. What kind of democracy is this?

Gajendra Budhathoki

While leasing forest land to construct a cable car on a hill, the then Minister of Forests went to Baluwatar with the money to give to the then Prime Minister. When he tried to hand over the bag of money, the Prime Minister said, "No, no, no..., I don't get involved in such things," and pointed him to another room. When he went to the other room, the Prime Minister's wife was reportedly waiting. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak's explanation might be something like, "If something wrong happened with my own hands."

The visit visa episode!

Dilli Basel

It would be wrong to dismiss the recent visit visa-related incident as just a normal administrative issue. This is not a simple visit visa matter; it is a serious criminal activity directly related to human trafficking. Ramesh Lekhak is not the only one responsible. Since his tenure, the practice of collecting illegal amounts at the airport in the name of visit visas to send Nepali citizens abroad has started, hasn't it? Since when did this begin? Everyone involved in this should be investigated. The problem is not limited to individuals; it is a result of structural and institutional dysfunction, which could involve various levels of government employees, agents, brokers, and influential individuals. In such cases, it is essential to identify the guilty parties and bring them under legal action. All those involved in such illegal activities must be held accountable to send a strong message that such actions should not be repeated and to restore public trust in the state.

Deepak Raj Joshi

Nepali Congress is not a political party but a private limited company of those Bahadurs.

M.P. Sunil Sharma

In fact, being an entrepreneur in Nepal is quite stressful — the bureaucratic terror of the employee system, the state's tax terror, the party's donation terror, the media's advertisement blackmail, the threat of goons, and the public's tendency to label you as a 'smuggler, mafia, and broker'...

Birat Aanupam

Those who won elections enjoy posts as much as they want! The rest who lost the elections and those who retired from the government job should get the post! Isn't this the current claim? Get a seat and be merry!

Madhu Raman Acharya

(Excerpted and translated by Sushma Shrestha)