Seeds of hope

I have no doubts about the prosperous future of this country, and I am thrilled with the number of positive news items about agriculture lately. Farmers in Mustang and Kaski are earning millions from mushroom farming. In Kabilbastu, a botanist has created a unique medicinal plant which he sells at Rs 700 per bulb. Hill oranges growing in the Tarai town of Inaruwa have made a former DDC chairman prosperous. In Nawaparasi, a former chief of the CIAA and several bureaucrats have invested Rs 100 thousand each and started cultivating medicinal plants with an initial capital of Rs 10 million. In Jiri, I met a German national who has been raising Alpacas to produce wool that is worth about Rs 100,000 per kilogram on the international market.

While on one hand, there are amazing stories of entrepreneurship from across Nepal, there are also people who do nothing for themselves and only loot hard earned money from others. Schools are being extorted, businessmen are forced to cough up money. The unholy alliance between the politicians and bureaucrats are stripping the country bare of its trees, our mountains are being demolished for sand, gravel and other natural resources. Community forests have become the private property of looters.

Most Nepalis don't really care who gets into government. They will be content as long as there are jobs, there is development and they can work with freedom and dignity. The irony is we are stuck with politicians who don't even have the moral ground to lecture on good governance.

I suggest we make a consortium of industrious people who have shown by doing that there is hope. I have land in the hills and plains, let me contribute that. Let the scientists contribute their skills and knowledge. Let financial institutions chip in with capital and let the common people invest their labour. Let us build a project where everyone has a stake, where everyone has equal claims on the costs and the profits. If we combine our talents and resources there is no reason our country should lag behind.