Nepal has been under a state lockdown for quite a month. The restriction, which was imposed by the state as a measure to regulate the coronavirus on March 24 for every week , has been extended thrice, and it's still uncertain when the country will finally open. Fortunately, no death of a corona patient has been reported yet, but the amount of corona positives has been increasing day by day.
The lockdown has heavily affected the lifetime of the commoner, especially the poor people working within the country and abroad. Most of them are daily-wage workers, who are now out of labor , and with none earnings to survive within the city, they're wanting to reach their villages. For them, it's range in the village which will ensure food along side other basic comforts for the family. But thanks to a ban on bus services, they need been making even a 700-km journey by foot. Most of them have faced harassment by the police on the way, and a few of them even brutally beaten also . a number of them tried to swim across big rivers just like the Mahakali to succeed in the country from India as they were wanting to reach home. But those that reached Nepal after a risky swim were taken into police custody.
Here one could argue that the Nepal-state has denied the citizens the proper to return to their home country. along side this, questions on citizenship and ideas of home and belongingness have arisen. However, the govt , especially the Prime Minister of Nepal, has reacted to things as if nobody is facing hunger.
He termed the news coverage as “media conspiracy” to point out that the govt is performing poorly.
While citizens live in anxiety and facing a difficult situation, the govt has been involved during a number of controversies. Two ministers are accused of corruption while procuring medical equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. it had been the govt which signed a contract worth Rs 1.24 billion with Omni Group to import pandemic-related medical equipment. it had been done by escaping the procurement procedure, citing it as an urgent situation. But the intention to permit a personal company with none experience was to form unnecessary profit using the crisis. Omni brought some materials, namely, PPEs, N95 masks, surgical masks and surgical gloves, portable Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machines and rapid testing kits from China but at a really high price.
Also the standard of those materials was questioned. for instance , the rapid testing kits, which were brought by Omni, were said to be unreliable and showing false negative results. it's reported that doctors questioned the standard of the PPE sets and even the portable PCR machines. the govt , which initially defended the procurement, decided to scrap the affect Omni group under mounting pressure from the people and media. But the controversy didn't end there.
Instead of handling probable suppliers through the govt organs, just like the embassy, the task was handed over to the Nepal Army. Why was the military chosen by the govt after such a lot controversy? How could the military be the proper institution to import medical equipment because it was beyond its professionalism? As these equipment have yet to arrive Nepal, another pertinent question to ask is: what is going to be things if the coronavirus spreads here as in Europe and therefore the USA?
Another controversy was generated by the Nepali government when it tried to bring two irrelevant ordinances. While the entire world was fighting against the pandemic, the govt issued two ordinances on April 20. One ordinance was associated with the party Act, which, if amended, would allow any party to separate if 40 per cent of its central members or parliamentary party members want to register a replacement party. the sooner provision allowed a celebration to separate as long as 40 per cent of the members of both the central committee and parliamentary party were in favour. Eyebrows were raised when the Prime Minister defended the ordinance at the Party Secretariat, saying it had been introduced to ease the split of 1 of the opposition parties within the Parliament.
Another ordinance, associated with the Constitutional Council, would allow it to require decisions even with just two votes out of its six members. The move of the govt has been opposed not only by leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party , but also by the opposition parties, commoners and civil society also .
As President Bidya Devi Bhandari approved those controversial ordinances within hours of their issuance by the cupboard , it led many to question whether the Office of the President had become an arm of the chief . Once one among the controversial ordinances was set into motion, a sequence of events occurred, eventually culminating within the alleged “kidnapping” of a politician and therefore the long-awaited merger of two Madhesi parties.
The media reported that the PM had deployed some leaders “to hold talks” with the leaders of the third largest party within the Parliament- Samajbadi Party – to explore a possible split. Six lawmakers had reportedly already gathered in Kathmandu as per the plan, and one lawmaker, Surendra Yadav, who was in Janakpur, was delivered to Kathmandu during a vehicle on PM Oli’s instructions.
However, unable to weather the criticisms coming from various corners, including strong protests from within the ruling party, the govt decided to scrap the controversial ordinance after just five days. Critics say that the ordinance was “against the principles of power devolution, checks and balances and democracy ,” which “the government was subverting the constitutional spirit and bypassing the Parliament.”
With one ill-timed political controversy after another being created by the govt , the Nepali people haven't been ready to consider fighting against the corona pandemic. Rather that they had to fight almost simultaneously against the undemocratic and non-transparent government moves. it had been the time for the govt to specialise in arranging medicines and other required logistics to fight the virus, and make arrangements for food and other minimal requirements for the people thanks to the nationwide lockdown. But many Nepalis feel that the govt has been insensitive, partial and discriminatory towards its citizens when it involves distributing relief materials, conducting rescue operations or testing for COVID-19 and providing patients health facilities.
The way the govt takes decisions and withdraws them after sometime makes it appear weak. Such indecisiveness erodes its image and isn't good for the country at a time when it's within the midst of a crisis. the govt must work with the people during a very interactive and transparent manner to win their heart and soul.
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