खुमबहादुर, धर्मको राजनीति गर्नु अघि तथ्यांक त सही बोल!

तस्वीर: सेतोपाटि.कम 

कहिलेकाँहीं म नेपालमा तथ्यांकको प्रयोगको दूर्दशा देखेर हैरान हुनेगर्छु। भर्खरै भ्रस्टाचारको मुद्दा खेपेर राजनीतिमा फर्कने ठाउँ खोज्दै गरेका नेपाली कांग्रेसका नेता खुमबहादुर खडकाले प्रयोग गरेको तथ्यांक देख्दा भने म नलेखी बस्नै सकिन।

हाम्रा नेताज्यूहरु तथ्यांकको मनपरी प्रयोग गर्नुहुन्छ, यो भर्खरैको घटना एउटा ज्वलन्त उदाहरण मात्र हो।

सेतोपाटीको साउण्ड क्लाउडमा भएको अडियो रेकर्डको ५ औं मिनेटमा नेता खड्काले प्रयोग गरेको तथ्यांक आंशिक रूपमा सहि छैन। उनले भने जस्तो नेपालमा हिन्दु धर्मावलम्बीको जनसंख्या ९४ प्रतिशत नभई ८१.३४ छ। 

हिन्दु धर्मको आडमा धेरै अघिदेखि राजनीति गर्दै आएका राप्रपा-नेपालका नेता कमल थापाले पनि ९४ प्रतिशत नेपालीको हिन्दु धर्म भनेको मैले सुनेको छु। थापाकै पदचाँप पछ्याएका खड्काले सायद धर्मको तथ्यांक पनि उनीबाटै लिएका होलान। धर्मको नाममा राजनीति गर्नेले पहिले तथ्यांक त सहि बोलुन्।  कम्तिमा त्यति धर्म त नछोडुन्। 

केन्द्रीय तथ्यांक विभागले प्रकाशित गरेको राष्ट्रिय जनगणना २०६८ को नतिजामा प्रस्ट उल्लेख गरिएको कुरा हो। सोहि प्रतिवेदनको पृष्ठ ४ पढे पनि नेपालमा कुन धर्ममा आस्था भएका व्यक्ति कति छन भन्ने स्पस्ट हुन्छ र सोहि प्रतिवेदनको पृष्ठ १४४ मा विस्तृत रूपमा तथ्यांक प्रस्तुत गरिएको छ।

यदि उनको ज्ञान अलि पुरानो भयो होला सायद २०५८ को तथ्यांक पो सम्झिए कि भन्दा समेत हिन्दु धर्मावलम्बीको जनसंख्या ८१.०८ मात्रै छ।

सार्वजनिक स्थानमा सार्वजनिक महत्वको र रास्ट्रिय राजनीतिमा तरंग ल्याउने मुद्दाको तथ्यांकीय आधार नै गलत छ। म तथ्यांक केलाउने तथ्यांककार होइन र मलाई यहाँ मेरो ज्ञान प्रस्तुत गर्न मन लागेको पनि होइन।

यो देशको सामान्य र सचेत नागरिकको हैसियतले म केन्द्रीय तथ्यांक विभागको धर्म सम्बन्धि तथ्यांक यहाँ प्रस्तुत गर्दैछु ता कि खड्काजस्ता कुनै नेता फेरि आएर सम्पूर्ण जनतालाई उल्लु बनाउन नसकुन।

२०६८ को जनगणनामा १० धर्महरुको रिपोर्ट गरिएको छ। जस बमोजिम कुल जनसंख्याको ८१.३ प्रतिशतले हिन्दु धर्म मान्छन भने, ९ प्रतिशत बौद्ध धर्म, ४.४ प्रतिशतले इस्लाम, ३.१ प्रतिशतले किराँत, १.४ प्रतिशतले इसाई, ०.५ प्रतिशतले प्रकृति धर्म मान्ने गरेका छन भने बोन, जैन, सिख, बहाई धर्मावलम्वीहरुको प्रतिशत न्यून रहेको छ।

  

कुरा यहाँ तथ्यांकको मात्रै छैन। कुरा यहाँ कस्ता व्यक्तिहरुले कस्तो मुद्दाको उठान गर्दै छन् भन्ने हो। जुन व्यक्तिलाई आफूले उठान गर्न लागेको मुद्दाका वा समुदाय कति छन भन्ने थाहा छैन ती व्यक्तिले कसरी त्यो समुदाय र जनसंख्याको उचित नेतृत्व गर्न सक्छन भन्ने पनि हो।

राजनीतिका नाममा गलत तथ्यांक प्रस्तुत गरेर मुद्दा उठान गर्नु आफैँमा एक बेइमानी हो। त्यसमाथि नेतृत्व भनेको सर्व स्वीकार्य हुनुपर्छ।

यहाँ बुझ्नुपर्ने कुरा के छ भने खुमबहादुर खड्काले आफूलाई रास्ट्रको नेताको रूपमा उभ्याउन खोज्दै छैनन्। उनले आफूलाई केवल एक धर्मको नेताका रूपमा उभ्याउन खोजेका छन्।

यदि उनलाई यस मुद्दाले धेरै सताउदो हो त उनले आफ्नै पार्टी नेपाली कांग्रेस भित्र यसको बहस गर्न सक्थे, पार्टी नेतृत्वलाई दवाव दिन सक्थे। तर, त्यसको विपरित उनि पार्टीभित्रका बिभिन्न कारणले असन्तुस्ट पक्षसँग मिलेर पार्टी बाहिर धर्मको विषय उठाउदै हिडेका छन्।

राजनीति प्रति चरम आशक्ति भएको एउटा व्यक्तिले आफ्नो आशक्ति लुकाउन नसकेको कुरा उदांगो भएको छ यति बेला। 

भ्रस्टाचारका कारण मुलधारको राजनीतिमा पुनः आउन निकै कठिनाई हुनु, नेपाली कांग्रेस पार्टी भित्र विस्तारै आफ्नो प्रभाव कम हुदै जानु, तथा विगतका चुनावमा हार्नुले कम हुँदै गरेको आफ्नो राजनैतिक शक्तिलाई पुनः प्राप्त गर्ने मौकाका रूपमा यस मुद्दालाई खड्काले हेरेका होलान्।

खड्का एक कुशल राजनैतिक खेलाडी हुन् र उनले राजनीतिमा पुनरागमन गर्ने उपायका रूपमा यस मुद्दालाई छानेको हुनुपर्छ। आखिर यो मुद्दाले उनलाई कहिँ नपुर्‍याए पनि उनलाई घाटा त केहि छैन। एक पटक बाजी मारी हेर्ने, दाउ परे ठिकै छ नत्र नोक्सानी त केहि छैन उनलाई।

यस मुद्दाले खड्कालाई कहाँ पुर्‍याउने हो त्यो त समयले भन्ला तर, उनले उठान गरेको मुद्दालाई जनताले संबिधानसभाको चुनावमा हराएको सर्व विदितै छ।

जो व्यक्तिसँग केहि छ उसलाई केहि गुमाउने डर हुन्छ तर जो व्यक्तिसँग अब गुमाउन बाँकी केहि छैन त्यो व्यक्तिले केहि गुमाउन सक्दैन तर आफूले पहिले गुमाएको कुरा प्राप्त गर्न जे पनि गर्न सक्छ।

हिन्दु धर्मका नाममा राजनीति गर्नुको साटो हिन्दु धर्मका नाममा स्वच्छ मनले समाजसेवामा लाग्दा खड्का जस्ता नेतालाई जनताले पत्याउने थिए र बिगतमा केहि पाप गरेको भए पुण्य समेत मिल्ने थियो।

यति बेला कसैले केहि अतिवादी सोच ल्याएर संक्रमणकालीन अवस्थाको फाइदा लिन खोज्छ भने त्यसको प्रतिकार सचेत नागरिकहरुको दायित्व हो आवश्यक पर्दा गर्नुपर्छ।

म न कुनै धर्मको समर्थक वा कुनै धर्मको विरोधी हो। म विरोधी हुँ भने केवल त्यो सोचको जसले देशमा एकै बोल्ने, एकै धर्म मान्ने, एकै देखिने व्यक्ति हुनुपर्छ भनी सोच्छन्। 

(सेतोपाटि.कम )

Students from the global south embrace open online courses

In conversation with Matt McGarrity, Senior Lecturer in the Communication Department at the University of Washington, whose Intro to Public Speaking course is one of the most popular MOOC’s. (Photo by Ranak Martin)

Think of all of the stress you might suffer applying to get into an Ivy League school — and all the money you’d spend to actually attend one.

Well believe it or not, these days the courses offered by these Ivy League universities are available free of cost in few clicks. These online courses have been hailed for “democratizing” higher education.

A typical MOOC — shorthand for “Massive Open Online Course”  — uses a blend of technologies like virtual classrooms, discussion forums, online texts and libraries, video lectures, wikis and web videos.

Leading platforms for online learning include Udacity and Khan Academy, as well as newcomers Coursera and edx.

From my home in Nepal, I took “Introduction to Sociology” with Princeton Professor Mitchell Duneier in 2012, and was eventually invited to visit Princeton University (in person) because of my active participation in the online course. Ever since then, MOOCs have been a subject of great interest to me. I’ve taken more than a few MOOCs myself and always enjoyed them.

But I wondered about the experience of other students from the global South.

How did they find out about the courses? What motivated them to take the course, and to stick with it? What platform did they use for the course? What struggles did they face while taking the course?

“I read about it in the news and then decided to go for it,” says Ankur Jhunjhunwala, 25, a student of Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) at Delhi University, in India explaining how he first found out about MOOCs. “I took the course before joining MBA because I had free time; I take the courses today because I can add them to my CV.”

Jhunjhunwala has completed three courses on Coursera: “Understanding Einstein: The Special Theory of Relativity,” “Introduction to Philosophy” and “What Managers can Learn from Great Philosophers”

Referring to the wide range of the availability of the courses Jhunjhunwala adds, “Why should I have any confusion in tapping the opportunity to learn world class content residing in the third world?”

However, not everyone who signs up completes their courses — not by a long shot.

“I signed up for 15 courses and completed five courses,” says Tara Ballav Adhikari, a government employee from Nepal.

“I completed one of the courses on economics and I was not motivated to complete the coursework in second course because I took this course out of curiosity,” says Dikshya Dhakal, a student of Economics at North Seattle College.

“I would be more serious about the course if I would get the credit for it,” Dhakal adds with a faint smile. “I would be even more serious if I had to pay for it.”

Dhakal’s subtle humor reminded me of Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX talking about “active learning” — where a learner has the control of the learning pace and constantly interacts with the content — in the Harvard Edcast: edX Marks the Spot.

I wondered how educators like Agarwal will be able to meet the aspiration of students like Dhakal.

Coursera, one of the leading MOOCs providers. (Photo by Saifullah Muhammad)

A recent Coursera blog claims to have 7.5 million learners from 190 countries on its website and offers courses from more than 100 renowned educational institutions.

Another platform, edX has several courses offered by prominent universities ranging from the computer sciences to law and literature. The user base of the platform has increased to over 1.6 million.

But a study done by Harvard and MIT earlier this year showed that only five percent (43,196) of the total signups in the first 17 courses offered by edX actually earned the certificate by completing the coursework.

This horrifying statistic has forced many people to consider MOOCs a failure. But on the other hand, with so many students signing up, even that low completion rate is yielding huge numbers of certified students who might otherwise never get an opportunity to learn that material.

“Comparing a small classroom with MOOCs is wrong!” says Matt McGarrity, senior lecturer in the communication department at the University of Washington who has reached over 300,000 people with his public speaking MOOCs on both Coursera and edX. “It is like comparing a novel with a movie adapted from that very novel. Novel is a different genre and the movie is different. Standards from one can inform the critique of the other but should not dictate it.”

But Adhikari says no matter what the critique are, he will continue taking the MOOCs.

“Despite the poor internet service and 16 hours of power cut every day, having the access to world-class courses free of cost gives me a sense of privilege.”

(This article originally appeared in www.Seattleglobalist.com on August 6, 2014)

Tale of a RADIO

Emergence of e-Radios like iTunes and Pandora has threatened the existence of conventional radio. When even the commercial radio stations are facing a threat and challenge for the survival. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to visit KUOW and understand how the private, not for profit radio is operating and coping with the challenges of changing media landscape.

It was interesting to learn that the broadcast region of the radio extends across Seattle, the Puget Sound region and Western Washington. I was also amazed to explore that the radio served nearly 419,100 listeners* each week.

Furthermore, the revenue model adopted by the radio was very new for me. We hardly have any radios that are operated by donations. The 2013 annual report of the Radio stated that in the fiscal year 2013, 63% of the revenue was individual support, 23% business support, 9% institutional support and 2% were other sources.

Even the broadcast advertisements are less than 20 seconds and contain direct message. This model eliminates the potential influence from the advertisers on the content broadcast through the radio. The studio can win the trust of the audiences for broadcasting the unbiased news.

In addition, the strategies adopted by the radio to retain its competitive edge in the changing media landscape was very exciting. Though the primary focus of the radio is radio programs, still they have invested heavily in the online platforms.

It was exciting to learn that the Human Resource in the technical departments, web department and social media has doubled compared to the last year. The changing Human Resources patterns also indicate that there have been increased efforts to provide the radio programs and contents in the web.

KUOW has also two intensive programs that help young students to meet their learning aptitude through a program called Radioactive Youth Media and support the media initiative through KUOW venture fund. Which is a positive step on the part of KUOW to strengthen radio journalism in the region. The way it serves as a practical school is a very rare sight in my home country.

During the conversation, I learnt that the reporters and journalists have changed the way they used to prepare programs. Only audio would work for the radio programs a couple of years back, however, now the same person would also need to prepare the text version for web as well as audio for radio.

The way the length of talk shows have declined to 10 minutes from 40 minutes long portrays that there has been a fundamental shift in the radio programming at the KUOW. However, people working in the stations are cynical about the way things have changed and fear that the programs might lose their qualitative strength with the change. They are also waiting for the feedback from the audience for the recent changes.

From Gossips to a Small town paper; Challenges of survival

Originating from country where having access to newspaper is a matter of luxury, it was exhilarating to learn that independent newspaper existed in a village of USA. It was more fascinating to learn that the paper’s history was longer than that of the place.

Nestled among the foothills of beautiful Mt. Rainier, Eatonville enjoys a small town charm and distinctive

natural beauty. The paper has a long standing history like the Mt. Rainier. The Eatonville Dispatch has been the voice of South Pierce County since 1893. While, the town of Eatonville was incorporated in 1909.

Our team was lucky to meet the three full time staffs of The Dispatch who are struggling hard to get the paper going. We were able to hear the stories from persons who were involved in the editorial, marketing and the office operation.

The current editor shared about the challenges of transforming the paper from the local Gossip paper to objective paper. It was interesting to learn how the paper had a surviving history of more than 121 years though it was a gossip paper. It was also interesting to learn how ‘gossip’ sales throughout the world.

The experience from the marketing personnel of the paper who faces trouble convincing the advertisers about the tangible changes in the sales was very familiar to what I hear in my home country. It was amazing to know despite that, there are several local business that still advertise.

The revenue model of the paper was new for me. The paper is owned by the law firm which has taken ownership of similar local newspaper from the other parts of the state to publish the legal notices. I never see such sight back at home. It was good to know that legal notices make a good business for the paper.

It was also exciting to learn that how doing journalism in a small-town paper is difficult. People know every other person of the town personally and it becomes hard to write about the person whom we know personally.

It was also wonderful to see 1000 subscribers of the paper in a town which has around 2,815 residents. It was also insightful to learn that the majority of these subscribers are people from the older generation who actually grew up with the paper.

Like all the papers around the world it was good to learn that the paper has its unique strategies to cope up with the changing media landscape and increase its young readership.

Gun violence has foreign visitors fearful of US

Years ago, on a long distance train ride in India, I asked a young man sitting next to me if he’d ever traveled to the United States. He mentioned a 48-hour layover in Los Angeles so I inquired about his sightseeing–imagining a whirlwind tour of the La Brea Tar Pits and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“I stayed in the airport,” he said, “I was afraid of getting shot.”

This very violent month in Seattle has me remembering that conversation. I’ve been preparing to teach a class about American journalism to a group of South Asian students visiting the University of Washington.

In the three weeks it’s taken me to finalize my syllabus two young men were shot and killed on Capitol Hill (one of them, Dwone Anderson-Young, was a recent graduate of the UW Department of Communication where I teach), a shooter at Seattle Pacific University killed one student and wounded two more and a man was arrested for threatening to shoot women on the UW campus.

As all this horror hit the news I wondered about the international students arriving this week to start their program:  Did they know about these recent tragedies? Were they scared? What did they think about coming to a country where the threat of gun violence seems increasingly normal?

“We read about it in the news and my mother freaked out,” says Medha Kohli, 19, of India, referring to the SPU shooting, “We knew that shootings are pretty common at universities in America but then it was happening in Seattle that was very scary for my mother.”

Visiting students from South Asia — seen here visiting The Seattle Times — say the US’s reputation for mass shootings looms large in their home countries. (Photo by Catherine Cheng)

Kohli and her classmates have grown up watching American school shootings on TV and they casually rehashed some of the bigger ones (“the one with the Kindergarten students,” “Adam Lanza,” “Virginia Tech”) while navigating new American breakfast foods (the tater tots are popular, the reconstituted scrambled eggs are not).

There are a lot of stereotypes about guns in America clearly perpetuated by Hollywood, from the ubiquitous handgun in the bedside drawer (one student, from Nepal, assumes all Americans have one of these) to references to “cowboy movies.”

But mostly there’s genuine confusion about why guns are so easy to access in the United States.

“We don’t see these kinds of things happen in South Asian countries,” says Dipendra K.C., 24, of Nepal–a country where guns are tightly controlled by the government.

There’s a moment of thought before his classmate, Simran Bhui, 20, of India, pipes up to add, “We have other kinds of terrorism.”

Terrorism?

Bhui’s use of the word to describe gun violence in America seemed extreme. But it got me thinking about how our sense of fear and awareness of risk is heightened when traveling to a foreign country. It also got me wondering if I’ve become desensitized to violence in my own country.

Maybe Americans are being terrorized by gun violence.

President Obama visits victims of the 2012 movie theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado. (Photo by Pete Souza / The White House)

“You do think of it,” says Thilini Kahandawaarachchi, 31, of Sri Lanka describing her decision to become a graduate student of International Studies at the University of Washington, “It has happened in so many universities, in so many schools and it keeps on happening…So it’s one of the things that are talked about.”

UW recruiters often hear about concerns over guns in America when in other countries says Kim Lovaas, Associate Director for International Admissions at The UW.

“Safety and gun violence is a general question, especially in countries where guns are outlawed,” says Lovaas, “I’ve been doing this 14 years and have probably been asked [about this] every time.”

Lovass is quick to point out — to me and to prospective students — that violent crime on the UW campus is low and that students should be more concerned with theft.

The South Asian students I spoke with had mixed opinions regarding whether or not the threat of gun violence would color their time to the U.S.

But K.C. says it won’t be on his mind at all.

“I won’t be thinking about it because I’m not used to the idea that someone will suddenly come up to me and shoot me,” he explains.

Hopefully someday American students will be able to say the same.

(This article was authored by Sarah Stuteville for Seattle Globalist)

World Bank Live: Google Hangout: Coding Your Way to Opportunity

Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Time: 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. ET (11:00 – 12:00 GMT or convert time)
Location: Online 

On June 4th, join a panel of tech and youth leaders from Sri Lanka and Nepal to discuss how young people can code their way to opportunity in South Asia. In this live Google Hangout. the panel will also take questions about the World Bank - Microsoft regional grant competition "Coding Your Way to Opportunity".

Last month, the World Bank and Microsoft launched a call for proposals for a South Asia Regional Grant Competition titled: “Coding Your Way to Opportunity” in Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The regional grant competition invites youth-led initiatives and organizations to showcase fresh, innovative ideas that bridge the existing coding gap in South Asia between those who have access to the gaining skills they need to be successful and those who do not. Learning to code can propel job creation and development, and boost shared prosperity In South Asia and other regions, coding and computing have become essential and desirable job skills. Jointly implemented by the World Bank and Microsoft, the competition aims to enable youth to expand coding knowledge amongst their peers, in turn helping them secure gainful employment.

The program will be organized in four South Asian countries – Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Each country will win one grant of at least US $10,000 to carry out an innovative project, one year in duration.

Click here to learn more about the program.

(This article originally appeared in World Bank Live)

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In the recent Constituent Assembly (CA) election, eight percent youth were elected as CA members under the First Past the Post (FPTP) System.

The percentage of youth candidates in this election was even more impressive: 41 percent of total candidates were below the age of 40. 

There were many new parties which fielded new candidates. However, the number of young candidates nominated by major political parties was not so exciting. If we are to refer to the National Youth Policy, it defines “youth” as those aged 16-40.

Zakaria Zainal

This age group accounts for 42 percent of the population, but constitutes only eight percent of FPTP winners in the CA. The figures are not going to get better anytime soon, if recent activities of political parties are anything to go by. This means that the agendas and voices of young people are likely to go unheard in the new CA.

The unhealthy tussle in the major parties to finalize their PR candidates does not indicate their seriousness about youth representation. The PR list CPN-UML submitted to Election Commission, for example, sidelined prominent young faces like Ramkumari Jhankri who was at the forefront of second Jana Andolan and has since been consistently advocating for youth friendly policies. 

Other parties don’t seem very different. This practice will continue as long as our parties continue to be ruled by a few dictatorial heads. 

Most of our political parties are undemocratic and hierarchical. 

Lack of intraparty democracy is one of the major reasons. Be it student union, trade union or any other sister organization of mainstream political parties, they all lack intra-organizational democracy. These unions are as fragmented as their mother parties. As a result, they are not strong enough to challenge malpractices in the mother party.

Tokenism trumps meritocracy in most parties, while making political appointments or selecting candidates for CA election. Political leaders look for the people who buy into their school of thought and who belong to their faction. Unfortunately, the youth fall behind when they fail to follow these unwritten rules.

The youth are in no way free of blame. When they are at the forefront of political movements, they dare to challenge their leaders. But when the movements end, they forget their power and surrender before the same leaders. They have enough courage to challenge the autocratic system of the country, but are afraid to challenge a similar situation within their parties. They can come together to bargain when fuel price is hiked, but not to ask for respect for their opinion in their parties.

One of the reasons youth are being sidelined is because the interest groups working on youth are not active. When it comes to the representation of female and marginalized communities, several interest groups working for the benefit of these sections put pressure on the parties for meaningful representation. This is not the case with our youth. Representation of female and marginalized groups is mandated by law. This has forced political parties to make sure they are well represented, which, again, is not the case for the youth.

The time has come for the youth to be considered partners of today, not only of the future. It doesn’t look like the representation of youth will increase in this CA. Despite the lack of numerical strength, the aspirations and issues of youth shouldn’t be ignored in this CA. For this, present CA members should be sensitized about the issues, challenges and aspirations of youth. This in turn will call for youth wings of political parties and non-political youth organizations teaming up to serve as watchdogs.

Time will test both political and non-political youth organizations. The need of the hour is the implementation of the dormant National Youth Policy (NYP). One of the first tasks of youth organizations is to build pressure on elected representatives to do so. 

Representation of youth in CA is necessary to ensure that the aspirations of younger generation are addressed. The youth are the best persons to raise their own issues. Furthermore, the future of the nation belongs to the youth, and this is a moment when the future of the nation is being written. To ensure youth ownership of these changes, it is necessary to make them a part of the system.

Creating a special working group on youth within the CA can be a viable way to compensate for their poor numerical representation in CA. The working group should be assigned with bringing up the agendas concerning youth which shouldn’t be missed in the constitution. Furthermore, both political and non-political youth organizations should assist the committee.

(This article was published on Republica op-ed on December 31, 2013)

Surfing in the dark: Nepal's need for economic reforms

[Myself, Daphne Koller and Professor Duneier]

More than a year has passed since I visited Princeton University in October 2012. I was there to participate in a panel discussion organized by the university. I was among the 40,000 students around the world who had been taking the online 'Sociology' course on Coursera and I had been chosen to visit the university and participate in the panel discussion because of my active participation in classes. I still vividly remember the excitement amidst the nervousness that had engulfed me at being on the stage, in-front of faculty members and students of the university presenting about how internet and online courses were helping students from developing countries like me. It was the moment I realized Thomas L. Friedman is indeed right when he says the world is getting flatter. The information communication technology revolution has indeed leveled the playing field for people across developed and developing societies. An Ivy-league education is at the finger tips of students around the world. Economic reforms undertaken by Nepal in early 1990s are also to be thanked for this wonderful opportunity I got. Nepal opened up its economy to the world and liberalized a few sectors (internet and telecommunications being one of them) during the reforms. And thanks to it, today more and more Nepalese have access to telecommunication services as well as the internet. Thanks to the increased competition among telecommunication service providers as well as internet service providers, the cost of access to internet have come down significantly and almost one-fourth of Nepalese are estimated to have access to the internet. I am sure the numbers will go up significantly in future and the day when every Nepalese will have access to internet is not far away.

However, when I look at some other aspects of lives of ordinary Nepalese, I find that the future that I dream of is nowhere as near as I would want it to be. Till date around 63 percent of households in Nepal lack access to electricity. Even the rest who have access to electricity suffer from power cuts during dry seasons lasting up to 16 hours daily. Ironically, Nepal is said to have a potential of generating more than 43000 Megawatt of electricity from hydro-power alone which would be enough to make Nepal a middle-income country through electricity exports. Power sector was among the sectors not addressed by the economic reforms of early 1990s and we still have a state-owned monopoly Nepal Electricity Authority which controls the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Nepal. It amazes me how Nepal Electricity Authority manages to incur huge losses despite being a monopoly and how could it hire 11000 plus employees when it has already accumulated so huge amount of liabilities. While 63 percent of our households are reeling in darkness, Nepal Electricity Authority has become a preferred avenue for corruption and nepotism for politicians as shown by the recent arrest of a number of Nepal Electricity Authority officials for their possible involvement in a multimillion-dollar transformer purchase scam.

It has been less than two decades since internet came to Nepal and yet around one fourth of the population already have access to it and the number is increasing rapidly. On the other hand, Nepal got its first hydro-power plant more than a century ago in 1911 in the form of Pharping hydro-power plant. But even after a century later, about two-thirds of Nepalese households do not have access to something as basic as electricity. It infuriates me to see that politicians haggle over who to recruit as managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority or whom to award a certain hydro-power project while general public is suffering under power crisis. I believe Nepal is in dire need of economic reforms, especially in basic utility sectors like hydro-power. There is a need to introduce and encourage competition in this sector which will eventually not only result in better delivery of services but also encourage innovations. The government should break the monopoly of Nepal Electricity Authority and make it more accountable to the consumers it is supposed to serve by opening up the sectors for private players. The government should also restructure the organization under a private-public-partnership model so that it becomes more effective and efficient without losing the sight of its objectives. Only then, we can dream of a day when we will be taking energy as granted like many of us do to internet

CA Election 2013- FPTP Results Infographics

Youth Representation in the Constituent Assembly Elections (CA), 2013 from Dipendra K.C.

This infographics was published in Nepal Magazine in Nepali language: http://www.ekantipur.com/nepal/article/?id=6158

Statistical Analysis of Youth Candidacy in the Constituent Assembly Election, 2013 - Nepal

Statistical observation on Youths as candidates in the CA Elections, 2013 from Dipendra K.C.

Urging Youths to Vote

This small piece of suggestion appeared in the GenNext of Republica of November 19, 2013

http://e.myrepublica.com/component/flippingbook/book/1421-republica-19-nov-2013/1-republica.html

YUWA let's Vote - Television Show

On Novmber 2, 2013, I was invited to talk on a TV Show in News 24 Television. The issue of the program was the necessity for young people to vote. Two other guests, Santosh Acharya from Youth Initiative and Pradeep Bashyal from Nepal Magazine were with me.

Below are some clips from the 1.5 hour long program. The program also highlighted the statistics that was worked by me.

Age of Candidates of CA Election, 2070 (FPTP)

The age of Youth in Nepal is heavily contested issue. The national Youth policy of the country defines “Youth” as the people who are in the age bracket of 15-40 whereas several NGOs and INGOs operating in the country have their own version of definition. YUWA defines the age youth as 15-29. United Nations defines the age bracket for youth as 15-24.

The Constitutional Assembly Election of Nepal which is all set to happen November this year will see 40.75% youth candidates competing. A recent analysis done jointly by me and one of my colleague, Sumit portrays an interesting picture of the trend of age of the candidates of the political parties.

The lowest age of the candidates is 25 and this extends till 85. 249 candidates are aged 42. The top 5 weight of candidates is in between 35-43. The national average age of the candidates is 53.

The graph below should be self-explanatory.

Possibility of mHealth intervention in Nepal

Nepal is located in the Himalayas and contains eight of the world’s ten highest peaks. Its remoteness has created inaccessibility and limited the access to health information and delivery of health services. Apart from by foot, no better alternatives of transportation for seeking health services are available in most of the rural parts of the country. Because of which, a significant delay occurs in getting appropriate treatment in the short run. Opposite, a significant gap of information about sexual and reproductive health among adolescents has been measured in recent years. This is mainly because the application of traditional approaches occupies major part of disseminating health related information.

For instance, according to the National Demographic Health Survey (NODS-2011), knowledge level with regard to family planning among 15-19 years age group among married women is 99.9% whereas current use of contraceptives is only 14.4%. However, 41.5% of these women still reported to have unmet needs. Similarly, 97% of male and 88.7% of female of age group 15-19 years have heard about HIV and AIDS, but at the same time while comparing the comprehensive knowledge on preventive measures amongst the same group was found only 32.7% and 25% respectively. 

Furthermore, According to Nepal Adolescents and Youth Survey, 2012, there is poor communication among youth when it comes to discussion about sexual health. 51.80% young girls (10-24) were reported having discussed about the issues related to marriage, pregnancy, menstruation, love, family planning, sexual intercourse, wet dreams and puberty which is more than 48.2% young boys. Observing the scenario, better options for providing health information and services are to be identified. The stigmatized sensitivity of the SRHR issue demands youth friendly, easily acceptable and immediate source of information.

mHealth may be an effective way of reaching the people mostly in the remote areas in a cost-effective way. mHealth involves the use of mobile phones and other wireless devices to promote health education and raising awareness among target groups, by delivering health information and services, disease management, treatment protocols and linking data of clients to health insurance providers, etc.

Mobile technology has made a recent and rapid appearance into low- and middle-income countries like Nepal, along with the improvements in telecommunications, technology infrastructure and reduced costs of mobile handsets. Nepal Telecommunication Authority states that over 75% of the population has now access to a mobile phone. Mobile technology can be a method with enormous potential of disseminating knowledge to people who do not have easy and immediate access to health information or health facilities in Nepal. Considering the fact that a large part of the population is connected with the communication network based on an explosive increase of smartphones and mobile internet access, the possibility of delivering health information and services to the needy people using mobile technology is high.

The National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Communication Strategy, 2011 has further suggested for the application of effective media advocacy toolkit as well as harnessing wireless Technology. It strongly advocates that the Mobile technology can play a vital role in raising awareness about ASRH and creating demand for services by promoting Adolescent Friendly Service centers and Services. Reach out to mobile companies and others in mobile technology to reach adolescents – through texts, downloadable mobile applications that are games, ringtones, downloadable adolescent ‘real’ stories, etc.

There have been several success stories of mHealth in various parts of the world. CycleTel is one of the example which was implemented by Georgetown University’s Institute of Reproductive Health (IRH). CycleTel empowers women by providing them with accessible reproductive health information through SMS. The prototype was tasted in two cities of India, Lucknow and New Delhi. A woman learns about CycleTel and opts to join the service by sending an SMS to a designated number. She sends the date of her last period to the service and begins using CycleTel. The service alerts her of her fertile days during each cycle. Additional messages support correct use of the method, help her monitor her cycle length, and offer information on other reproductive health issues, such as the importance of optimal birth spacing.

Some other successful cases are Wazazi Nipendeni from Tanzania, Project Masiluleke of South Africa, Andhra Pradesh Encephalitis Syndrome Surveillance Information Management System (AESSIMS),  Nacer from Peru, National Immunization Programme (Measles Rubella Campaign 2068-69), Nepal.

With the rising mobile penetration rate in Nepal, and existing policy framework provide a very plausible reason in the urgency of mHealth intervention in Nepal. There is a need of coordinated effort among the works being conducted by different development stakeholders. After studying several success stories of mHealth intervention, the time has now come it be used in Nepal as well.

The technological intervention can be made for several reasons. Some of the areas, where the intervention could be implemented but not limited to are, for immunization tracking during institutional delivery; for continuous information supply for immunization schedule; for antenatal checkup of young pregnant girls; for sending reminders and information of family planning methods and frequency, eg. Send SMS at the interval of every 3 months for the reminder of Depo; for tracking and sending useful information to track and monitor the growth of children; for several awareness campaigns; for increased accountability of youth friendly health services and for coordinated effort among various stakeholders like Government, I/NGOs, Telecommunication operators, existing health service providers, and activists is the key to the success of such future technological interventions in the sector of Health in Nepal.

Radio Interview in "The Human Face"

On August 6, 2013, I was invited to share my opinion on challenges of running a youth organization. The program was aired live on Citizens FM.

Here is what they wrote:

Last Wednesday on The Human Face, we had a energetic and vibrant guest Mr. Dipendra K.C to talk on the issue of "youth".

Mr. K.C is president and cofounder of an youth led organisation " YUWA"which has been currently working on 4 thematic areas:
1. Active Citizenship
2. HIV/AIDS ; Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights 
3. Global Information Access
4. Economic Initiation & Innovation

Mr. Dipendra K.C defines youth as change agent who are the PRESENT of any nation and also the FUTURE. He considers youth organizations as an open platform for the youngsters, where they can experiment on their dreams and determination. "Strong team work, good vision, networking and determination can make any young team reach a success", says Mr. K.C.
http://www.saathnepal.org/2013/08/08/the-human-face-with-dipendra-k-c/#.Uou4O8RmiFw

Out with Old

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Free Students Union (FSU) elections, political parties are going all out to strengthen their position ahead of the upcoming student election. Extravagant promotional materials inside college premises hint of a celebratory mood. But rumors of fake admissions and extravagance in campaigning definitely raise a big question about the source of money that is being pumped into these elections. The FSU election is supposed to elect a body that addresses the concerns of college-going students. However, the effectiveness of the FSUs is highly questionable. Over the years, political agendas have been put on the frontline rather than academic agendas. The FSUs have become a metastasizing tumor.
Over last few weeks, FSUs have been vehemently criticized in the media, but FSUs have turned deaf ear to the comments and suggestions coming their way. Ideologically blindfolded leaders see nothing except what serves their narrow interests. Hence they openly flout election guidelines they themselves created. Apart from FSUs, the silence of academic and administrative leaders of Tribhuvan University and students is also to be blamed for this unruliness. 

Time has come we started to question the rationale behind political FSUs and to look for an alternative to FSUs, which routinely fail to raise academic and other issues faced by students. Rather than invest millions for election of student body, it would be wise to invest in welfare of students. But this can happen only when university authorities and students partner for promotion of quality education rather than petty politics.
The alternative is a new system for formation of FSUs in colleges. The new system of students union should incorporate the concept of clubs and other sub-divisions under the leadership and supervision of the union. Elections should start in the classroom. This can be in the form of electing class representatives (CRs) or class captain every year. To make election inclusive, one male and one female can be elected from a class for representation in the student’s union where all CRs meet. The executive team can be elected from among them. For instance, if a college has 15 different classrooms, there will be 30 elected CRs in the council and the executive team can be elected from among them. The size of the executive team can be need-based. 


Republica

Furthermore, multiple student clubs addressing the varied interests of students must exist in colleges under the supervision and leadership of the union. The clubs should have a democratic system where members of a particular club are free to choose their desired leadership. Students should be free to open a new club under student union after getting enough members and after making a strong case that their need is not being met by existing clubs.

The student’s union should act as an umbrella body that guides and governs the plans and activities of all other clubs in the college. The student’s union thus formed can sit with college administration with plans of the union and clubs and try to fit the activities in the academic calendar. This way, student’s union will essentially be a student’s body. Exams, results and other academic activities start happening according to the calendar and everybody benefits.

There should be clear demarcation of roles and responsibilities of student union and college administration. Student union should not be provided the right to hamper academic programs and college administration should not be allowed to meddle in the activities of students.
This model has multiple advantages for universities, students and the nation as a whole. The academic calendar comes back on track. Large number of students will directly benefit as several kinds of activities will occur at the college and they can participate in the one they feel meets their interest.

Furthermore, a large chunk of students get the opportunity to practice leadership. They can organize programs under different clubs or they can take charge of any club or student union itself. The model further helps in actualization of student’s issues as they can directly be carried to the student’s union by CRs.
The model is already in place at few private colleges of Kathmandu and is serving pretty well. The KCM Student Council is a case in point. The council started in 2003 and is independent from college management and political parties, yet its annual financial transactions exceed Rs 1,500,000, which is essentially student earned money for student council. Ultimately, the amount is invested in various student activities.
This is a viable alternative to the existing FSU system. As time passes, traditional institutions need to be reviewed and updated. If the FSUs are not ready to mend their ways, students and the universities should be ready to adopt the new model.
Republica

Lessons from Lanka

Dial 1919 from a telephone in Sri Lanka and you can get information on 77 different government bodies in three major languages of the country—Sinhala, Tamil, and English. In Sri Lanka, a range of ICT facilities have been introduced to strengthen information management in governance, education, healthcare, industry, agriculture, fisheries, social security and judicial systems, especially at the grassroots level.

The institutional mechanisms of Sri Lanka have been altered for rapid development of society using ICT. Since 2005, the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has provided leadership in the application of ICT. Its “e-Sri Lanka” program has achieved major economic, developmental, and social improvements. 

In 2010, the government set up a separate Ministry for Information & Communication Technology to strengthen ICT leadership, advance the sector, and collaborate with other stakeholders. The country’s national broadband policy aims at narrowing down the digital divide by implementing an island-wide national backbone network that provides low cost and high-speed connectivity through competition among Internet service providers.

According to ICTA, the ICT literacy rate in Sri Lanka has grown from approximately 5 percent in 2004 to almost 40 percent in 2012. The target is 75 percent by 2015. Cellular phone penetration stands at over 100 percent, and broadband technologies are increasingly available in rural areas.
The rural telecenter network, or the “Nenasala” Centers (“Wisdom outlets” program), provide an important opportunity for rural population to learn. They promote partnerships among government and private organizations, individual entrepreneurs and civil society organizations to create a knowledgeable society. The Ministry of Technology & Research also operates another island-wide network named “Vidatha.” These multi service centers promote access to scientific and technological applications, including ICT, to rural communities.


apt.int

One of the telecenters established in the periphery of a temple at Udubaddawa of Kurunegala district provides a wide range of facilities. This telecenter primarily focuses on improving local people’s English language and computer skills. During their leisure, young college students take regular English courses and Diplomas in computer courses at the center at subsidized rates. It currently provides a six-month long computer Diploma course. Students can sit for a standardized test after the completion of the course, and can acquire the certificate at a low cost. 

The ICT Center not only serves as a learning center but also acts as a business unit. People can pay their utility bills and access internet facility at a nominal cost. It also serves as a coordinating agency for other distance learning units scattered over small villages where young kids are taught English by local teachers. Sometimes, religious centers are used as learning centers, which attracts a lot of people. 

Today, more than 300 IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies operate in Sri Lanka, serviced by a workforce of over 60,000, and generating US $400 million in exports. Sri Lanka expects to create a 100,000-strong workforce in the ICT sector in the next four to five years.

According to Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), in March 15, 2013, telephone penetration in Nepal had reached 73.88 percent, and internet penetration had reached more than 23 percent. More than 90 percent of them use mobile devices to connect to the internet.

This indicates growing demand for technological knowledge and tools among the general public, a hopeful sign for a country situated next to technological giants like India and China. 

The question is: Have we adapted to this need? The answer, in the existing investment scenario and government IT policy, is a bold “NO”. The creation of ICT centers in rural Nepal is the need of the hour. There have been some efforts to create similar centers, but they have not been very successful in generating results because of the absence of strong policy backing and lack of understanding of the needs of local people.

No rural Nepali will reject the opportunity to learn computer skills and English language, if the lessons are available at a reasonable rate at their doorsteps. In this connection, ICT centers with physical resources should be started, through which people can learn computer skills and access the Internet. The telecommunication companies of Nepal should also think of joining hands with the government and social organizations to create a technologically sound workforce.

People are charged for free passport forms, migrant workers are cheated with fake airline tickets, farmers are paid low price for their products by middlemen. Many of these problems, as well as many other social problems, can be easily addressed by incorporating technology in daily life. 
The growth achieved by Sri Lanka in last 7-8 years is replicable, but only given strong political will. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches are needed to institutionalize technological growth and bring about desired social change. 

The author recently won South Asia Regional Grant Competition on ICT and Youth jointly organized by The World Bank and Microsoft® in Colombo, Sri Lanka
dipendra@YUWA.org.np
Republica