NRN Association and the Road Ahead

Since its inception, the NRN Association has made a lot of progress but still needs clarity of mission and unity in purpose to meet the heightened expectations of the Nepali community

By Naresh Koirala

By 2003, a number of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, including India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, had officially recognized the potential of their overseas non-resident workers and former citizens to contribute to the development of their respective countries. The governments of these countries put in place enabling legislations to improve the conditions of employment of their overseas citizens and to attract economic and intellectual investment from their former citizens. Meanwhile, the Nepali bureaucracy viewed Non-resident Nepalis to be deserters who do not deserve to be welcomed back in the country, and the Nepali government was too distracted with the political quandaries of the past decade to make non-resident issues a priority.

In their attempt to remedy this situation and reclaim the rights of People of Nepali Origin (PNOs) to live and work in Nepal, in October 2003, Non-resident Nepalis from around the globe gathered in Kathmandu and decided to form the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA). The objectives of NRNA were to lobby Nepali government to:

• develop necessary legal safeguards to enhance the recruitment, employment and working conditions of Non-resident Nepali (NRNs) workers;

• provide resident and investment facilities as normally provided to Nepali citizens to the PNOs who had taken foreign citizenship;

• create conditions that will encourage NRNs and PNOs to be partners in Nepal’s socio-economic development; and

• help NRNs and PNOs promote Nepal and Nepali culture abroad.

As a commentator put it, NRNA had inadvertently become a “global government” of all NRNs (hereafter used to indicate both PNOs and non-resident workers), but one with no capacity to enact its decisions and no financial resources to support it. Indeed, since it could govern only by consensus from its global constituents, it first needed a proper governing structure to garner the consensus. It also had to demonstrate to its critics that it truly represented the global Nepali community, that it derived its mandate from this community, and that the NRNs had the capability to contribute to the nation's socio-economic development. These are Herculean tasks for a voluntary organization representing a diverse people with global spread and no funds to advance its mission.

Let’s now discuss the NRNA progress to date and critically look into the future of NRNA as the Nepali government begins to respond favorably to NRNA demands.

PROGRESS

 Constitution. Drafted soon after its formation, the constitution defined the duties and responsibilities of its office bearers and their election procedures. Under the constitution, the president and other office bearers of NRNA derive their mandate from the members of the International Coordination Council (ICC), which consists of one representative elected from among the delegates of each country represented in the NRNA Conference in Nepal. The constitution has been discussed, reviewed and revised and has been accepted as the basis of NRNA's governance.

Communication Protocol. Following the constitution, NRNA office bearers communicate with their constituents via the National Coordination Council (NCC), which would be established in every country where more than ten NRNs reside. To date, 44 NCCs have been formed. The main role of the NCCs is to advance the NRNA mission to NRNs in their respective countries and act as intermediaries to promote a dialogue between NRNs and ICC. The ICC members hold a teleconference twice a year to discuss issues raised by NRNs from around the globe. Additionally, a regional conference is held once a year to discuss matters of interest to the region. Since its inception, NRNA has held regional conferences in Doha, Qatar; Bonn, Germany, and Bangkok, Thailand.

Revenue. The operating cost of the NRNA secretariat is raised from voluntary contributions of at least USD 500 every two years by the NRNA office bearers, ICC members and profit from NRN conferences. This is clearly insufficient and ICC members are presently consulting to find a permanent source of revenue. Inadequate source of revenue remains a serious threat to the sustainability of NRNA.

Demonstration of Support. The NRNA’s role as a representative of the collective voice of Nepalis has not been challenged by any NRN anywhere. In less than four years, 44 NCCs have been formed at the initiative of the local NRNs, demonstrating the widespread acceptance of NRNA’s authority and mandate. In response to this global support for NRNA, the government of Nepal passed the NRN bill in August 2007 and established a NRN cell in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Establishment of Trust. Overcoming the initial skepticism around their motives, NRNs have managed to win over much public support and trust through their numerous charity and development initiatives. NRNA has attempted to expand on the work by individual NRNs by committing itself to a number of new charity programs, including the Bridhashram project; Kiriyaputri Bhawan project; Public Libraries project; 75 Districts project, the Airport Trolley project, School projects, Computer donation project, and so on. In addition, it has committed itself to support Trade School and One Village One Product projects to be implemented jointly with the Government of Nepal and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI).

 NRNA’s direct contact with Nepali politicians has also helped assuage their misgivings about our commitment to Nepal’s progress. The NRN bill of 2007 proves that our efforts have, at least partially, come to fruition. Although this new law presently disagrees with NRNA's definition of a Non-Resident Nepali, the government has promised to introduce an amendment bill that will conform to our definition, i.e., any Nepali who has stayed outside the SAARC countries for a continuous period of over 183 days.

During the October 2007 NRNA conference in Kathmandu, political parties of all ideological stripes supported the idea of conferring dual citizenship to NRNs. The CPN (M) states in its election manifesto and currently proposed common minimum program (CMP) its commitment to work for dual citizenship to NRNs. It is, therefore, only a matter of time before PNOs will be able to have their Nepali citizenship restored with only minor qualifiers.

Given the perpetual political fluctuations in the country, NRNA's progress to date has been nothing short of astounding. NRN is now a household acronym amongst Nepalis across the globe. The dynamic created by NRNA's interaction with the diaspora has created a new sense of unity among NRNs. The palpable energy and a sense of purpose in the service of Nepal can be felt anywhere in the world.

Despite this progress, regrettably, very little has advanced with respect to improving the conditions of NRN workers. There is still much work to be done.

THE WAY FORWARD

It is time to take a pause and contemplate where we go from here. Here are some thoughts.

1. The last five years of our work has demonstrated that synergized NRNs have enormous capacity to contribute to the development of the country and our country is expecting much from us. We must build on that unity. We must continue to identify projects that we can deliver and cooperate to deliver them. Nepal’s often stifling bureaucracy can be discouraging. Where bureaucratic foot dragging hinders the progress of our project, we should present our case to the public and use public pressure to get issues sorted out.

2. NRNA, through the NCCs, should take a lead in initiating a campaign to encourage signing of tax agreements between the Nepali government and all major governments in the world. The tax agreements will remove double taxation of NRNs who invest in Nepal and will also encourage investment.

3. NRNA’s charity projects are a highly rewarding experience. The synergy among NRNs in planning and implementing these projects is a unique resource for the welfare of our motherland. We should continue to mobilize NRNs and continue such projects.

4. There can be little argument that Nepal needs an independent watchdog to ensure enforcement of fair overseas workers employment. The Nepali government must be lobbied with renewed vigor to pass appropriate laws to protect the rights and interests of NRNs who are abroad on labor contracts. NRNA may consider forming a government-approved and financed advisory body to monitor the conditions of the NRN contract workers and the lawfulness of the employment agencies that send them abroad. The watchdog could be modeled after the so-called Better Business Bureau in Western industrialized countries.

CONCLUSION

 Much has been achieved in bringing Nepal and the Nepali diaspora together since the NRNA was formed five years ago. We need to forge ahead with a clarity of mission and encouraged by our country’s heightened expectation of us. NRNA has its work cut out for many years to come if we dedicate ourselves to its mission: to be a partner in Nepal's development.

A geo-technical engineer by profession, Koirala is based in Vancouver, Canada and is also the NRNA Regional Coordinator for North America. He can be reached at naresh1@shaw.ca This article has been reproduced here courtesy GLOBAL NEPALI, a monthly magazine published from Kathmandu—Ed.

(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to editors@mos.com.np)

Have your say ! (Registration required)

 Refer this page