Distribution of Goods and Services in Nepal's Conflict Situation
Editors: Ananda P Shrestha and Hari Uprety
Published by: Nepal Foundation for Advanced Studies (NEFAS) in cooperation with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Nepal
Price: Undisclosed
Pages: 172
Conflict and Distribution
The book discusses the distribution of goods and services during Nepal's twelve years long violent conflict
By A CORRESPONDENT
Whenever any country faces the violent conflict, the foremost important challenges for them are how to continue the distribution of goods and services in the conflict prone areas. During the twelve years long violent conflict, Nepal too faced challenges to maintain the supply and delivery.
As there lacked the transport network, supplying food uninterrupted was always a matter of challenge and difficulty in hilly districts of Nepal. Twelve year long conflict added many difficulties to that dimension.
Edited by Ananda P. Shrestha and Hari Upreti, this is the first of its kind book, which deals with overall situation of food supply during the twelve years long period of violent conflict in Nepal's northern hill.
Based on the seminar papers presented by various prominent authors, the book discusses the various challenges faced by Nepal during the period of violent insurgency.
From describing genesis of Nepal's public distribution system by Vidya Nath Nepal to Jagannth Ojha's Institutional arrangement for distribution of basic goods and service in conflict areas of Nepal, many experts contributed their articles in various themes.
Gunanidhi Shama's state Vs market in social supply nets and Uma Shanker Prasad's nature of poverty and delivery of goods and services in the era of globalization in Nepal are interesting.
Similarly, Ram Kumar Dahal's the supply of wage and goods to the remote Himalayan and mountain districts and Vidya Bir Singh Kansakar's Remote Areas of Nepal: Reality, Potentiality, Prospects of Development and Delivery of Basic Service and Infrastructures are other interesting papers.`
"Thirty mid-hill and remote districts face sustained food crisis, not to mention other basic needs. As if underdevelopment, geography and the decade-long conflict were not enough to pose systematic challenges for a smooth supply of public goods and services in various parts of the country. The paring down social functions of the state, under pressure from a neo-liberal economic regime, has put this vital aspect of Nepalese governance on the backburner," writs Dev Raj Dahal, head FES Nepal.
"Nepal's nascent experiences with violent conflict have made it carry out adjustments in its humanitarian supplies, participatory forms of development and peace building."
Nepal's geography remains main hurdles for delivery of goods and supply. This was what Nepal's policymakers faced during the prolong period of insurgency. "Due to Nepal's rugged topography, delivery of goods and services to remote parts of the country even during normal times has proved a major challenge and an issue that has generated much debate. Moreover, in today's conflict ridden situation that has gone on for over a decade, the public distribution system has been gravely affected, thus raising additional concern regarding its efficiency and functioning. Therefore, it is but natural in the present context for question to consistently crop up regarding the effective supply of essential goods and services to the needy living in the country's not so easy accessible Himalayan and mountain districts," writes Ananda P. Shrestha, executive director of NEFAS in his book.
Vidya Bir Singh Singh Kansakar in his paper Remote Areas of Nepal: Reality, Potentiality Prospects of Development and Mountain districts of Nepal also suggested the need to utilize the road building inside Tibetan Autonomous Region of China to maintain delivery. According to Kansakar, Nepal's 22 remote districts cover nearly 37 percent of total areas of Nepal and most of the districts of north are closely linked with Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.
Similarly, Vidyanath Nepal, former secretary, holds the view that Nepal's distribution system needs overhauling. "An efficient and effective distribution system is very important to supply goods including from surplus areas to deficit ones," writes Nepal.
The articles complied in the book helps understand the reality of situation and supply system in Nepal.
