THE FEEDBACK OF STUDENT POLITICS and TURMOIL EDUCATION SYSTEM BY POLITICALLY INFLUENCED IDEAS IN NEPALESE UNIVERSITY - Student Politics is an integral part of political development and can play a crucial role in the process of nation building. As argued earlier, they constitute an important element of public opinion. Ideological differences among students’ organizations are natural but all ideology is committed to representing a community.Differences might be in terms of means. But the students’ unions in Nepal seem to be failing in contributing to wider population. Instead, they are serving as means to fulfill their parent organization’s interests. They seem to be following the footstep of the leaders of their parent organization, and in this case even if they emerge as national leaders tomorrow, we can hardly expect anything better from them.It seems that students’ unions of Nepal need fundamental reorientation in their attitude. Students should be the ones to lead the nation and pave path for change and prosperity guide the political leaders who are lost in their own old perspectives. Merely registering for two or three courses (that has become a trend in student leaders to continue their college politics) does not make anyone an efficient leader. What matters is how you represent the voice of those illiterate, marginalised and poverty stricken population. It must be accepted that education forms the bedrock of development, so it is necessary that student politics, in no way, should obstruct it but instead fight for better quality education that is accessible to the mass. The student community should also make both general population and political elites aware of the consequences of various social, political and economic issues. In a country where the oppositions have failed to check-balance the government, students could emerge as such force.The biggest pain in life is to see our dream, hope and expectation dying. Nepali people have stopped expecting from the political leaders. But the new Nepal that Nepalis have dreamt of demands equality, liberty and social justice in all spheres of life. It is still possible only if students recognize their responsibility towards their state. So student leaders, set a path for development we all will collectively join our hands and follow you to help you build new Nepal.Political parties in Nepal have become much too powerful not only for the health of the people but also the health of the society and nation. When political party leaders become investors in or salient rent seekers or rent extractors from medical colleges and a whole host of other institutions, the danger of damaging the health of the people, society and nation multiplies by many folds. Indeed, such a situation is akin to fascism. Fascism is a system where (or a condition when) a narrow band of political power holders aggressively use the powers of the state to amass and concentrate economic and other privileges in their own hands. In such a context, political decisions by parties and governments are made not for collective benefit but for private pecuniary and loyalty-related gains of parties and leaders who run the affairs of the state.This leads to the foundational question: Have citizens and voters of Nepal have all through the years been working hard to implement a democracy or a party-cracy? Are parties sacrosanct or is democracy? Are political parties the vehicles for structuring and implementing democracy or is democracy meant to serve the interest of the political party and its leaders? Are parties the end objective of the political-economic system Nepalis are erecting or is it democracy?An easy textbook answer, of course, is: The end objective is democracy with political parties. But the answer is not as easy in a condition where parties and political leaders are subverting basic tenets of democracy.Parties and leaders have spread their overreaching wings over a host of resources and institutions, e.g. public land, public funds, NGOs, professional organizations such as Nepal University Teachers Association, student organizations, civil service, trade unions, etc. I would not be far from truth if I claimed that there does not remain a sphere of life and society that political parties have not forcibly and illegitimately, even illegally intruded upon. Take a look at the:Universities, ‘state corporations,’ and other state-funded ‘autonomous’ bodies. At the universities, particularly at the adjunct (those paid by the class hours and those that are annually contracted) level, the faculty is being hired largely on a ‘party basis,’ wherein political parties mutually allocate ‘seats’ among themselves and appoint party members and well wishers as well as personal relatives to such positions. In such a hiring process, the intellectual quality of an applicant is rendered a peripheral attribute. The leaders of the universities, the vice-chancellors, rectors, registrars and even the heads and members of ‘service commissions’ and important divisions are hired based on party membership, sympathizer-ship and party and personal loyalty. Personal kinship, locational, etc. ties count as well.State bureaucracy. Here, the Public Service Commission (PSC) significantly limits the encroachment of the political parties during the initial hiring process. Yet, the employee unions, egged on by political parties, play havoc with physical and ministerial location of staffing—much of which has to do with the distribution of corruption-high opportunities and direct rent seeking—staff grading, promotion, etc. The employees unions, because of the political strength they derive from the parties, bend and break the monitoring and supervisory system, which reduces effective administration rare. Staff morale in the bureaucracy, as a consequence, remains extremely low.Most political parties, those in the government in particular, are known to seek rent from private and international investors. This has severely retarded the development of infrastructure, e.g. power, transportation, due to the lack of which the flow of private and international investment has remained miniscule. In addition, trade unions allied with political parties have incessantly destabilized these production and distribution agencies. Initiatives to establish sector-wide collective bargaining mechanisms have repeatedly failed because of political parties and allied trade unions. Private producers and service providers have, on the other hand, thwarted laws meant to enforce competition and have formed into cartels which extract monopoly rent from citizens and consumers.Local-government finance has become synonymous with corruption conducted by a cartel of political parties and their local representatives. The local ‘all-party mechanism’ has become a mechanism which ensures that corruption is shared among political parties. That this has been so well known and that it has been in operation for at least seven years speaks volumes.Parties are fundamental to the functioning of democracy. There can be no substitute to political parties. But political parties and political leaders must not extend themselves, make a privileged claim, and overpower all other remaining institutions. When they do that they suck the life blood out of citizens, entrepreneurs, institutions, etc. When parties do so in a sustained manner, it can be predicted that a particular bout of democracy—and the existing parties, if not the party system as a whole—is nearing an interlude.Time has come for political parties and leaders on the one hand and other popular organizations on the other to delineate respective, legitimate and mutually beneficial spheres of autonomy and excellence. Political parties and leaders must desist from illegitimate, undemocratic and illegal intrusion and seeking to extract rent from popular organizations.Political parties must also desist from conducting a business enterprise, non-governmental organization, etc. themselves. Rent extraction by political parties and leaders has been a bane of development and prosperity across many parts of the world. This must be stopped or, at the least, severely reduced. It must be made a punishable offense. Parties and leaders, on the other hand, should legitimately demand excellence from public and private institutions and hold them accountable when and if they fall below a certain level of productivity and professionalism. After all, democracy is a rule of law. It is not a rule of political parties-HOW MANY HYUNDAI ACCENT(SOLARIS) WITH MINISTERS OF RUSSIA.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 06:24:14 +0000
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