Shifting The Capital To Chitwan

English: Map displaying Village Development Committees in Chitawan District, Nepal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I just read on Facebook, and I like the idea. Chitwan/Narayanghat is ideal for capital city.

Kathmandu must be rebuilt, but the rebuilding has to be as a cultural city. Kathmandu has historic importance. And the heritage must be preserved.

But this tragedy has given the country a very real option to build a new capital city for itself. And I do think Chitwan/Narayanghat is most suited for it.

It has a central location. There is no drinking water issue there. There is no land issue. There is no air pollution issue there. It might be cheaper to build new buildings in Chitwan than to rebuild many of the damaged government buildings in Kathmandu.

Relief and reconstruction are not enough. The country has to seek resurgence from this terrible tragedy. This can also be a point of new departure for the country.

If the state is restructured for federalism, the federal government will be smaller in size, and fewer buildings will be needed.

Most buildings in Kathmandu deemed uninhabitable or unsafe following quake

More than three-quarters of the buildings in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, are uninhabitable or unsafe following the 7.9-magnitude earthquake nine days ago, a new survey has revealed. ...... Assessments of 2,500 buildings carried out by more than 1,000 local engineers during the last four days have revealed that a fifth are no longer habitable and three-quarters need repairs before they can be considered safe....... “The sample is a random one and so representative of the city as a whole. The damage is bad. We are still discovering its extent and will have to do a full and thorough final assessment at some point,” said survey coordinator Drubha Thapa, president of the Nepali Engineers Association (NEA). ....... The new assessment indicates a much greater number of buildings will need repairing than previously estimated by the Nepalese government. Local officials have so far counted 153,000 buildings that are in ruins across the country, with another 170,000 damaged. The government of Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries, has already said post-quake reconstruction may cost more than £6.5bn ($10bn). ...... Aftershocks continue to shake Kathmandu, convincing tens of thousands of people who are living under tarpaulins on open spaces that it is still too dangerous to return home. ...... “We have hardly met 20% of the demand of the people. We are having difficulties reaching affected areas due to a lack of vehicles and helicopters,” said Krishna Gyawali, the most senior bureaucrat in Sindhulpalchowk district. ...... “People are furious they haven’t anything,” said Uddhav Timilsina, chief district officer of Gorkha. However tensions have emerged between the international community and Nepalese officials. Major donors and western nations are frustrated by infighting within the deeply divided Nepalese government. .....

“It’s all about control, not coordination. They are not coming together to do the best they can for the people of Nepal,”

said one senior western aid official in Kathmandu. ....... Western officials have repeatedly forced the Nepalese prime minister, Sushil Koirala, 75, to overrule suggestions by ministers seeking to centralise the distribution of aid funds under government control. ...... There has also been a battle for overall responsibility for the disbursement of aid money between Ban Dev Gautam, the minister for home affairs, and the prime minister’s office. There are widespread fears that corruption too may weaken the relief effort....... “Everything is politicised, including many local NGOs,” the western official said. ..... The UN said eight million of Nepal’s 28 million people have been affected, with at least two million people needing tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months.

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A Malfunctioning Government

Nepal quake victims fear government won't help much, if history is guide

"It's the same government as last year, so I have very little hope that things will be different," said Mangale Tamang, 56, a former Jure resident who was sleeping Sunday morning in a lean-to by the side of a dust-choked highway where his village once stood. ............ in the recent past, the government has struggled to compensate victims of natural disasters far smaller than the temblor that has left more than 7,250 dead and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. ...... a peculiar system of government sprung from a failure to hold local elections in nearly 20 years. All decisions must go through a few top officials in the capital, Katmandu, and committees that manage local affairs are appointed by national political parties, which the Nepalese say makes them less accountable to the people. ........ The country's auditor general reported in March that government agencies had spent just one-fifth of their budget because of "political influence while selecting projects, lack of regular follow-up of project implementation, poor participation of users and collusion between contractors and government officials." ...... The government also aims to collect $2 billion for a national reconstruction fund to rebuild shattered infrastructure. ...... After the Jure disaster, officials paid $1,000 to families that lost their homes and $400 to those that lost a relative. But villagers say they have not seen any money from a $220,000 Jure Landslide Relief Fund created to help families get back on their feet. ...... A report last month in the Nepal News website said the funds, raised mainly through private donations, were sitting in a government account because the Home Affairs Ministry had not given permission for them to be disbursed. ...... A few miles up the winding highway in Chautara, the devastated seat of Sindhupalchowk district, residents said they had not seen any assistance from the local government in the eight days since the quake. More than 2,000 people have died in the district east of the capital, the highest death toll in the country, but residents said they had not heard from Gyawali, the top local official. ........ "Of course the foreigners are helping and aid is coming into the country, but they're not the ones handing it out to the people," shopkeeper Sher Bahadur Thapa said. "They give it to the district and the ward officials, and that's where it goes missing. It's the needy people who suffer."

The Earthquake-Wrecked Town That the Nepali Government Forgot

CHAUTARA, Nepal—Cries of anger rose above the din of military helicopters and wails of the injured, as men banged their fists on the metal gate outside the town’s government offices. But it was fruitless: Local officials had fled the building shortly after Nepal’s earthquake, leaving the windows open and a truck—its windshield smashed by the crowd, creating a spiderweb-shaped crack in the glass—parked outside. ....... The Nepali prime minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, set up explicitly for the earthquake, reported on Friday that it had raised $1.5 million but only distributed 1 percent of that money so far ..... Foreign aid agencies have complained of severe delays in getting their cargo planes into the country’s sole and tiny international airport. ..... “Why do you think we’re in charge here?” a Nepalese Army sergeant, wearing camouflage and a black facemask to ward off disease, asked me in Chautara. “We’re managing this to prevent violence against the government,” said the sergeant ....... The stench of a large, communal toilet wafted over us. .... Though Chautara, a town of roughly 4,000 people, is only 25 miles northeast of Kathmandu, the drive now involves three hours of negotiating thick mud, since most of its crag-hugging roads have been destroyed. In the town itself, whole floors of brick buildings were ripped away; on the third floor of one house, a family’s framed pictures of their children hung on an exposed yellow wall, beside a neatly stacked pile of shoes. The town had so many cracks and clusters of detritus that the rare, untouched building seemed improper, almost impertinent. ....... When I visited, Rachana Sahi, 25, was digging for salvageable belongings through the heap that had been her family home. “Sure, the government will help us,” she hissed, dragging out a dust-covered rug. “Once we’re dead.” ..... the earthquake shows just how vital it is to have political institutions that work, both at the center and, even more importantly, at the local level ...... “Anger does not do justice to my feelings at the moment,” he said brusquely between drilling. Villagers gathered to watch. Around them lay the debris of lives interrupted by cracked earth: a fake pearl bracelet, a TV remote, a computer screen, a submerged motorcycle. Under the surrounding cliffs, viridian wheat fields were almost ready for harvesting—cold comfort for the people of Chautara.

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नेपाल सरकार कि विदेशी सरकार --- प्रश्न नै गलत

अहिले नेपालमा व्यापक छलफल भएको छ ----- राहत र पुनर्निर्माण को पैसा कसले खर्च गर्ने? नेपाल सरकार ले गर्ने कि विदेशी सरकार र संस्था हरुले। प्रधान मंत्री राहत कोष को कुरा आएको छ। हेटी को कुरा आएको छ।

नेपाल सरकार कि विदेशी सरकार --- त्यो प्रश्न नै गलत हो। राहत र पुनर्निर्माण को पैसा सबै प्रधान मंत्री राहत कोष मा हाल्ने हो भने अर्को जाजरकोट हुने हो। राहत र पुनर्निर्माण को पैसा सबै प्रधान मंत्री राहत कोष मा हाल्ने कि नहालने --- त्यो प्रश्न पनि अव्यवहारिक छ ---- नेपालको संसदले हाल्ने भनेर निर्णय गरेमा हालिने होइन। अरुको पैसा के गर्छ उसको निर्णय हुन्छ।

मुख्य कुरा हो राहत र पुनर्निर्माण हुनुपर्यो। सहयोग पाउनु पर्ने ले पाउनुपर्यो। बढ़ी भन्दा बढ़ी सहयोग हुनुपर्यो।

I believe this is the solution: Outlines Of A 100% Online Transparency Bill.

हेटी ले सिकाउने: घुस खाने कि तलब खाने?
The Government Under A Cloud
100% Online Transparency Not Just For Nepal Government
The Nepal Army Has Been Doing Exemplary Work
हो, सरकार अक्षम्य रुपले असफल भएको हो
Massive Infrastructure, Massive Growth
Digital Sharing: How It Could Work
Exemplary Relief And Reconstruction Through Digital Sharing
Time For The People To Revolt Against Corruption
A Corrupt Elite Rattled By The Earthquake
नेपालमा एउटा अहिंसात्मक कोतपर्व को खाँचो
Outlines Of A 100% Online Transparency Bill
The Perfect Time
Complaining About Tuna And Mayonnaise
सरकारले काम गरेको कि नगरेको?
भारतको रोल, चीनको रोल, नेपालको आफ्नो रोल
The Corrupt Ones Are Worried About Money Laundering
What Kills? Earthquakes? Collapsing Buildings? Or Corrupt Governments?
Shesh Ghale Tells It Like It Is
Mass Action For Relief And Reconstruction
An Insane Act By The Nepal Government
Criminal Acts By The Political Leadership
My Article On Nepal Earthquake For Foreign Policy: Draft 1

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5 States, 75 Districts, 75 Parliamentary Constituencies

• 5 States, their names to be decided through majority vote by their respective parliaments.
• The 75 districts remain intact. 
• There are only two direct elections in the country, one for the national parliament, another at the local level for wada chiefs and mayors and deputy mayors. 
• The MPs elect the Prime Minister. 
• The wada chiefs, mayors, deputy mayors elect the district government. 
• Every elected leader in the country at all levels elect the country's president who is the constitutional head, and the Commander In Chief of the Nepal Army. 
• The two direct elections are held during alternate two years, the dates decided autonomously by the Election Commission. 
• The MPs are elected in each district at the district level. Districts that qualify for more than one MP are made multi member constituencies. Details on how multi member constituencies operate are in these blog posts from 2007.

Meeting Ground Between Congress And Maoists: 75 Multi Member Constituencies
Compromise Formula: 75 Multi Member Constituencies

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5 States, 75 Districts

• 5 states, their names to be decided through majority vote by their state legislatures once they are formed before monsoon 2015.
• Two direct elections, one for MPs, another for wada chiefs, mayors and deputy mayors. 
• MPs elect Prime Minister. 
• Wada chiefs, mayors and deputy mayors elect members of the district government. 
• All elected leaders at all levels elect the President who is constitutional chief and Commander In Chief of the Nepal Army. 

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Restructuring The Permanent State

Unison (Shin Terai album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once you decide on how many states, their areas and their names, and once you decide on the size and shape of the parliament, and that of the office of the president and prime minister, attentions shifts to the states.

6 Geographic States With Geographic Names
205 + 100 MPs At Most

The six states should have one chamber parliaments that are at most 100 strong. So the two Terai states might have chambers that are 100 strong each, whereas the four hill states might have chambers that are 50 strong each. For a total of about 400 state level legislators. The majority in each elects its Chief Minister.

Then you shape up the district and local level governments.

The biggest part of state restructuring is what do you do with the bureaucrats. What do you do with the police? The army?

The civil war has been over for years now, but the Nepal Army has not been downsized. That is a problem. The Nepal Army needs to be downsized drastically to about 10,000 soldiers. Policing will be a state function. And obviously you can't have a Pahadi police force in the Terai. Some downsizing will have to happen in the police force as well. The armed police force was constituted in the face of the Maoist insurgency. But that insurgency is over. Some police personnel can be shifted to the states, but not all. Many will have to be guided into the private sector of the economy. This is part of the peace process still. Foreign aid can be sought for the same. People don't find their livelihoods gone. They just find they have new vocations now.

The same goes to ministries. Many will have to be downsized, a few will have to be eliminated.

State restructuring is not state restructuring unless you restructure the permanent government.

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A Directly Elected President Is Not Going To Be A Dictator

Image via WikipediaI am not talking electoral college. In America the president is not elected directly or Al Gore would have won in 2000, not George Bush. I am talking electing the president directly in Nepal.

President Or Prime Minister?

Let's imagine a scenario. We have a new constitution and now it is time to head towards elections. The Maoists and the Madhesi Morcha might form an alliance again and Prachanda might be the Maoists' candidate for president. There would be a strong chance Prachanda would get elected.

He would have a four year term. If he does a good job, and the alliance holds, and if he wins again, he might get a second four year term. There would not be a third four year term for him after that. After that he could choose to retire, or he could contest elections to become a member of parliament, it would be up to him.

As Commander In Chief of the Nepal Army his most important tasks might be to (1) democratize the Nepal Army, and (2) to rightsize it, to bring it down to something like 30,000 soldiers and in the process have it reflect Nepal's ethnic and gender composition.

The annual budget for the country would originate out of the president's office, but unless it is passed by the two houses of parliament, that budget would not come into effect. That is called check and balance. That right there is power for the parliament. And it is very likely the Maoists would not have a majority in the parliament. No one party would. A president who could not pass a budget without the parliament would not be a dictator.

The president would have a cabinet. The president would appoint ambassadors.

The parliament would have a Speaker, the head of the legislative branch.

A Maoist might end up president, but the Maoist party likely will not have a majority in the parliament. And there will be elections to the local bodies. It is going to be interesting to see which parties form governments in the various states in the country. And there are going to be local elections. There is going to be a great diffusion of power thanks to federalism.

We might opt for parliamentary style Chief Ministers for the states just to keep the Nepali Congress happy, and to not end up with too many elections.

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