Report on ACHR – Kathmandu Visit

3. Other Issues

3.1 Project Contracts:

Lumanti knows better but I feel that it should not take up contract for mortar and brick projects. This will tax its capacity and capability without really bringing much benefit to the organisation. An expansion of ACCA projects would be very useful if properly documented with the community’s participation.

3.2 Media:

Meeting with Kanak Dixit and his brother gave me the impression that the issues of poor communities in Nepal were not addressed by the media in the country. It is important that steps to rectify this are taken. Given the fact that Nepal is in a state of transition, this seems to be possible. Support of an informed public is necessary for promoting poor-friendly laws and projects. A lot of ideas were discussed with Lumanti on this subject.

3.3 Loans for House Building:

At present, the only loans available are from the housing bank which is a private sector institution. It provides loans at 13 per cent interest. The poor cannot afford such a high interest rate. A proposal for a government supported housing bank with an interest rate of 4 to 6 per cent should be drawn up and organisations that could lobby for it should be identified. This really means a meeting with some bank heads and with government agencies. Also, can the savings of the cooperatives be used as a collateral for getting loans from banks for incremental house building?

3.4 Traffic and Transport:

Kathmandu is congested. Everyone I met says that road widths are insufficient to handle traffic. I disagree. Looking at the map of Kathmandu, one can easily identify a transit pattern of one-way streets that cannot only easily solve this congestion, but also make space for a one-way tram system that can serve a major part of the city. I discussed this with Kanak Dixit. If this is not done now, it will be impossible to do it in the future without major demolitions. Also, the tramway system will be able to give some direction for a future land-use plan. This is not the sort of work Lumanti should do but it can have an opinion that it can voice.

4. Changes in Nepal

My last Nepal visit was in 2006. In the five years since then major changes have taken place in Kathmandu. These changes are listed below.

1. Kathmandu, unlike before, is full of huge billboards advertising consumer items such as cosmetics, air-conditioners, cookers, mobile phones, etc.
2. There are a large number of malls that are coming up in the city.
3. The city is full of billboards advertising private schools, colleges (some with affiliations abroad), and health-care facilities.
4. The city is full of banks. They are all over the place. Sometimes three or four in the same building. I have never seen such a dense accumulation of banks anywhere.
5. There is large scale construction activity taking place. Much of it is related to the demolition and reconstruction of old buildings.
6. The town is full of motorbikes (some say 450,000) and hawkers have multiplied many folds. They exist by paying “bhatta” to the police.
7. The most important change for me, however, is related to the change of dress, both for men and women. During my last visit, a negligible number of women were seen in jeans and T-shirts. Almost all of them wore the saree or shalwar-qameez. Today, a large minority dress in jeans and T-shirts. In 2006, many men wore the dhora shalwar and kurta. This has completely disappeared from the streets and from government offices where it was very common.

The above observations point to an increasingly affluent society in a state of flux. The source of wealth is identified as remittances from abroad and from tourism. I would love to look at the long term affect of these trends on Nepal society and it affects on the poor in the country.

5. Conclusions

1. I am very impressed by the work of Lumanti, especially related to its savings and credit programmes.
2. I feel that in the process of change that is taking place, pro-poor laws relating to land-use, tenure and credit need to be promoted.
3. The pressure on land in the centre of the city will lead to evictions and relocations unless “civil society” and the politicians develop and promote an alternative vision.
4. The situation in the smaller towns, where land is not so expensive, is probably different. There settlements will be easier to regularise on an individual basis even minus a law.
5. The involvement of the media in the creation of this vision is important. Not knowing Nepal well enough, I cannot give a proposal for this. However, on the basis of my experience, changes can take place if poor communities, academia, politicians and bureaucrats can be brought together to share an institutional and physical space. Given the political situation in Nepal, I feel that such a space can be created.