Transforming society: A new approach
Author: RAM CHANDRA LAMICHHANE
Kantipur Online
Date: 10/22/2005
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Transforming society: A new approach
By RAM CHANDRA LAMICHHANE
- The majority of the Nepali population (around 86%) lives in rural areas, engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture. Of the total population, 44% of them fall below the poverty line. Survival is their basic concern and the majority of them have been bypassed by whatever economic progress has been made.
The minority rich have comfortable houses with beautiful gardens, imported means of luxury and foreign wine, three-four meals a day, fancy clothes, health security and more than enough financial savings. Their children attend expensive private schools and choose prestigious universities abroad so that their career is ensured.
But in the rural parts of the country, poor people live together in a family of 10 or more in poorly constructed single-roomed houses which do not have electricity and fresh water supply. An adult of each family must work all day. But even after a day's hard work, they do not have enough food for dinner. What they get is only a few scraps of stale bread. Food is hardly adequate to feed the children. Education is lacking. The communicable diseases frequently break out but hospitals are miles away.
They dream for the betterment of their life which is never fulfilled in reality. Despite these hardships, people manage to live and their contribution in the process of national development cannot be imagined. The country is proceeding with the 10th consecutive five-year plans. Millions have been spent in the name of poverty alleviation and rural development, but the situation has not improved to the desired extent. Of course, better results have been achieved in the last few years than in the past. However, that is not sufficient.
Our political systems, from 2007 BS to date, have always been trying to find out the weakness of the opposition. None of the political systems have ever tried to utilize the strengths of the opposition. Because of the problematic eyes of the ruler, they have always been inviting and creating a bunch of problems.
Very sadly we have to accept the fact that our country is now psychologically divided into three power centers. Of course, it is challenging but possible to restore peace and psychological reintegration by the right initiation and positive intention.
For the settlement of the present crisis Appreciative Inquiry Approach could be the right approach. It is theory of mindset, and an approach to analyze the learning and creativity. This approach believes in the imagination of future. It is a new approach, explained by Prof. Dr. David Cooperrider in Case Western Reserve's University America in 1988.
To solve the problems, each of the three should find out the hidden strengths behind them and utilize all strengths for the sake of the people and the nation. Secondly, they must know that, "What they seek is what they find and where they believe they are going is where they will end up". If they are seeking for peace, definitely the country will be a peaceful place. If they believe in peace, they will be able to restore peace and democracy very soon.
And the third and most important thing is that, if they look for the problems in each other, they will find more problems and they will lead the country towards the quagmire. If they look for the strengths of each other and utilize those strengths for the country, they will find more strength and can utilize all for the sake of people and country and no doubt they solve the current problem.
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