CJ-led Government-24 (Enforcing Social Reform Act)

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

Commission on Investigation into Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has been seriously active to enforce the Panchayat-era Social Reform Act. This Act and the actions of the CIAA violate the fundamental human rights, as the Act goes against the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 that guarantees the fundamental human rights of Nepalis. Enforcement of this act is legally not permissible, socially irrational, and economically disastrous.

I appreciate the highly commendable jobs CIAA has done arresting four ministers, and putting them behind bars for 18 months and recovering the lost money from them. Recently, CIAA has arrested the officials of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) including the former and incumbent Executive Directors for purchasing low quality transformers causing billions of rupees worth of loss to the nation. Similarly, CIAA has arrested a large number of officials committing irregularities while on duty at the Immigration Office of the international airport in Kathmandu. CIAA has been doing a great job of catching the corrupt staffs of NEA and Immigration Office.

CIAA needs to propose a law that sends the corrupt ministers and politicians to jail at least for ten years, and makes them not eligible for being candidates for any public office in the future. Previously, the Shah-Rana rulers had been the main culprits for using the national resources for their luxurious lives keeping the entire population in poverty. Currently, the corrupt politicians and State officials have been responsible for the poverty in Nepal despite the flow of the huge foreign assistance to Nepal. So, CIAA should surgically cut off the cancerous disease of corruption from the nation. However, CIAA should not do anything that goes against the fundamental human rights of the common folks.

Recently, the local media have been reporting that the officials of the CIAA go around the wedding or other social ceremony feasts to see whether the organizers of such events have exceeded the number of guests invited to such functions violating the Social Reform Act or not. Following the Act, organizers are supposed to have the guests not exceeding 50 persons.

One of the leaders of the CPN-Maoist has cancelled the planned wedding feast of his son after the CIAA has been active to enforce the Social Reform Act. Many more must have cancelled such events, as Nepalis are so submissive to the authorities. In fact, most of the Nepalis don’t know the legal provision, not to mention the legal provision that went against the fundamental human rights. Nepalis still don’t know how to enjoy the fundamental human rights provided by the constitution of the country. Common folks would stop holding such ceremonies, as did the leader of the CPN-UML after the CIAA going after such cremonies.

Nepalis should know that the then Panchayat rulers formulated the Social Reform Act to control the activities of the common folks. The kings did not care what the human rights were. The king and his sycophants had put Nepalis under their thumbs for 240 years. They did not want the common folks enjoying their lives. So, they formulated the Social Reform Act in the name of cutting the unproductive expenses of the common folks. During the Panchayat era, the State spent millions of rupees if not hundreds of millions of rupees if counted the productive labor wasted on the celebration of the birthdays of the king, his queen and the crown prince. All the factories, industries and businesses of the common folks were shut down for the celebration of the birthdays of these guys. The results were the Panchayat had gone long ago, and the monarchy died in 2008. CIAA should know it and stop violating the fundamental human rights.

After the introduction of the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 guaranteeing the fundamental human rights of Nepalis, Social Reform Act has been defunct, as it goes against the fundamental human rights. What common folks want to do and where they want to spend their money are the fundamental human rights provided by the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007. Any rules, laws or Acts that go against the constitution automatically become redundant.

From where has the CIAA got the mandate to enforce such defunct Social Reform Act? Enforcing the defunct Act means the CIAA has been abusing the authority; it has been encroaching on the fundamental rights of the common folks; it has been behaving as the despotic monarch. The CIAA supposed to stop the abuse of authorities has been abusing its own authority. Who should punish the ICAA for abusing its authority? The legal experts should think about it.

One of the duties of the government is to protect the common folks from miscreants. So, the government should protect the people from the illegal activities of the CIAA that has been enforcing the dead Social Reform Act. The government should use its Attorney General’s office to stop the CIAA from abusing its authority. Stopping the CIAA that has been going around and bullying the common folks celebrating social events, the government should pave the way for the common people to celebrate wedding ceremonies or any other sorts of ceremonies, as they wish for.

The Nepalese society has been unique in the sense it gives important to the social gatherings such as the wedding, adulthood or birthday ceremonies. Such social gatherings give a chance to all the people to have interaction among the equals and even unequal, too. If any family does not invite relatives and friends to such ceremonies mean breaking the relationship with them. So, limiting the guests to 50 people means breaking the relationship with many relatives and friends.

Economically, stopping the social ceremonies such as wedding, and adulthood ceremonies or birthdays is disastrous. Not holding ceremonies means not consuming so many foods, and drinks. No consumption means disincentive to production. Any gains to the industries or agriculture producing the items required for such ceremonies will be offset by no consumption.

Most of the jobs in the catering-the-ceremonies business become redundant. Stopping the ceremonies in the scale common folks want or limiting the guests to 50 persons hit the business of the catering-such-ceremonies companies. Hundreds if not thousands catering companies have been operating in the Kathmandu Valley. Such companies have created thousands of jobs. The businesses for such companies have been so high, they have the bookings for holding the dinner parties or lunch parties six months or even a year ahead. After the CIAA officials going around the people celebrating the ceremonies, the businesses of such companies have come to a complete end. Thus, CIAA has killed thousands of jobs in this sector of the business.

Next victims of CIAA stopping the social festivities are the beverage companies such as beer companies, whisky, and soft drink companies. Many beer factories, hard drink companies and soft drink companies might need to scale down their production. Raw material producers for these companies in turn will need to reduce the production of raw materials. One can imagine how many jobs must have been lost in the beverage companies, and in the companies producing the raw materials.

A regular dinner party has the menu of three kinds of meat such as goat meat, chicken, and fish, and rice, bread, noodles, vegetables, and bean dishes. Demands for all these items will be drastically reduced.

The meat producing companies will need to scale down their production, as demands for these items will be less than used to be due to not holding social ceremonies in the scale people can afford or want to hold such ceremonies at any cost.

Goat-raising companies will find the less demand for the goats, poultry business will suffer from less demands of chickens, and the same thing to the fish-producing companies. Vegetable farmers will suffer the most from the low consumption of vegetables.

Adverse economic consequences of stopping social ceremonies are very high. CIAA enforcing the defunct Social Reform Act has hit the economy of the country very hard. Companies immediately affected are the companies catering social ceremonies. Their businesses have been not only reduced but they have no businesses at all. Investment in the catering business has remained idle. Catering companies must have the problem of paying the bank loans. CIAA is solely responsible for all these consequences of stopping the social ceremonies in the scale common folks want.

Celebrating lavish social ceremonies is one of the ways to trickle down the resources from the rich people to the poor. The money of the rich people goes down to the laborers through the catering companies, through the beverage companies, and through the companies producing various food items required for such ceremonies. For example, catering companies hire laborers and pay salaries to them for doing various skilled (cooks), semi-skilled (assistants to the cooks) and unskilled (collectors of empty dishes and glasses used by the guests) jobs. Stopping such ceremonies means stopping the flow of money to the laborers and pushing the people to the unemployment and then down to the poverty line. Celebrating social events also is part of the poverty alleviation.

Nobody has rights to stop anybody from celebrating social occasions as they wish. Every Nepali has the rights to celebrate the social ceremonies, as s/he likes. S/he might sell all assets or burnt out the lifelong savings to hold the feast after ceremony or on the occasion of the ceremonies as such ceremonies are once in a lifetime business. That is the business of the concerned person not of the CIAA. In fact, some people save money for a long time to hold such once in a lifetime ceremony.

A few weeks ago, someone had chartered a helicopter to take the bridegroom from Chitwan to Beshishar spending a few hundred thousands rupees on chartering a helicopter according to the local media report. The grandfather of the bridegroom wanted to see the bridegroom flying on a helicopter on the occasion of the wedding. The bride party also spent equally if not more than the bridegroom party on the wedding.

Using the defunct Social Reform Act and even abusing its own authority, why the CIAA needed to stop the common folks from holding social ceremonies. CIAA has the authority to stop the State agencies from spending on such ceremonies, as the money belongs to the public. CIAA should not and could not interfere in the businesses of the common folks. People know how to use their money.

Let the people enjoy the social functions. That will help develop economically and socially. Consumption will motivate the production, which in turn helps the economic development. Nepalis should produce more and consume more to alleviate the poverty. They cannot produce more means they cannot consume, too. Nepalis are poor because they have no opportunity to produce more.

The Shah-Rana rulers had stopped Nepalis doing any economic activities except for producing agricultural products required for subsistence living. They had kept Nepalis at the subsistence level taking out from them as much as possible. Then, the Shah-Rana rulers spent the State revenue on their luxurious lives.

CIAA should not try to repeat the history. CIAA should immediately stop its illegal activity of going around the functions common folks are holding and inquiring about the number of guests and so on. That is not the business of the CIAA. However, CIAA should vigorously continue the task of catching the corrupt politicians, ministers, and public employees, and taking strong actions against such corrupt politicians and officials.

August 25, 2013