Frequent Strikes Hit Livelihood in Nepal
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KATHMANDU, Sept 23 (OneWorld) - Coming after a year of shutdowns, last week's three-day general strike by Maoist rebels severely slashed Nepal's economy, particularly the tourism sector, which forms the lifeline of the Himalayan nation.
Experts say that in broad economic terms, the September 18-20 strike lowered the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by about US $30 million. According to the Economic Survey of Nepal 2001, published by the Ministry of Finance, Nepal's total annual GDP was equivalent to US $5.5 billion. Significantly, the non-agricultural sector, which continues to face the brunt of frequent strikes, contributes 60 percent of the GDP. On this occasion, the shutdown was particularly ill-timed, coming at the onset of the new tourism season which usually begins in September and continues till March. The three-day strike has sent the wrong signal to the international tourism market. Remarks the president of the Nepal Association of Travel Agents (NATA), Jai Dewan, "Although only a few groups have canceled their visit to Nepal, the strike has conveyed the wrong message internationally that the situation here is uncertain and unstable." Predicts Dewan, "It will have negative consequences in the tourism sector in the days ahead." Nepal's tourism industry contributes about four percent of the total GDP and 15 percent of total foreign currency earnings. The Economic Survey notes that it generated foreign currency equivalent to US $85 million in the fiscal year 2001/2002. During this period, 250,000 tourists visited Nepal - half the figure in 1998/99. According to the World Bank's Country Assistance Strategy Report 2003, tourism arrivals declined by 38 percent in the fiscal year 2002. "We have lost a revenue of US $1.5 million in the three-day general strike," laments a senior official in the Customs department. Adds executive member of the Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN), Hari Man Lama, "The strikes over the past few years have hurt us immensely and given our country's image a severe beating." Apart from tourism, the general strike has also badly hit the impoverished country's economy. Nepal happens to be one of the most under-developed countries, with 42 percent of its population living below the poverty line, boasting an income of less than one US dollar a day. Says former first vice president of umbrella body, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Chandi Raj Dhakal, "The country's economy will lose an equivalent of US $14 million a day." Economists, though, say this figure is exaggerated, putting the actual figure at US $10 million a day. Despite the announcement of a ceasefire by the government and Maoists in January this year, other mainstream political parties continued to disrupt the economy by calling for strikes. In the last nine months, the country has witnessed eight days of general shutdowns, causing immense hardship to marginal wage-earners. Says the vice chairman of the government's apex planning body, the National Planning Commission, Dr Shankar Sharma, " According to an estimate, there are more than one million marginal, particularly poor people involved in informal sectors like wage labor, street vendors and transport workers, who lose their income due to strikes." Almost every political party in Nepal resorts to strikes to exert pressure on the government. Most people immediately shutdown their businesses for fear of violence. Warns FNCCI president, Binod Bahadur Shrestha, "The nation cannot sustain the economic burden of general strikes." Despite government claims of providing full security on such occasions, people are unwilling to take any risk. Stresses Lama, "In the interest of the country's economy, all concerned parties must publicly declare their commitment to avoid calling for general strikes." After the restoration of democracy 13 years ago, strikes became the favored pressure tactic of various political parties, including the Maoist rebels. Interestingly, the first general strike was called in March 1990 to overthrow the one-party autocratic political system then in existence. |
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