An Alternative Development Paradigm for Nepal

About the Authors Born in Nepal in 1941, Madhukar SJB Rana did his Senior Cambridge from Victoria Boys' School, Darjeeling, India (where he received 'Best All Round Student' Award, 1955). He completed BA (Hons) in Political Science from Hindu College, Delhi University. Then proceeded to do his Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Studies (Economic Development) from Manchester University; and MA (Economics) from McMaster University, Canada. He also has obtained Certificates from the Graduate Institute of Advanced International Studies, Geneva University, Harvard University for studies in international relations and public enterprises policy respectively; and the Brookings Institution, Washington DC for participation in the North-South Dialogue as Guest, State Department on North-South Dialogue. He starred his professional career in 1967 as Manpower Economist, Federal Government of Canada and then shifted in 1969 to being Economics Lecturer in Nipissing University, and Associate Teaching Master, Cambrian College of Applied Arts & Technology in Canada. In 1971, he joined Nepal's the Ford Foundation financed premier think tank the Centre for Economic Development & Administration (CEDA) of Tribhuvan University as Associate Professor and rose to be its Executive Director and also Project Director of USAID supported, Status of Women in Nepal. He has served as a wide range of

non-academic experiences to include CEO in State Trading; Advisor in Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Chief Economic Advisor (Special Class) in Ministry of Finance, Special Advisor (Assistant Minister) in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Member of the SAARC Independent Commission on Poverty Alleviation. He authored the concept paper on South Asian Sub-regional c6operation among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal and christened it as the SAARC Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ) which was endorsed by the participating counties in 1997. He served as Senior Regional Programme Manager for UNDP; Senior Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance (state Minister rank) and Finance Minister (2005). He has held a senior project management position with UNCTAD in Lao PDR and Afghanistan; a senior programme management position for South Asia with UNDP. He has done consultancy for ESCAP on industrialization in least developed countries and led an ESCAP advisory team on transit treaties and policies to Mongolia, Russia and Turkmenistan. He served on the Panel of Experts to discuss issues of LDCs at the 49th Board of Trade Meeting of UNCTAD, Geneva in 2002. In private business, he founded Nepal's first publicly-held finance company and is Founder Chairman, Shaligram Apartment-Hotel (Pvt) Ltd-another first entrepreneurial venture for Nepal. He had written extensively for the think tanks, daily newspapers, magazines and websites of Nepal and abroad in the areas of diplomacy, political economy, management and pro-poor development. He was President Management Association of Nepal and Charter Vice President and Past President, Rotary Club of Jawalakhel. In MAN he successfully initiated its executive development and consultancy progammes for the private sector based on his experience in research, training and consultancy. He also served as a Professor, South Asian Institute of Management (SAIM) which is a private school of management with him as one of five founders. He was on the Academic Panel of Advisers, SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Islamabad, and International Advisory Panel, South Asian Policy Research Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka-a regional think tank founded by former President Chandrika B Kumaratunga. Among other national awards, he has received the Gorkha Dakshina Bahu from HM King Birendra in 1978; SAARC Medal from the Prime Minister of Nepal in 1987, and the Birendra-Aishwarya Medal 2001 granted by King Gyanendra. Also, he was awarded Canada's Centennial Sports Medal in 1967. He was also a Distinguished Fellow, AIIDIA. His hobby was tennis. In the ITF World Ranking for 2001 in the 60-65 age group, he was placed 232rd amongst the 551 ranked players from around the world. He has played in Hong Kong, Thailand and all over India in addition to Nepal where he was ranked No 1 for 40+; 50+; 60+ and 65+ for over a decade. He last competed actively in 2011. His wife is the acclaimed British Nepali poet and novelist Greta Pennington Rana, MBE. They have 3 sons and five granddaughters.

Atul K Thakur is a Policy Analyst, Columnist and Writer with specialisation in the interface of economics and politics and special focus on South Asia. He is the author/editor of India Now and in Transition (Niyogi Books, 2017) and India since 1947: Looking Back at a Modern Nation (Niyogi Books, 2013). As a Views Columnist, among others, he has written for The Kathmandu Post, The Hindu, The Indian Express, Financial Express, The Economic Times, First post, Daily°, Mail Today, The Wire, The Print, The Pioneer, Daily Times, The Friday Times, The Daily Star, Republican, Annapurna Express, The Record, New Spotlight, The Diplomat, Business world, Governance Now, Tehelka, ORF, AID1A, NI10E, NUS, Gateway House, India Quarterly (ICWA), Strategic Analysis (IDSA), Social Change, MAN Journal, Wars capes, 1BN Live. He is also a literary consultant and consulted by the leading publishers and authors in South Asia.

Foreword The pieces in this book are a treasure trove of ideas for development economists. They contain the thoughts of an active, eclectic mind which remained so even in his dying days.

My late husband Madhukar SJB Rana's first job was as a Manpower and Immigration officer in the Canadian Ministry of the same name. His work was so valued that he was offered citizenship early on. He refused as his dream was to contribute . something of worth to his native land. He then worked as a lecturer at Nipissing College, Sudbury University, a coveted post he left to return to Nepal in 1971. Once home he worked for the .Centre for Economic Development and Administration (CEDA) headed by the dynamic Pashupati SJB Rana. It is there that he and Ajit Thapa formed a formidable team. Ajit's expertise was management and it would prove to be a critical addition to the author's thinking.

Together they were given the responsibility of research into the workings of the then Royal Nepal Airlines. They were sent to Thailand to see the management of Thai Airways. Imagine their surprise to see bullock carts plying the mud-baked streets and the hundreds of Klongs (canals). An enlightened King Bhumibol changed all that and proof of this is Thailand of today. Think how far Thai Airways has come compared to Nepal Airlines. ‘

After the research and recommendations and improvements in management the duo were seconded to Janch Buch Kendra, an elite think tank connected to the Royal Palace. Work there secured their recognition and Ajit became the Head of Industrial Service Centre, newly formed, and Madhukar Deputy General Manager of National Trading. Why he couldn't have been given the top post is one of those Panchayat mysteries, but there he brought a company bleeding natioanal revenue into profit. He went to Hong Kong missing the late' King Brenda’s coronation to arrest a ship absconding with Nepali goods. In Calcutta he procured Nepal's first godown on the dockand, he and Laxmi La! Shrestha had to sleep with guns under their pillows because of the dock mafia.

While at National Trading he was exposed to the spectre of bribery. No names no pack drills as they inlay. In those days the demand was for cement, then in short supply. When offered cash to speed procurement or in the case of foreign companies, purchase, he would.' say "If you can give so much to me why not make it cheaper for my country instead.

The British Crown Agents were hired to examine the workings of Nepal's public enterprises and commended him highly, After which he worked at Trade Promotion Centre (TPC) and then became the Head of CEDA. There he was the Project Director of Dr Lynn Bennet's well known study on the "Status of Women in Nepal." It was this study that convinced him that Nepal's development relied on agriculture for which its micro-climates gave it a comparative advantage. He was also convinced that women farmers were the key to development.

Preface My youngest son, Sarit, would implore me from time to time to get my writing in print albeit in this internet age. His mother, Greta, would agree and so many times offered generously to edit the work. Thus this publication. How could I turn down such an inspiring suggestion coming from a prominent young entrepreneur and a leading author and senior editorial specialist with vast international experience garnered at International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Along with my co-author for numbers of publications and well known public intellectual Atul K Thakur, I am fully aware that they bring into compilation works I did for various national and international conferences over many years after I left the Centre for Economic Development and Administration (CEDA), ' Nepal's premier think tank generously funded by the Ford Foundation. They also bring into print many of the articles as I entered the foray as journalist, so to say, from the mid- 1990s. Although I did supervise, as Executive Director of CEDA, Tribhuvan University, as many as 20-23 annual research works done there by colleagues, I must admit that my major interest lay in adopting the consultant's approach to problem identification and solving to that of an academic researcher testing hypotheses and making recommendations.

Not that you do not do research for undertaking consultancies.

But the nature of the two functions is, to me, fundamentally different. Skills of observation, perception, description, listening, reflecting and resort to gut feel and emotions are paramount as opposed to analytical skills compounded by statistics and econometrics.

What do I mean by this? Consultancy seeks to come forward with practical solutions. to given problems diagnosed by the consultant in participant with the subjects to discover practical and acceptable recommendations for execution by them to solve jointly identified problems. They may offer no more than the second best or even third best solutions. Its greatness is its practical utility acceptable to the one who will execute it supported by the Consultant. Whereas research is a quest for the latest knowledge based on an extensive. review of literature and drawing recommendations for policy changes and further research enquiry to test the new knowledge generated. All based on a priori and abstract thinking. Consultancy is an action oriented consultative process whereas research is a passive intellectual process done from outside. Consultation involves prognosis based on action and experiential learning whereas' research involves more basic fact finding on possible alternatives and assessment of the costs and benefits of non-action. Often lost in the science of mathematical modeling driven by an abstract top down approach.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages