Locked down Nepal in no case should mean that the government has chosen to socially distance itself from the rest of the country. The political lock down that preceded the corona virus already began with the prime minister’s precarious health. The government party lock down began with outstanding differences between the central committee of the party and the prime minister’s cabinet. The structures of the system having been so paralyzed, the results of a lockdown imposed by government precipitated by the corona virus have yet to be awaited. After all the politics of the country has found it convenient to dump systemic inadequacies squarely on the shoulder of the civil service sector. That same service must now be depended upon by the politics of the country to enforce the current lock down. The massive scare factor in the population is a political tool facilitating the politician no down. But the problems the lockdown has created on the lay population must have accompanied the lock down. It is here that government has begun on the wrong foot already. Assuring the masses that there are no shortages is not enough. Proving that there is no shortage needs delivery. What is happening is that the system is demonstrating its own ineptness in the eyes of the public. In presence of a political lock down it is now up to the administration to lead the public to places where there are no shortages and locate for us where we can find governance, supplies and sustenance.
But this is easier said than done. It is not the hundred of thousands of party cadre that government says it owns which will deliver the service a locked down population wants. It is that pool of medical staff and health workers which must be put within the reach of the population that the administration must direct. The butcher, the baker and the next door grocer who supply every day needs and their suppliers have to be supplanted at these times with active civil service roles. It is one thing to clear the streets for a lockdown. It is another to supplant the street’s role. Civil service must service the people but it cannot when the political masters are themselves on lockdown. The biggest flaw is in the practical matters of cash. The lockdown no doubt crashes earnings and burdens the layman’s budget. The fundaments of politics should assure a supplement. It is easy to demobilize a population. That population, however, have by and large no savings given their meager earnings. Much political cash could have been made when this recognition could have come with generous dole outs. Silence in search matters add to further incredibility. We may have heard of the government reaching out for medical supplies. How government handles the cash supply for the day to day needs of a locked down people is perhaps how its lock(ed) down measures will be assessed.
Reproduced from People’s Review
