New Plan ahead!

That Nepal is giving final shape to the 16th five year plan is an encouraging message for the people who face a number of problems in their daily lives, way of living, employment, societal relations, digital access, information and cultural pursuits. The country could not do as expected in the past 68 years when planned economic development was specially emphasized. The lopsided development in all fronts particularly infrastructure, education, agriculture, industry, health, city and rural areas stand as examples of the same. Most of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals remain far from the respective targeted points. Political and economic stability needed for smooth operation of plans was not available in the country for most of the time. The same produced various disruptions and did not allow the plans to be implemented as envisioned by planners. All these may have been taken into consideration while shaping the new plan; the designers and their mentors may also have thought about the risks before the new plan and prepared guard-rail to avoid them for best results. Views expressed on the new plan recently at the National Development Council deliberations indicate the same. Since officials particularly those of civil service and political leaders engaged in governance have learnt lessons from earlier plans, the past mistakes, negligence, oversight and indifference towards implementation would not be allowed to be tolerated this time. The objectives of the new plan – reducing absolute poverty to 12%, raising per capita income to $2,413, lifting literacy to 85 % and boosting economic growth rate to 7.3 % – could be hopefully achieved in time. For this, implementers should of course be very careful in translating the plan into a doable project. The same spirit should guide the political leadership at the federal, provincial and local municipality levels. Political parties should also be able to sensitize their men and women in governance to focus on implementation of the plan. All should be convinced that the 16th plan would make a difference in Nepali economy particularly by expanding employment opportunities, making the efficient use of public resources and using Information Communication Technology prudently. Those in governance leadership should develop political will for making the plan a success in real sense of the term. Let the new plan herald a new era for Nepalis!