Lingnistic, Religious, Class related problem

Linguistic problem may arise due to the government's priority to one Language. Such preference puts the other languages in shadow. Our present constitution has made a provision of taking all languages equally but it should be brought into practice.

Dispite the fact of religious tolerance, Nepal has long been ruled by the Hindus. Recently, the people of other religions have understood the truth. Dissatisfied with the activities of biggest religion, the Kirats, Islam, and Buddhist have been raising their voice. Although the present constitution has declared Nepal a secular state, the overall scenario is yet to be reformed.

Our society is based on feudal systems and the remains of it can still be seen. The uneven distribution of movable and immovable capital has increased the gap between the rich and the poor. This has given birth to the problems of unemployment, social revolt, theft, robbery, etc.

Work of Mother's Group in Sikles

Media keeps reforming us of the work of mothers' groups in various places for social reforms. Mothers' group was first established two decades ago by the Gurung community of western Nepal. Concerned first to organize traditional cultural programmes together by the women of Lahure family, mother's group extended its programmes gradually to other social work.

The women here have formed an organization to bring about development in Sikles village. They have been doing various works in many sectors. The group keep their village neat and clean with the help provided by the Village Development Commitee. They clean their village, repairs roads, keep dustbins at various places to dispose off the dirt and waste. The group also constructs public toilets and keeps them clean. Because of the social service provided by the women's organization Ama Samuha people of their village no longer disturb the place of the society by indulging in bad habit of drinking alcohal and gambling. The organization has started this campaign to save the youths from the addiction which is increasing rapidly. This women's group has decided that people who go against the campaign will be publicly disgraced and made to apologize publicly. the group helps the villagers when they are sick and are in trouble.

The group is also running a child care center with the help of Annapurna Conservation Area Project(ACAP). Similarly, the group has also been providing education to the adults. A portion of women are now able to read and write. The mother's group of sikles is a good example of the saying "Unity is Strength."

Electricity

Electricity is our basic needs. Without electricity we cannot do anything of our life. Have we ever stopped to think how electric power comes from water? We have seen rocks shattered to pieces and carried away by rivers. Water can cut stones and make holes into them. This strength of water produces electricity. as water is available in abundance a large amount of energy can be produced from it. We may have seen traditional 'ghatta' in villages. Water is poured from a higher place to run the 'ghatta'. Asimilar process is applied in big water-power projects. Water is stored in dams or tanks and its poured into the wheels within the turbines. We should visit a water power project and see for ourselves and learn in detail how it works.

Electricity is used for various purposes. We use electricity for light, cooking, operating heater, refrigerator, washing machine, irons and other electric gadgets. The credit of fast growing communication goes to electricity. It runs internet, television, telephone and so on. At a large scale, electricity is used to run big machines in industries. We may have soon rice or oil mill run on electricity. Similar is the process with printing press sawing factory and other industries. However, water is not only source of electricity. Electricity can be produced from solar energy, vapour energy, bio-gas energy, steam power and diesel as well. Therefore where hydro-electricity is not available, other sources can be used for generating energy.

Water Resources of Nepal

Nepal is the second richest country is such water resources. More then 6000 rivers, rivulets and streams flow here. Many of them originate from the Himalayas. We also have many lakes, ponds, and springs. We get sufficient rain every year. However, here is a problem of drinking water. The sources of water are not properly utilized. They are not supplied to the people. So, the situation of water supply is worsening in towns and cities. The population in these places is increasing rapidly. But there is very less additional supply of water. Many people live on rent although there is no supply of drinking water. So, they face severe problem of drinking water. On the other hand, people of villages have to walk a long way to fetch water. The settlements are far off from sources of water. Deforestation is causing the sources of water to dry up. Level of ground water is also decreasing. Moreover, many sources of water are becoming polluted. Rivers of Kathmandu valley like Bagmati, Bishnumati, Rudramati,Hanumati, Prabhamati, Ikshumati and Godawari are some examples.

Education in Nepal

Modern Education in Nepal is said to have begun after Jung Bahadur Rana's visit to England in 1850. He hired an Englishman from British-India to teach english to his sons. Then, he established a private english school at the Thapathali Palace(the present Nepal Rastra Bank building). Then, in 1853(1910 BS), Durbar High School was established to provide formal English education to the sons of Ranas. Later, Chandra Shumser opened Durber High School for the common people.

In fact, the Ranas never desired to educate the people. they were of the opinion that if people were educated they would not be able to impose their harsh rule upon them nor exploit them in whatever way they liked. They established 321 schools including 4 high schools and 2 colleges during their reign.

After the fall of the Rana rule and establishment of democracy in 1951, a wave of education swept over Nepal.

During the Panchayat Rule(1960-1990), Nepal achived significant progress in the field of education. Mass literacy programmes were launched. Steps were taken to introduce Non-Formal Education, Distance Education, Vocational Education, etc. Eventually, the Tribhuwan University was established in 1959.

A stable and goal-oriented government is necessary to monitor and utilized the means and resourses to construct and establish infrastructure of development. Such a government should be able to make people participate whole-heartedly in every development work. The government should also strive to alleviate poverty, increase literacy rate and provide employment. Similarly, people should also be provided with various services and amenities. It helps a great deal for the social and economic development of a country.

Waterways in Nepal

Nepal is second richest country of water resourses. Our water resourses are limited to rivers and lakes. Nepal has about 45,000 km of rivers. The rivers flow from the mountains and through step hills because of which transportation is very difficult. The only benefit that we can have from the rivers is to provide amenities for rafting. Under the Ninth Five Year Plan of our government, water transport from Ramdhighat to Narayangad and from Narayangad to Bhainsalotan which covers altogether a distance of 187km is included. In the same way, a fesibility study of water transport had also been carried out in Koshi, Karnali and Mahakali rivers. The plan aims to link this water transport with Indian water transport system.

There is a private-sector-run rafting service in the lower parts of the Trishuli, Kaligandaki and Sunkoshi rivers. Lakes, like Phewa, Begnas and Rupa have boat services for tourists. Similarly, boats are also used for fishing, picnicking and entertainment.

Health in Rural Areas

Our country Nepal has its own network of health centres and hospitals. However, there is a lot to be done in this field. The numbers of doctors, nurses and health workers is too small to serve the growing population. According to the survey carried in 2003 AD, for every 5,870 people we have one doctors. In some areas, there are health posts, health centres, hospitals but no medicine. Some rural areas have medicine but buildings for healthpost, health centre and hospital. Some other areas neither have healthpost, health centre, hospital nor medicine. But the government still appoints doctors to those sreas. Even if there are healthposts, health centres,hospitals, medicine and doctors, there are very less equipment and rooms. In such areas, most of the people live in poverty, illiteracy and ignorance. These villages are inaccessible as well. The villagers cannot afford medical fee. Once doctors reach the villages, they donot have means of communication like telephone, fax and e-mail and internet. Salary provided to them is not sufficient to fulfill their needs. Therefore, it is obvious that doctors do not want to go to rural areas. On the other hand, the traditional pratice of treatment by witch -doctors like'dhami' and 'jhakri' still prevails especially in the villages. If there is a cut in hands or legs, people cover the wound with clay or cow dung. They do not know that the use of cow dung is the cut may cause tetanus.