Digitally signed by Sundar K Sharma

Sundar K DN: CN = Sundar K Sharma, C = NA, O =

Worldwide Foundation /Nepal, OU =
Research and Dwevelopment
Sharma Reason: I am the author of this document
Date: 2010.06.25 18:46:34 +05'45'

The Contemporary Rural Life in Nepal:

Researchers’ Observations and Peoples’ Perspectives

Sundar K Sharma, Nepal

The contemporary rural life of Nepal is found to be highly vulnerable due to a higher
concentration of mass poverty, food insecurity, landlessness and illiteracy. Such areas are also
concentrated in specific ethnic, caste and minority groups, particularly those of the lowest caste
(dalits) and indigenous peoples (janajatis). The rural situation is further aggravated with
livelihood and food insecurity, lack of employment opportunities, different forms of class and
caste based discriminations, poor governance, corruptions, unequal distribution of development
benefits, and poor access to decision making. The highest concentration of poor rural people is
found in the Mid-Western and Far-Western regions. Despite the fact that millions of dollars had
been devoted to rural development, uneven distribution of aid benefits and political voice
between urban centers and rural hinterlands, between rural districts, and between classes of rural
and urban people themselves has been recognized as a development failure and threat to the
state. The incidence of poverty, for example, ranges from 28 percent in the Rural Eastern
hill/mountain region to 72 percent in the Rural Midwestern and Far Western hill/mountain
region. Likewise, the illiteracy rate ranges from 54 percent in the Rural Western hill/mountain
region to 77 percent in the Rural Central Terai region. The level of rural poverty is almost twice
as high as that of urban poverty. Over 95 percent of total income poor or education poor reside in
rural Nepal, where agriculture is the main source of income and employment.

The contemporary rural life in Nepal is characterized by the majority of localized structural
problems like caste, class, gender based discriminations. Illiteracy, mass poverty, livelihood
insecurity in rural societies of Nepal are indicating on one hand-the failure of the previous rural
development approaches and on the other-demand for the newer attempts with approaches of
inclusion and empowerment addressing the multidimensional issues of rural poverty and
underdevelopment.

‘A weak state presence, the remote political status of certain groups and a lack of access to
markets are likely to increase vulnerability and in certain contexts generate grievance. Many of
today’s conflicts emanate from and are fought out in border regions that have historically
suffered from marginality, limited voice and hard core poverty. Conflicts in Nepal and Chiapas,
Mexico are clearly linked to differential development and patterns of exclusion’.

Researchers say that ‘The answer lies in starting with poor people’s realities and experiences
with the state and focusing on bringing about change at the local level while also tracing upwards
and outwards the changes in values, norms, incentives, roles, processes, and policies needed at
higher levels to bring accountability and transparency of local level state institutions to poor
women and men. New thinking is also required to support the “clean and motivated” unsung
local heroes of the state and civil society, especially at the grassroots level’.

It is Nepal's misfortune that despite a popular struggle that helped usher in multiparty democracy
in 1990, the various governments failed to meet the aspirations of the people and handle the
deep-seated social contradictions. Due to the failure of both the state and political parties various
social movements, including the Maoist struggle, have emerged. It is this combined which
explains the growing hold of radical social movements from below.

Political discrimination, coupled with social and economic inequity, led people to organize
themselves against the state, demanding a space for inclusive politics. In the context of Nepal,
the pressure groups of women, janjatis and dalits have been demanding their inclusion in the
political and socio-economic spheres.

In almost all of the movements (led by political parties, trade unions, international agencies or by
their own organizations) the participation of the marginalized peoples, peasants from outside the
Kathmandu valley and from the rural areas of Nepal gives the most effective input to the strength
of the protests and demonstrations and hence to the success of the movements. The success of
the democracy movements is an example where a number of the protesters came from outside
Kathmandu Valley. A lot of demonstrators and peasants came in from the countryside. But, in
return even after the success of the movements the issues and agendas of the marginalized are
undermined by the suppressive state instruments which only favor the continuation of power
relations.

Majority of the movements are based on the theme to establish the social identity and human
rights. They are successful in addressing the political and social freedom, political participation
and to some extent the development of some inclusive institutions. These all are evaluated to be
the dimensions of the non material well being. Some INGOS have supported through the
development funds and material supports to the marginalized groups. Hence, movements in
Nepal have contributed to both the nonmaterial and material well being of the poor peoples but
the non material contribution is higher as compared to the material supports.

As such, the crisis of identity and the situation of injustice are the crucial aspects of almost all of
these movements. Holistically, the issues on the identity and rights to the peoples promulgated
and endorsed through acts are the subject of implementation to address the themes of the
movements and protests originated from the deep rooted problems of the society and manifested
in the forms of dissatisfaction of the peoples. Contrary to this fact, the state has not yet engaged
sincerely to address these problems. The situation after the restoration of the democracy and
during the peace building process is engulfed with a number of confusions at drafting these
issues in specific state instruments and provisions.

The deep rooted livelihood problems in our rural societies are becoming the attractive issues for
the national and international movements. But most of these are led by the interest and the
corresponding discourses of the agencies, sometimes encircled with the advocacy dialogues and
even with some vested interest and political propagandas; and hence there is danger for the
marginalized classes to get further marginalized even in such rights and identity oriented
movements. It is found that, the rural social ecology doesn’t benefit through these movements as
compared to the international agencies and their allies in Kathmandu and some urban centers of
Nepal. It is vital to restore the original spirit of the movements originated from the issues of the
rural societies and marginalized groups through the local awareness, empowerment and the
emergence of rural leaderships as the r/evolutionary process for changes leading to the shift in
paradigm of rural livelihood and well being.
In the context of chronic hunger and underdevelopment, exploitation and marginalization; and
remoteness and poor governance in rural areas of Nepal following hypothesis can be drawn.

‘The stereotyped bureaucratic ritual of development planning which can not include the
needs and aspirations of the rural communities/poor groups of the society, and the
extractive aid with irrelevant aid conditionality can lead to development failure ,
marginalization of the poor and as a consequence it is manifested in the form of deep
seated social chaos and violence.’

Nepal today has entered a new phase of constitutional development and is experiencing an
emerging peace process. There is very strong support for peace among poor and excluded
communities, regardless of their experiences during the past and their views of the past
development attempts, development failure and socio-political conflict. Poor and excluded
groups are not calling for revenge, retaliation or even transitional justice, but rather for
sustainable peace and renewed development efforts. The social exclusion is playing a huge role
in impeding poverty alleviation and political representation. It can be ascertained that poor and
excluded groups’ priorities is a critical first step in designing an effective state building policy
plan. In this view, effective states and better governance are essential to combat poverty.
Moreover, there is need for community anti-poverty strategies which should be well coordinated,
broader, holistic, multi-organizational collaborative efforts, generally grounded in a certain
worldview and based on the premises and principles of a particular theory of poverty,
strategically oriented to affect it.
It is critical to understand that people can’t express the reality of ‘experiencing poverty’ as it is.
Even if s/he tries, it comes out to be the expression at the level of her/his feeling. As the
subjective reality lies at the level of being, the meaning through the poor people’s own
perspectives of ‘being poor’ or ‘experiencing poverty’ can’t be translated by any means of
objectively defined tools and techniques. Objective criteria can explain only the manifestations
of poverty which can be measured in terms of material dimensions. To suffice these limitations,
participatory poverty assessments (PPA) has been introduced and practiced these days. Still these
attempts are surrounded by some critical questions,
Are they sufficient to reflect the reality of poor peoples perspectives on ‘being poor’; or are these
valid to translate the reality of the ‘state of poverty’?
Measurement of non-material dimensions can be closer to the reality to explain the
manifestations of poverty. Even in the subjective criteria the knowledge derived from the ‘state
of feeling’ can not reveal the reality of the ‘state of being’. What can be measured or translated
are only the manifestations of poverty not the ‘state of poverty’. Hence, it is not so surprising
that the debate of poverty can go for decades or centuries. At first, the debates concentrate at the
methodological design and approaches; it will soon take a turn towards the subjective
understandings on poverty and then, the development discourses will dictate around the ‘quality
of life’ aiding depth in subjective reality of the social life and its interactions. This will help
envision the people’s perspectives on well being.