Maoist hampering economic growth

It cannot be a mere coincidence.
When the current UCPN-Maoist –– then CPN-Maoist –– went underground in  February 1996, the country's economy was looking up — by six per cent — and the decade long 'people's war', in their own words, nearly destroyed the economy and did not allow people to get benefit from the economic growth.
Similarly, the economy has, again, this year started looking up — by 4.56 per cent — after the Constituent Assembly (CA) election, due to expectations that the constitution will ensure a conducive and predictable climate for investors but on May 27, instead of promulgating a new constitution after four years of continuous efforts, the Dr Baburam Bhattarai-led government extended the  political transition – no one knows for how long – keeping investors, both domestic and foreign, who were flocking to the country guessing.
"The economy is not a priority for the UCPN-Maoist," according to former finance minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat. "They want to capture the state by fooling the common people through cheap slogans," he said, adding that their militant labour union has closed down many industries forcing investors to run away. The regular bandhs organised by their sister organisation has pushed the transaction cost and production cost of the industries up, which has deteriorated the investment climate.
"Apart from policy distortion and fooling the private sector, the UCPN-Maoist has done nothing to support economic growth as the economy is not their cup of tea," he added.
Dr Bhattarai had announced Immediate Relief Package and Immediate Action Plan for Economic Development and Prosperity but the programmes failed miserably in delivering relief to the people despite his tall claims.
However, both Dr Bhattarai and his finance minister Barshaman Pun have still been fooling the people by claiming that economic prosperity is their key agenda. "They have neither been able to create employment at home nor provide relief to the common man due to rising cost of living," said Prof Dr Bishwambher Pyakuryal. "The situation has forced people to flock to far flung destinations to earn a living," he added.
Every year some 400,000 youth enter the job market but more than 350,000 go to the Gulf countries and Malaysia in search of employment as there is no investment in the country due to regular intimidation, and policy and political instability.
"The tall claims of double digit growth made by the UCPN-Maoist is like selling a dream to the poor people as they have no jobs to feed themselves," he said. "How can the country witness economic growth without investment which is key for generating employment and propelling growth?"
The country's overall investment stands at 0.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), whereas it is some two per cent in South Asia, according to Pyakuryal, who also claimed that the government has made no contribution to the increasing remittance figures that saw an inflow of Rs 248.18 billion in the nine months of the current fiscal year, and has become a lifeline of the country.
"Remittance has only fuelled imports and not contributed to capital formation, which will eventually hit the economy in the long run as the country will fall into a remittance trap,” he said.