The Political Economy of the Food Crisis in Nepal

Abstract

The National Panchayat of Nepal spent hardly any time discussing or debating national economic problems during the years 1961-79. The reasons are obvious. There was no direct election to the national assembly and hence no obligation to go to the people. The Cabinet members were all nominated by the king and were jointly accountable to him. The National Panchayat could neither elect its members to the government nor pass a motion of no confidence. Its sessions were held strictly in camera and the media were fully censored and controlled by the government. More important, the ideological and institutional base of the panchayat system was geared to denouncing the activities of the opposition forces, mainly of the Nepali Congress, which had been in power in the parliamentary days in the late fifties and had vowed to restore a fullfledged multiparty system of government in Nepal. The whole government machinery and resources of the panchayat system were used to check the activities of the opposition forces, hence development issues were given little political priority. The announcement of a national referendum on May 24, 1979, and the introduction of three democratic elements in the constitution made it difficult for the panchas (political workers) to ignore national economic problems. It also brought about internal conflict and functional contradictions within the partyless panchayat system. Political chicanery, sophistry, and group conflict between those in the government and those outside produced a serious dilemma regarding the functioning of the panchayat system, particularly in the post-referendum period. One of the very first issues to be hotly debated was the food crisis that had hit the country seriously in the early 1980s. This article examines the political and economic aspects of this food crisis, which was one of the major instruments