Development in Nepal: Investment in the status quo

Abstract

Despite billions of dollars provided by donors, Nepal's quest for development remains unfulfilled. Nepal's rugged topography is a serious obstacle, but this development failure has social roots. The first root is Nepal's power structure. A feudal elite, supported by British India, controlled Nepal until 1951, extracted and wasted the agricultural surplus, and excluded all modern influences. The post-1951 government adopted “development” as its goal and justification, but was still controlled by the same elite. Rivalries between the superpowers and between India and China produced a flow of foreign aid which has tripled each decade. Through its control of the state, Nepal's elite has directed and diverted foreign aid into channels which consolidate its power. This is manifested in the pervasive “corruption”, which is essential, not accidental, to the system. The second root of Nepal's development failure is inappropriate development theories, which have emphasized investment in infrastructure, but have ignored most of the 90% of the population who are subsistence farmers. The third root is the consistently dismal implementation of development projects by indigenous and expatriate development workers. The institutional ignoring of “corruption” amounts to collusion between foreign aid donors and indigenous elite.