'There was no discussion about the country's economy after the change in the political system'

Geethakumari Paudyal Adhikari, a member of the National Planning Commission, said that plans are made at the center but not implemented at the local level. He also said that the state of studying and implementing the economy is different.

'The economic activity of citizens and the theory of overall economics that we teach are completely different,' she said, 'sitting at the center, we make policies, we make big economic plans, but we have not thought about why it cannot be implemented .' He said that there was no discussion about the economy at the level of politicians and policy makers and the plan could not be implemented.

Economist and registrar of Kathmandu University Prada Achyut Wagle said that there is a problem when people who do not know the economy manage the economy . He said that the notion that being elected by the people is a virtue does not give strength to the development of the economy.

'Legitimacy to rule belongs to the prime minister, minister, parliamentarian elected by the people . As soon as he sat in the elected chair, we estimated that he would be qualified to manage the economy,' he said.

Wagle said that if the politicians do not understand that the economy is a technical subject and should be run only by those who know it, there is no development in the country . He said that even those who understand the economy still have the opinion that the elected finance minister should be accepted.

The participants said that there should be a discussion in the political leadership about the basis of the economy including agriculture, industry, and employment. They said that there is a lack of political workers having to discuss the economy in a planned and thorough manner. They said that development has been talked about, but what is development and how to do it, human resources has not been discussed. Hari Roka, the author of the

book, said that when the political system changes, the economic situation changes and the country moves forward towards development, but it is not implemented in practice.

'While fighting to bring a multi-party system, it was said that everything will be fine after the multi-party system comes. But there was no discussion about what our structures are. After the multi-party system came, the right to manage the economy went into the hands of a few people,' he said.

He said that the system has changed due to the political movement and those who have reached the leadership have not discussed and debated about the economy. He said that 64 percent of manpower is based on agriculture, but if we don't think about those people, there will be no development in this country.

In response to a question about the state of implementation of the constitution as there is a provision to build a socialist-oriented economy, General Secretary of the United Socialist Party Ghanshyam Bhusal said that the commentary on socialism has been corrupted.

'Even a little bit of populism has spoiled our socialism . It may sound like a personal accusation, but KP Oliji spoiled our socialism commentary the most. The Chuchche train will come, it will come to Kathmandu in two years, Beni will go next year, where will it go next year, he spoiled the commentary of socialism with the Chuchche train, towers,' Bhusal said, 'Prime Minister is the greatest teacher of the country . A teacher will teach 50/60 people, but the Prime Minister will take classes for millions of people in the country. When I was a minister, he used to say, ``Rope Falihalch ni'', which I heard many times before commenting on how you spoiled it. What to plant? Where to plant ? What kind of seeds to plant? What is technology? Need water or not? How much do you need? What other protection should be done? Is there a market or not? How much does the farmer get? Leaving aside all these things such as taxes or international relations, 'plants will grow', our socialism has deteriorated in this way.

Bhusal said that if the government resolves and acts accordingly, Nepal can be self-sufficient in agricultural produce in 5 years. He said that poverty and unemployment can be eliminated in 12 years if the country moves ahead in a planned manner.

Wagley said that we should not complain that we did not develop without starting the debate on the economy . He said that there should be a debate about the economy in the manifestos of political parties, parliaments, universities and political parties.

The release of the book 'Alternative Economy' written by economist Roka was held at Pragya Pratishthan in Kathmandu. Prada Achyut Wagle, registrar of Kathmandu University, Geeta Paudyal Adhikari, member of Planning Commission, Ghanshyam Bhusal, General Secretary of United Socialist Party, Umesh Chauhan, Editor-in-Chief of Kantipur Dainik, and Hari Roka, author of the book, participated in the discussion.

The book 'Alternative Economy' contains economic and political essays on 12 different topics including alternative economic policy, state and economy, transformation of agriculture and food security, land reform, industrial policy, monetary policy, tax system restructuring.