A Consultation Workshop titled Youth Responsive Budget (YRB) was organized by the Association of Youth Organizations Nepal (AYON) on July 13 at Indreni Complex in New Baneshwor, Kathmandu.[break]
Pradip Pariyar, President of AYON, started with an example and said, “The Local Development Office (LDO) in Gorkha gave away Rs 500,000 each to three political parties from the budget allocated for the youth so that the LDO can work better without any harassment as such from anyone.”
He further added that the government has not taken the issues of youth seriously and hence, as a result, around 1,322,355 youth are currently abroad seeking better opportunities.
Speaking at the same program, Sushil Ghimire, Secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports said, “Youth are opting to go abroad for better opportunities but life abroad isn’t rosy, either.
The work they do there they don’t want to do it here. They need to change their attitude to work. It’ll be difficult to bring about a change in the attitude
of many, but it’s not an impossible task.”
In a bid to improve and address youth issues in the country, the government in 2010 revealed the National Youth Policy but it hasn’t been implemented yet.
According to the policy paper, the policy is framed with a view to imparting loyalty of youths to the nation, nationality and the people, fulfilling the basic needs of the youths and promoting basic values and norms such as the principles of equality and equitable distribution, constitutional supremacy, individual freedom, universal principles of human rights, democratic values and norms, protection and promotion of ethnic, linguistic and environmental heritages and coexistence.
“Programs and policies without any proper budget allocation are useless,” opined Pariyar. Nepali youth account for 38.8% of the total population and are agents of change for the nation economically, socially and politically.
However, each youth aged 16-40, according to the current budget of the government of Nepal, gets around Rs 6 per head.
“The Ministry of Youth and Sports isn’t doing any direct investment in the youth sector. However, other Ministries have programs involving young minds,” added
Pariyar.
Nepali youth, too, are not aware that a separate budget has been allocated for them and the yearly budget freezes after the financial year comes to an end. Giving an apt example, Pariyar said that the municipality office in Pokhara was willing to disburse Rs 100,000 to youths who came up with programs related to them.
“Advertisements were published, announcements were made on television and radio but no one showed up, and the budget eventually lapsed,” added Pariyar.
One participant at the interaction was Deep Shrestha, 26. When asked if he knew about the yearly allocation of budget to youth, answered, “I have no idea that we’re even given a budget to spend. I had heard of the youth policy a few years back but I don’t think that’s been working out, either.”
However, in Nepalgunj, the youth budget is being utilized by the youth in a proper way, according to AYON.
Nabaraj Gautam, Vice President of AYON, said during his presentation, “The youth are the most productive resource of a country and we’re losing them. Everyday, around 20 to 35 young ones leave Nepal, according to Tribhuvan International Airport.”
Towards the end of the program, Secretary Ghimire informed that the Ministry is working to better the situation of the youth and that all youth activities taking place through other Ministries are in the process of being tracked down.
“As the Youth Ministry, I think we should know what’s happening around. So, as to keep things on track and also be informed about it, we’re in the process of collecting all the information,” shared the Secretary.
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