Admirable leaps (Old publication: MyRepublica, Nov 29, 2012)

"Admirable Leaps" shows great achievements of  CBS in its 100 years census taking during its 11th census of Nepal for 2011.

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=45602 

Admirable Leaps: NATIONAL CENSUS

The long-awaited findings of the 2011 population census were released by CBS on Monday, November 26. Population census reports are always important as they depict the reality of the population distribution, which in turn provide answers to several development and politics related queries like the ethnic composition of population by geographical area. CBS has a hundred years of experience in this field, as the first population census in Nepal was taken in 1911. This time it too seventeen months to generate the result, which is rather slow for such an experienced institution, especially in a fast moving world like ours. But the coverage and the disaggregated analysis that it has put forth must be appreciated.

During the presentation and in the following days’ analysis by experts, the low population growth rate was considered a key indicator of the success of population projects. The current census shows the population of Nepal to be 26,494,504, with a growth rate of 1.35 percent per-annum (in 2001, it was 2.25 percent). However, it is also true that the current census was taken de jure, and counts only those who were present on the census day. The 2011 census report shows that 1,921,494 citizens of the country were absent on the day of enumeration. Most of these people were abroad for work or study. These absentees will certainly return one day if our country can generate work for them or if they are expelled by the ever harshening policies in these labor-receiving countries. They are our citizens and the government is responsible for them. Also, we could ask, if these absentees were here in the last decade enjoying their family life, would they not have increased their family? 


PHOTO: UNITEDWEBBLOG.FIES.WORDPRESS.COM
Is it right to exclude them from the census? If the absentees are added to our population, and the 138,910 foreign citizens who are included in our count are excluded, the actual population size of 2011 will be 28,415,998. This corrected population size indicates a growth rate of 2.02 percent and not 1.35 percent. This corrected growth rate is close to the one in 1991 (2.10 percent). So are we back to square-one? This absente population is also the answer to several seemingly perplexing findings such as a lower sex ratio. In 2001, sex ratio was almost equal, but in 2011 the census indicates that there are only 94 males per 100 females. Reduction of the male population is not surprising as most of the citizens who go abroad are male, and about 88 percent of absentees of 2011 were also male. 

There are some encouraging indicators in the report. For example, the achievements in education sector should be admired. In 2001 only about 54 percent of Nepalis were literate, which increased to about 66 percent in 2011. The definition of literacy has changed since 2001. Previously, literacy was considered the ‘ability to read’, and now it has been redefined as the ability to ‘read and write’. The female literacy rate and its growth over the last decade are remarkable. In 2001, the female literacy was 43 percent; now it is 57 percent. The growth rate is more than double the rate for male literacy. However, big discrepancies in public versus private education should not be overlooked by policymakers.

Some interesting features of the result include population shifts from the mountains to the hills, and from hills to Tarai. Also, a large shift to urban areas is indicated. Similar shifts were also seen in the 2001 census. This trend indicates a natural quest for better settlement and opportunities. But then it impacts the concentration of population in a few areas like the capital city that has shown an alarming growth rate of 61 percent. Similarly, one special feature that can be seen in this report is the overwhelming growth of Christianity. In 2001, only 0.45 percent of the population was Christian, which has now increased to 1.4 percent, and the followers of Buddhism have declined by about 2 percent. The identification of some additional caste/ethnic and linguistic groups is another interesting facet of the report. 

A lot of new concepts have found their way into this census. Two were related to gender and disability. The census information is more gender disaggregated and includes many gender related indicators. One such indicator, ‘female ownership of fixed asset’ shows that 20 percent of females have ownership of fixed assets like land or houses. Increasing female literacy and advocacy of NGOs must be the reason for this achievement. When the questionnaire was being developed, many NGOs and INGOs were putting pressure on CBS to include indicators favorable to them. Some of them did end up being included after several rounds of discussions.

It is good to include useful indicators, but in the meantime, concerned agencies should be aware that the inclusion of more indicators makes the process lengthy, and has the possibility of making the whole data useless as the respondent or enumerator may become disinterested. This could be one of the reasons for the current report’s delay. However, other factors such as the ethnic and linguistic composition of the population, which is a political instrument in elections, could also be the cause of the delay. Whatever be the cause, release of such valuable information amidst the intense political and social discussions that are underway, is timely. This report will help solve many difficult issues and will be a precious asset for researchers, academicians, policymakers and political leaders. Concerned people are still waiting further analysis and publication of economic activity and health indicators.

The Lost Citizens(Old publication: My Republica Dec 19, 2012)

"About 20 lakh population are not counted in 2011 census: The impact f this has created some misconception & mistrust" discussion of this aspect is produced in the unedited version of this article below:  

The census report of CBS that was launched last week is the authentic data source of the population of Nepal. Population data not only allures researchers and academicians but also allures political organizations and pressure groups. It may be because the size of the population reflects their political or social weights. In this sense we may consider the report of CBS as the indicative voter list. After the lunching of the population report by CBS many organizations have shown their deep annoyance mostly for a large disappearance of population of their concern group.  Janajati Mahasangh shown their dismay by burned the census report. Christian organizations also have shown disappointment that about 265 thousand or 1% Christians are missing in the report.

The above two events by the two organizations also show the current trend of disbelief seen in Nepal. No one now a day seems to have belief on other. Students have no belief on teachers, teachers has no belief on university, university on education Minister, Ministers in Prime Ministers, Prime Minister in President, and President for the political parties. Most society member are living with great disbelieves: customers do not believe on shopkeepers and think they always cheats them, tenants has disbelief on house owners, commuters on traffic police, voters on local leaders, and tax payers on government. Disbelief has now become a social norm.

Census taking exercise is very difficult task to perform. It needs lot of experts, experienced field workers, big budget and extensive management skills. With one hundred years of experience of conducting such population census, CBS has now become matured and has been using more sophisticated enumeration and data processing methods. For the current census 2011 as it has shown in the report, government has used more than 280 million Rupees, mostly from donation and has used human resource of more than 41 thousand and the whole process including concepts, questionnaire, training, enumeration and processing took about five years. This is why it is impossible for any other research institute to conduct similar work and challenge the findings. This time as CBS has reported it has used most inclusive human resources including Janajatis, Dalits and female for field enumeration and for supervising. This has made the census data an important national asset that can be used in national development planning and socioeconomic researches.    

When we further talk about the authenticity of the census findings first we have no other way to disprove it and second in many cases the accusing organizations also have to cross examine other related population factors while reading specific tables.  For example, about the Janajati population there were only 41 identified Janajatis in 2001 census that constitute about 31% of the population. In the 2011 census more 50 Janajati groups were identified. This increment was due to numerous scholarly contributions of the concern experts including the 2002 Janajati report by the scholars and members of Janajati Uttan Pratisthan, many of whom are now in the central committee of the new political party. This report, published by the Institute of Integrated Development Studies –IIDS was presented to the planning commission aiming to provide guideline to the 10^th National Plan. Such works and continuous meetings/dialogues of the concerned agencies have made positive impact on this census report. According to the above mentioned report, 35 Janajati groups were not included in 1991 census and 16 were excluded in 2001 census. In the current 2011 census all previously identified groups were included with the addition of some small new groups which were recorded for the first time in census such as Dolpo with population (4101) and Lhopa with population (2624). The report has listed even some small enclave of caste/ethnic groups such as Nurang with a total count of 278, Raute counting only 618 and Kusunda of size 273. This shows the good intension and improvement of the census bureau. 

However, it is also true that this report have some queer information. Every table of the census report should be observed with a ‘discount coupon’ that it has used while counting its citizens. Discount has become a fashion in most shops these days. If we spend some hours in window-shopping we can find that most shop has such announcement announcements. This time government has also made such discount ‘up to 7%’. This discount is for its citizens who are absent from the last six months in the country for better work or study abroad. The report has excluded about 1.4 million population which were reports as ‘absentee population’. Regarding the declined Janajati population as shown in the census report, we have to understand this discount and correct the census table accordingly. Although, the absentee population are not yet analyzed by ethnicity but if we look at the record of such abroad goers from the Department of Immigration it can be seen that large number of Janajati population are working abroad. Children and family of many British Gurkha got the privilege of residency in UK in the last five years and most Gurkha are Janajatis. Thus, it is obvious that the information from census is the only source of our valuable decennial information we can get about our population and it is the output of our deep efforts and utilization of big resource for which we should be proud of.

Where are Green Public Parks?

Cities Choking for Breath

With ever increasing population pressure in the urban areas of Nepal they are becoming an unhealthiest place to live.  Health statistics shows alarming raise in mental problems, depression, hypertension, heart and respiratory problems in all aged urbane. Open green space is a key contributor to quality of urban life which otherwise is highly stressed and unhealthy. Such open space or parks are needed to ensure that cities remain economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. Such public parks with grass fields, shrubs, flowers and trees are not only for aesthetic beauty but it provides a social meeting place, relaxation spot, healthy love spot, light playing and exercise venue. Young can do jogging, elderly do yoga, retired can sit together with their colleagues improving community harmony and lovebirds can pass time lovemaking. Such parks will maintain oxygen in air and help to balance the ecosystem. It is also needed for soothing mental and social problems.        

The 2011 census report of Nepal shows that in 58 municipalities 4.5 million people are living which is 17% of the total population. A sharp increase in the urban population was seen in different census that shows a huge unmanaged population creeping to the urban areas without proper plans for drinking water, drainages, roads and greenery. Most of the existing municipalities have been classified urban merely from their population size and they lack planning of the basic requirements. Kathmandu Metropolitan City(KMC) which is the most resourceful, planned, cultured, historic, and being the capital city should be an exemplary city for emerging cities - is the most haphazard city. There are virtually no public open parks in KMC. In the early morning we can see Tudikhel hustling with the joggers and yoga followers. It is the only open public space to breath for most of the core city urbane. However, it is not a park. Ratnapark was smashed in the last few years. The remaining three public gardens: Balajupark, Tribhuvanpark and Sankhapark are serving this purpose a little however their size and location makes them less significant.

Open public parks are accentual part of any cities of the world. Our neighbouring countries India and China are not only developing in other socio-economic standards but also in urban greenery. Bangalore and Shanghai are the emerging green cities. In India, in the last decade, awareness for the need of green city has established ‘Park & Garden Society’ which is assimilated in the urban planning in such a way that in all new urban planning the green aspect is maintained. Delhi, is one of the oldest city in India with a population pressured of about 22million in 2011. Greater Delhi is ever expanding and currently it has about 297sqKm(sqKm) of green area. It is estimated that in Delhi 22sqm green space is available to each individual, on average. When I visited Delhi some years back I was surprised to find a park at every 5 minutes walking distance. Some of these parks were small of the size of Ratnapark and some like Swarna Jayanti Park were as big as 2.2 sqKm or about 5 times the size of Tudikhel. Gandinagar, the capital of Gujrat was modernized after independence. It has now 57% area covered with greenery. Similarly, the city of garden, Banglore city has more than 700 parks.

 

The little patch of land called Singapore has no water resource of its own so buys water from Malaysia.  It recycles and conserves almost all rainfall and water reserves. It is said that it makes no wastage of a single drop of water.  It was Lee Kuan Yew who in 1968 initiated the vision of Singapore as a Garden City that now through “Gardens by the Bay” project has changes the city which is now considered the greenest city of the world.  It has achieved this by improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emission, preserving biodiversity and increasing greenery at every possible place: on road, terrace, roof, and bay areas.

KMC is spread over 50 sqKm. Official source says in 2011, about 1 million population dwell here. However, unofficial sources have estimated that more than same numbers of additional people are always residing in the city as temporary dwellers. The city in addition to all other deteriorated standard for healthy living such as inadequate drinking water, dirty roads and polluting transportation have nearly exhausted all god-gifted natural resources. We have lost open spaces, green areas and natural water in rivers and ponds. It is the result of our greed and selfishness of thinking only about our family and not thinking about the larger community whose future is also associated with ours. KMC including Shankhapark, Balaju and Ratnapark have less than 2 sqKm of public green space. What is more frustrating is that in our ongoing urban development plans no such integration of environmental aspects is seen. Even the concept of ‘five trees per house’ seems another slogan among the many never implemented. We have recently seen many roads widen in KMC but there is no planning for making it green and healthy for road users. To resolve the continuously worsening problems of air, water and garbage, what we need right away is an integrated urban development approach with environmental protection as an inseparable constituent with special focus for public parks. To clean our body and mind we need one public park at each tole.