Two steps back

With Covid cases steadily rising, this is just about the worst time to cut the country’s health budget.

A famous and controversial Russian ideologue named Vladimir Lenin, idolised by many Nepali leaders of the left, including current Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, is known to have said that it is sometimes necessary to take one step backwards to take two steps forward. Lenin also wrote a book titled One Step Forward, Two Steps Back on the crisis in the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party at the time. While these phrases have deep ideological meanings and political contexts, leaders on this side of the world seem to take them at face value and practise what they should not: Move backwards rather than forward. So trust Nepali political and bureaucratic honchos to find every way possible to take the country backwards at the slightest opportunity. What else explains the impending cuts in the health budget for the upcoming fiscal year (2023-24)?