Forget about country office of I/NGOs and other international organizations, or the government ministries and the departments. Nepalese living in districts other than Kathmandu (valley) are forced to travel to Kathmandu even for the smallest work. Not believing that Kathmandu is the only city in Nepal?
Okay! well even though you processed your passports in districts they are eventually sent to the Department of Passports in Kathmandu to get things done. No matter how speedy work you want, things get couriered to Kathmandu.
Exam Queues?
Lok Sewa Ayog (Public Service Commission) based officer level and above all exams are taken explicitly in Kathmandu only. There are more people outside the Valley readied for officer level’s competitive exams but PSC has so far been unable to decentralize their work at this level. Hence, an examinee to appear an Electronics Engineering exam (that opens merely for a seat in a couple years) has to travel to Kathmandu (day 1), appear the first paper of 3 hours (day 2), appear the second paper of 3 hours (day 3) and travel back from Kathmandu (day 4) – only for an written exam and I’m assuming here just a single day of travel.
Government work patterns suck!
One of my friends had a work with the Nepal Police, he had to do a health examination for them. There are ISO certified clinics and hospitals even in Pokhara but he Police have this policy to conduct health examination only in Kathmandu. That leaves any people to spare 3 days (minimum) to get anything done in Kathmandu. But do those government officials in Kathmandu know about that? Who cares attitude continues even after federalisation in Nepal.
Conferences! Well, they are a kind of large, big things where only VIPs, and Kathmandu elites attend, right? It seems so, at least for majority of conferences, workshops and major events. People outside the Valley are usually considered less illiterate, but the latest Nepalese census of 2011 shows only 20.4% of people in Kathmandu district have passed minimum primary level which is much higher in districts outside. It is obvious to have large events to be organized in Kathmandu for the same reason as mentioned in the first paragraph (primary location of major I/NGOs, Companies, Government head offices and so) but it is equally notorious to have those events concentrate only on one city entirely over decades. Okay, for those who disagree, we are seeing a couple events being carried outside the Valley but only in recent years.
Nepalese have lot more spare time!
We only have a single international airport and that too is in Kathmandu. That’s an added benefits for the capital anyway, but it is weird that the air traffic in the Kathmandu airport hampers schedule flight from Nepalgunj for people flying to reach Manasarovar. Is it cool? There are plethora of cases where in the first hour morning flights to Kathmandu had taken in the evening from Pokhara. That counts a loss of day 1. Even a slightest happenstance in Kathmandu force people outside the valley to spend days uselessly and without any productivity. Another sign for why Nepal is still underdeveloped?
How cool is it to travel to Kathmandu from Surkhet and spend 5 days (2-1-2) just for an interview for which the company already decided to select their own people?
Not many years ago and still, are long tedious queues for companies offering IPO/FPOs and people killing hours just to get their turn.
And lastly if you think that I’m a kind of student or a guy preparing for competitive exams or looking for a job, I’m not. I’m just a Nepalese living outside the Kathmandu valley (of course, I’ve spent 7 years there!) and am one among crores who need to travel to Kathmandu for every single work.
