Nepalis have come to expect shoddy treatment from their rulers, whether democratic, autocratic or feudal.

Preoccupied as this interim government is with managing the alliance and making sure the peace process doesn't derail, and as the political leaders are with feathering their own nests, there is no time to ensure basic services.

Nepal's long-suffering citizens didn't expect things to get better overnight. But it's been nearly two years. Euphoria turned into disillusionment long ago. Now the frustration is turning into anger.

The one way this unelected government could have demonstrated legitimacy was by delivery. In that, it has failed pretty dismally. The denizens of the capital are lucky they have 12 hours of power cuts a day. Outside Kathmandu, power lasts only a few hours. Water supply is even more erratic. It is unlikely the poor are going to get free health care anytime soon. There has been no effort to bridge the gap between rich and poor schools.

None of this is due to a lack of resources. It is the result of gross mismanagement, criminal wastage and endemic corruption. And that is true also of the most glaring example of government bungling to date: the chronic fuel shortage. The ignominious roll-back last week exposed not just an ill-planned price rise but also the incompetence and weakness of the state. The result is a nationwide shortage of diesel that has brought the country to a standstill.

The government has the money to pay off the Nepal Oil Corporation's debt to Indian refineries so supplies can resume, but doesn't want to do so until retail prices are raised to more realistic levels. So the Indians have stopped supplying diesel and kerosene and hence the serpentine queues, this time of buses and trucks.

What with the lack of diesel to run generators combined with load shedding, the cost of industrial production has gone up substantially. Transporters have also begun to charge more even though the price of diesel remains the same. After all, if you can't buy fuel when you need it, the price becomes meaningless.

If the shortfall in the market is to be eased, someone has to pay India.The Ministry of Supplies (which should be renamed Ministry of Shortages) blames the Finance Ministry which in turn wants NOC to live without subsidies. Fair enough. But how to do that when the government doesn't allow it to even recoup its acquisition cost from consumers? As with everything else in Nepal the problem is politics rather than economics. With just about two and a half months to go till elections, the seven parties don't want to invite public wrath by raising fuel prices. But they will soon have to face street anger caused by the lack of diesel, gas and kerosene. It is a Catch-22 situation: increase prices and face protests, don't increase prices and invite anarchy. There is no way other than for the Finance Minister to clear NOC's debts so fuel shortages won't fuel instability in the run-up to elections. He faces competing funding demands from Maoist cantonments, war victims seeking compensation and the elections. But even if it has to beg, borrow or steal, the government needs to pay off India to resume supplies to get us to April and beyond.

Just do it, Mr Mahat.