MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

The proposal for making military training compulsory for citizens has prompted an intense debate. The NC and UML have strongly opposed this draft put forward by the Maoists. The Maoist CA members have backed the draft saying that the idea came forward while collecting opinions for the new constitution.

However, no one has been able to give a satisfactory explanation about the objective of this plan. The argument that providing military is important for national security is irrelevant. Nepal's neighbours are the rising powers in the world. We cannot undertake an armed retaliation against them. Giving military training to all will only increase internal conflict.

The Maoists' intention may be to control the youth by granting them military training. But it will not be easy to direct the mindset of the youth. Thus, to try and repeat what Mao and Lenin undertook will not only be unwise, but impossible.

Another aspect that we cannot forget is the financial burden that we will have to bear to give training. To divert the spending on sectors like health, education, infrastructure and socio economic development into an unproductive sector will have a negative impact on the general standard of living of the people who are already living in poverty. And, then if there are no jobs in the army - or elsewhere - for this trained youth, there is a real danger that they will misuse their skills.

It's inappropriate to waste time with purposeless proposals like compulsory military training, thereby delaying the constitution writing process. Rather than this the government could provide investment in training in skills to make the young people of this country internationally competitive.