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CIVICS
IN NEPAL
(Contemporary
Society Course)
UNIT
2
CHALLENGES TO NEPALI SOCIETY
INTRODUCTION <TOP>
The problems facing Nepal are similar to those facing many other countries around the world. Issues such as poverty, unemployment, a history of authoritarianism, violence, crime, drug peddling, girl trafficking and environmental pollution are common in many developing countries. For instance, severe poverty can be seen in many parts of Asia as well as all over Africa, and even in developed countries like the United States. Violence is endemic in many countries in Latin America such as Columbia, Guatemala and Brazil. Girl trafficking is becoming a growing problem in Eastern Europe as the industry is becoming more and more profitable and former communist countries struggle to improve their economies and strengthen their policing efforts.
Just as these social ills are common in many countries, the causes of such problems are common as well. Often a lack of economic opportunities leads citizens towards violence, drug peddling and girl trafficking. Other causes relate to the tendency for people to satisfy their immediate needs rather than consider the long-term consequences of their actions. A lack of resources, government efficiency and education among the populace also contribute to social problems.
Solving these problems is not easy to do. Determining solutions is challenging, and once decided upon, the solutions are often even more difficult to implement. In many cases, individuals are so concerned about how to find food to eat and clean water to drink that they do not have time or energy to spend working to improve their government. In other cases, people expect the government to improve their lives, and think that they are helpless in changing their environment. This feeling that people are victims of their surroundings rather than active members in their communities perpetuates social ills and makes problem solving difficult.
PURPOSE OF UNIT <TOP>
This unit describes some
of the various challenges the Nepali government and we, the Nepali people, face
in our efforts to improve the quality of life for citizens. The main focus of
this unit is not to describe the problems but rather to focus on how citizens
of Nepal, including us, can become active participants in our communities and
government and play key roles in solving some of our social ills. As mentioned
in the last unit, democracy alone cannot bring development to Nepal. However,
democratic government offers a variety of opportunities that other types of
government do not offer. For instance, democracy allows citizens to speak their
minds, make demands on their officials and monitor government actions.
After studying this unit you should be able to:
- Identify some of the social
challenges facing Nepali society.
- Determine ways in which we as citizens can effectively respond to these challenges
and improve our lives and the lives of others in our communities.
STRUCTURE OF UNIT <TOP>
The unit is divided into the following sub-units:
- Poverty, Underdevelopment
and Unemployment
- Authoritarianism
- Violence
- Crime
- Drug Peddling
- Girl Trafficking
- Environmental Pollution
- Solutions to These Challenges
- Activities
- Conclusion
TERMS TO KNOW <TOP>
Please pay attention to the key words listed below. Become familiar with their definitions and how they are used in the text. You will need to understand these terms to answer the questions at the end of this unit.
Poverty
Underdevelopment
Unemployment
Malnutrition
Authoritarianism
Crime
Drug Peddling
HIV/AIDS
Prostitution
POVERTY, UNDERDEVELOPMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT <TOP>
As in many other developing countries, Nepal has a high poverty rate. Large numbers of Nepalis lack adequate health and sanitation facilities and are malnourished and illiterate. Many people either have jobs that do not pay enough to survive or are unemployed. Death rates are high among children and people often cannot find adequate housing. The country as a whole is struggling to develop economically. This means that the country needs appropriate and sustainable productive activities or more industry to provide jobs for the people.
To better understand how poverty affects people, it is helpful to hear the voices of some people in Nepal who experience poverty. Below are quotes from different people who describe how poverty affects them personally.
|
“Poverty means I never leave my village. I didn’t go to school and every day I wonder where I will find something to eat. The unemployment rate in my village is very high; many people can’t find work. Other people help build each other’s houses and farm each other’s land but they don’t earn enough money to get by. Many people in my village are surviving on the absolute minimum.” “Poverty for me means I don’t have clean drinking water and when I get sick I have no doctor to help. My sister got ill because she didn’t have enough nutritious food to eat. Her child was born with malnutrition, without the proper vitamins and minerals, and will likely die at a young age.” “Poverty means
that I must beg for food. Most other people in the city have homes, families
and food to eat each day. But I don’t. I live on the street, and
“Poverty means that even though I have a home and a job and other people in my village think of me as rich, I still can’t buy enough food to feed my brothers and sisters. We are crowded in a two-room house and always need to be conscious of what we spend. We need to make sure we save enough money to pay for our food and rent each month.” |
Lack of economic opportunities sometimes leads parents to send their children to work and not to school. The parents need money and in some cases feel they have no other choice but to have their children work and help support the family. When children work rather than go to school they often miss out on the opportunity to learn how to read and write.
In some cases, people work
but don't make money. Kamaiyas are bonded laborers. They work on farms and in
households in Nepal but do not receive a salary. Kamaiyas are sometimes afraid
to leave their work for fear their landlord will be angry with them and hurt
them physically. Other Kamaiyas have nowhere else to go and so they stay with
their landlord. In the year 2000 (2058 B.S.), His Majesty's Government of Nepal
abolished the bonded labor system and freed Kamaiyas from bondage to their landlords.
The government is now attempting to help some Kamaiyas find shelter and work.
Read the news article below and answer the following questions.
|
Proceed Work
to Rehabilitate Kamaiyas: Ojha Dhangadhi, Nov. 13 (RSS), Minister for Land Reforms and Management Sidha Raj Ojha has instructed the Freed Kamaiya Identification and Rehabilitation Monitoring and Coordination Committee, Kailali in the district to proceed with the rehabilitation work by leaving no room for complaints and disputes. The minister was speaking at a meeting of the committee here on Nov. 12. The meeting chaired by chairman of the committee and Kailali DDC Narayan Datta Mishra reviewed the progress made so far in the rehabilitation of the freed Kamaiyas and discussed future actions. In course of rehabilitating the former Kamaiyas, the committee has already distributed identification cards to 257- freed Kamaiyas at Dhangadi town area, Malakheti, Geta and Beladevipur Chaumala VDCs. Distribution of such identification cards to other freed Kamaiyas in other areas is under way, according to member secretary of the committee and head of the Kailali land reforms office Maheshwor Neupane. Likewise, the committee has identified 17 bighas of land at Malakheti and 26 bighas at Shripur VDC for distribution to the former Kamaiyas. The committee is continuing to explore such land in other areas as well. The freed Kamaiyas are taking shelter in 17 make shift camps at Pathariya, Baliya, Dododhara, Masuriya, Chaumala, Pratappur, Malakheti, Geta, Dhangadhi and Urma. According to the committee, 2,688 of the freed Kamaiyas in the district are landless, while 108 others are living on unregistered land and 533 families have their own land. |
At the time this article
was written:
1. What government committee was working to rehabilitate the Kamaiyas?
2. Did any of the Kamaiyas have land? If so, how many?
3. Had the government found additional land to give to the Kamaiyas?
4. What types of help was the government trying to provide for the Kamaiyas?
5. Do you think this help was sufficient? If not, what else do you think needed
to be done?
Many government initiatives
as well as non-governmental organizations have helped to minimize poverty in
Nepal and have made a huge difference in improving the quality of life for many
people. More people have found jobs, literacy rates have increased and health
care and nutrition have improved greatly. A person born in Nepal can now expect
to live almost twice as long as someone born 50 years ago.
The charts below describe the indicators that demonstrate that Nepal has made
dramatic improvements in the areas of economic production, jobs, education,
health and nutritional care.
Look carefully at the statistics in the charts below related to changes in employment, education, health and nutrition in Nepal and answer the questions that follow.
(Note: Gross National Product per capita (GNP p.c.) is the average yearly earning of everybody in the country. It is a common way to measure all the money generated by a country.)
|
NEPAL
|
||||||
|
Year
|
Population
(millions)
|
Life
expectancy (years)
|
Infant
mortality (per 1000 births)
|
Adult
Literacy rate
|
Children
in Primary School (thousands)
|
GNP
p.c.
(US$) |
|
1971
|
12
|
37
|
172
|
13%
|
450
|
|
|
1981
|
14.5
|
50
|
117
|
1070
|
30
|
|
|
1991
|
18
|
54
|
108
|
2790
|
105
|
|
|
1996
|
21
|
57
|
98
|
3200
|
190
|
|
|
1998
|
22
|
58
|
72
|
38%
|
3590
|
210
|
Sources: Various United Nations' Publications.
Although Nepal is developing
as a country, we still have a lot more to accomplish to improve the quality
of lives for our citizens. Compared with other countries around the world, Nepal
is underdeveloped. There are many ways to define underdevelopment. Simply it
means that in comparison to Nepal, other countries have stronger economies,
higher industrial output, larger amounts of trade and a better quality of life
for their citizens.
Although much improvement has been made in Nepal since 1960, still much more
needs to be done. Not just by government, but we, as citizens of Nepal, need
to work to improve our lives and those of our neighbors. There are many ways
in which we can take an active role in our communities and villages to help
improve the quality of life in our country.
AUTHORITARIANISM <TOP>
Although there may be more than one way to define authoritarianism, for our purposes we will use the following definition. Authoritarianism is the tendency for individuals in positions of power to govern, make decisions and policies, without consulting the recipients of those decisions or policies.
For instance, dictators rule countries where the citizens of the country have no say in policy decisions. Dictators tend to govern by imposing laws on the people rather than including the people in the making of the laws.
A single person or small groups of people make decisions about government for the whole country and all its citizens. When making policies they do not ask for advice or input from the people, they determine alone what is needed for the country. As a result, the policies that they impose on the people are not as beneficial for the country as they could be.
For democracy to be an effective
form of government in Nepal, citizens must participate in their political process.
They must help to inform their political officials about the problems in their
villages, monitor their officials' actions and demand that government representatives
act in the best interest of the majority of citizens. Democracy is very new
in Nepal, and it takes time for people to realize that they too are not only
allowed to have a say in what happens in their communities, but also encouraged
to do so.
Because democracy is so new, and people have not yet begun participating in
their government, a culture of authoritarianism often persists throughout many
aspects of society.
You may find that some people in positions of authority abuse their power. They take advantage of their role in government, the police force, the school or the family and act in ways that do not consider the needs or rights of others. As we examine authoritarianism, it is important for us to remember that there is a difference between exercising your legitimate right to determine others' actions and abusing that right. You may have been in situations where someone used their authority to force you to do something against your will. Sometimes that person may have had the right to do so; other times he or she may not have had the right.
As you read the following passages keep in mind that authoritarianism is not just found in government but can sometimes also be found at work, in your community organizations, schools and families.
Read the sentences below to try and determine by yourself or with your classmates who is using their position of power appropriately and who is not.
After completing the
exercise above:
1. Write down on a piece of paper 5 ways in which you have seen people use their position of power fairly.
2. Now write down 5 ways in which you have personally experienced someone using their position of power unfairly.
If you find that someone is abusing his or her right to control your behavior, there are opportunities available to you within your governing system to protest this behavior. Some examples include:
These types of activities can be used to protest many social problems including the other problems that will be discussed in this unit such as violence, crime, drug peddling, girl trafficking and environmental pollution.
VIOLENCE <TOP>
Violence can be defined in multiple ways. For our purposes, we define it as the use of physical force to injure somebody or damage something. Violence is common in many countries all over the world. In Nepal, the most common types of violence are:
Political violence may occur between members of different political parties who differ over ideology, who was rightly elected to a constituency or which party can seek support in a village. Violence against women may occur because new husbands are angry that their dowries are too small, and against children because parent become impatient with them. At times, citizens in Nepal feel that the government and its officials act unfairly and do not serve the people's interests. Instead of protesting peacefully, they become violent against government members and may kill elected officials or the police. Sometimes violence occurs during bandhs when buses are burned or people throw stones. Police brutality is another form of violence, where police harass innocent people or where people are killed in police custody.
The widespread availability of cheap country liquor makes it accessible for people from all economic classes to drink regularly. The fact that alcohol is addictive increases people's desire to drink. Sometimes alcoholism can cause people to commit violence. Sometimes the violence is directed towards their own family members.
Read the story below and answer the questions that follow. You can break up into groups to answer the questions.
|
Sita had been married for five years. At the beginning of her marriage, she was happy with her husband. But as years passed her husband began drinking heavily. Every night he drank and their marriage changed. Because he drank so much, he lost his job and could not find another one. He became less accepting of problems in the home. He objected that the food wasn't ready on time or that the house was dirty.He stopped wanting Sita to go out of the house or visit friends. He then began to direct his frustration towards Sita through harming her physically. Sita became a victim of domestic violence. |
Women or children or anyone
else who is a victim of violence can report the incident to the police. They
can also seek out a nongovernmental organization working to stop violence and
ask for assistance. Physical abuse against anyone, including women and children,
is illegal in Nepal and punishable by arrest and imprisonment.
CRIME <TOP>
Crime can be defined in many ways, for our purposes we define it as an act punishable by law. It can take many forms, such as organized crime like girl trafficking, dacoity, gold smuggling and terrorism; and smaller-scale crime, like stealing, prostitution, bribery, murder, pick pocketing and rape. As is generally the case in countries around the world, there are higher crime rates in cities in Nepal than there are in rural areas. Although certain types of crime, such as the violence described in the previous section, is just as common in villages as it is in cities.
Crime is a problem that many countries face. Many governments are challenged with deciding what types of policies to implement to prevent crime. Sometimes governments approach crime by imposing strict laws and strong punishments against wrongdoers. Other governments address crime as a social problem. They try to address the causes of crime, such as low education levels, poor family structures, poverty and low moral values. Sometimes governments use a combination of both strategies, they implement strict laws and harsh punishments and conduct a variety of social programs targeted at the populations who commit most of the crimes. Before any government can make a good decision on what types of policies and social programs to implement, officials must understand the reasons for crime.
Can you help your government come up with a general strategy for decreasing crime in Nepal?
Listed opposite are three columns. The first column lists different types of crimes, the second describes various causes of crime and the third describes some prevention methods. The prevention methods listed are methods that various governments around the world have taken in an attempt to limit crime. None of these lists are complete and there are a number of other types of crimes, causes and prevention methods that are not written here.
Draw lines between the
words in the three columns that best go together. (Hint, there may be multiple
causes and prevention methods for each crime and so you will need to draw many
lines that connect with each word.) As you do the exercise below, talk with
your classmates about what causes crime and what are good ways to prevent it.
| Crime | Causes | Preventionin |
| Bribery | Lack of Ethical Standards | Increasing police patrols in areas where crimes occur |
| Blackmail | Despair | Strengthening anti-crime laws |
| Dacoity | Lack of Money | Imposing harsh punishments on people who commit crimes |
| Robbery | Desire for Revenge | Conducting a public awareness campaign about how to protect yourself from crime |
| Smuggling | Greed |
Increasing the level of education in communities with high numbers of individuals who commit crimes |
| Murder | Anger | Conducting social programs to promote better family structures |
| Kidnapping | Drug Addiction/Alcoholism | Conducting public awareness campaigns about the effects of alcoholism and drug peddling |
| Rape | Lack of Education, Poor Upbringing, Untreated Mental Illness | Conducting rehabilitation programs for individuals convicted of a crime |
Break up into groups and discuss with your classmates the following questions:
1. Can you think of other
causes for crime that are not listed above?
2. Can you think of other prevention methods?
3. What types of policies would you recommend your government take to limit
crime in Nepal?
4. Would you focus on policies that restrict and punish wrongdoers? Would you
focus on social programs? Would you try and implement both types of strategies?
An act that is punishable by law can be debatable. Sometimes people believe that things that are considered crimes by the government SHOULD NOT be punishable by law. For instance, in an effort to keep Singapore clean, Singapore's government has made chewing gum illegal. If the police catch a citizen chewing gum that person will be fined (he or she will need to pay money to the government as a punishment.) Some people think that the citizens of Singapore should be allowed to chew gum, others do not. What do you think?
Sometimes we believe that acts not considered to be crimes in our country SHOULD indeed BE punishable by law. For instance, in other countries, littering (throwing rubbish and other items on the streets and not in a specified rubbish area) is illegal. If caught by the police, that person will have to pay a fine as a penalty. Some people believe that littering in Nepal should be considered illegal and others do not. What do you think?
Discuss with your classmates the following questions.
DRUG PEDDLING <TOP>
There is a difference between a drug and a medicine. Medicines are meant to help you and can help cure many illnesses. Drugs, in contrast, can be addictive and harmful to you and those around you. You can tell if you are taking a drug because it affects your mind and emotions and also damages your body. Because drugs can be so addictive, once people start taking them it is difficult to stop.
Some examples of drugs that can be harmful include:
Can you identify the names of the different drugs in the pictures?
Sometimes people begin taking drugs because they feel depressed and want something to make them feel better. Other times people take drugs because they feel pressure from their friends. Being young can mean experimenting with a lot of things, but young people all over the world are rejecting drugs, knowing that drugs are bad for them.
Reasons not to take drugs
Last August, a group of students gathered together in the courtyard in a plus 2 school in Sunshine District. Dipendra sat with the students and asked them: "What happens to people when they take drugs?" The students responded by saying the following:
Most drugs, excluding alcohol, are illegal in Nepal. That means that if you
sell them or are caught taking them, you can be arrested. Despite the fact that
they are illegal, many people sell drugs to make money. This is called drug
peddling. Sometimes they grow or make the drugs in Nepal and other times they
bring them into the country from outside.
Discuss the following questions with your classmates and write in your copy the answers to the questions:
1. Can you list some types
of medicines?
2. What is the difference between drugs and medicines?
3. Why do people take drugs?
4. Can you avoid taking drugs?
5. What often happens to people when they become addicted to drugs?
6. Are drugs legal?
7. Why does drug peddling occur?
8. Can you list 3 ways to decrease drug peddling?
GIRL TRAFFICKING <TOP>
Girl trafficking is one of the major challenges facing Nepal. Innocent Nepali women and girls of different castes and communities from different regions of Nepal are taken out of the country and forced into prostitution. Prostitution is defined as providing sex for money. The girls are either bought from their parents or brothers, deceived, threatened or pushed into leaving their homes. When they arrive in distant places they are forced into involuntary servitude, usually as domestic workers or prostitutes. Most of the women and girls who are trafficked are from poor families in rural areas. All these girls are somone's sister or daughter. They leave their homes in search of a better life. A family member or other individual may promise them a job in a distant place or a man may come to the village and marry the girl only to sell her later into slavery. This happens to over 5,000 girls a year, some of them only 10 years old. It is cruel to take their life from them and enslave them.
Many women and girls who are trafficked contract a deadly virus called HIV/AIDS. Many people have never heard of HIV/AIDS and do not know what it is or how they can contract the illness. Although girls who are trafficked have a very high likelihood of getting this disease through sexual intercourse, they are not the only ones at risk. Some people who get the virus may not feel or look sick and they may not know they have the virus. This makes the disease difficult to detect and easy to spread.
The three ways you can get HIV/AIDS are:
1. Through sexual intercourse
with someone who already has the HIV virus.
2. Through blood or dirty needles infected with the virus.
3. Through mothers who pass the virus to their babies in their womb.
So, if you follow the next three rules, you won't get the virus.
Read the following story and try and answer the questions below.
| Ravi seemed like an ideal man to have as a friend or a person to know. He used to come to Meena's village and meet her daily, so no one was surprised when he asked her to marry him. Meena was very happy and so was her family. They had a ceremonial marriage in the village. Then Ravi told her that they would go to India for their honeymoon and so they went. Once in Mumbai, India, Ravi said that he wanted Meena to meet a friend of his. When they met with the friend, Ravi spoke with her in another room and Meena couldn't hear their conversation. Then Ravi said that he had to go out to get something and that Meena should wait for him there. Once Ravi left the house, the woman told Meena that she had bought her from Ravi and that Meena would have to work for her in the brothel. Meena was shocked and couldn't believe that the man she trusted and married would sell her into prostitution. She wanted to go home but didn't have any money to get back. She was scared and alone in a city she had never been to before. The brothel owner was cruel to her and forced Meena, against her will, to work. After a year, Meena found out that she had contracted HIV/AIDS. As Meena became noticeably sick, the brothel owner no longer wanted to keep her and turned Meena onto the streets. She was frightened and starving. Meena began begging and eventually made enough money to go back to her village where she thought she would be safe and where she thought her family would help her and give her shelter and care. After she returned, her family rejected her. All the members of the village also turned her away and refused to shelter, feed or help her. They treated her as an outcast. She found that she had nowhere to go; she became a beggar and died from HIV/AIDS. |
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION <TOP>
Another of the major challenges facing Nepal is environmental pollution. Pollution takes many forms including air, noise and water pollution. People interact with their environment and destroy the essential resources that we need to survive. Fortunately, environmental problems are no longer considered inevitable. The more community organizations, citizens and government leaders take responsibility for their own communities and country's natural resources, the more our resources have a chance of lasting. Unit 5 of this book discusses in greater detail the various types of environmental pollution that affect Nepal and ways to prevent the continued destruction of our natural environment.
SOLUTIONS TO THESE CHALLENGES <TOP>
This unit has reviewed a variety of social problems facing the Nepali people and government. We have discussed poverty, underemployment, unemployment, authoritarianism, violence, crime, drug peddling and girl trafficking. These social problems are not unique to Nepal but rather common in many countries around the world.
Different governments have
different ways of trying to deal with these problems. In dictatorships, a single
person or small groups of people make decisions about how to solve these problems
for the whole country and all its citizens. When making policies they do not
ask for advice or input from the citizenry, but instead they determine alone
what is needed for the country. As a result, the policies they impose are often
not as effective as they could be in solving social issues.
In contrast, democracies like Nepal's, give citizens the opportunity to complain
about their government's policies. It also gives citizens an opportunity to
praise their officials when they do good work that helps address the social
problems. Citizens have a say in how policies are designed and implemented.
In this way, the policymaking process is a debate between citizens and government
officials. The resulting decisions are often more effective in solving social
problems. Without citizen participation in the democratic process, democracy
is ineffective. People need to be active in their communities and try and improve
their social problems.
Opportunities for citizen participation include:
Can you think of other opportunities in which you can become active in your community and help improve these social problems?
ACTIVITIES <TOP>
For group and individual work:
1. "It's a very poor country," says a visitor. Make a list of 12 features
of a country, which would make someone say this. There are 9 in the text, you
should add 3 more.
2. Complete:
An indicator is an
average annual statistic for one aspect of a country. It is useful for comparing
_______________ and providing the country with a helpful measure
of _______________.
3. Choose one of the people pictured in this unit on pages 26 or 27 and give an imaginary description of their history, family, home and daily life bringing out the real meaning of poverty.
4. Distinguish between "a poor person" and "a poor country".
5. If the adult literacy rate in a municipality of 200,000 people is 38%, how many adults can't read? What is the connection, if any, between poverty and illiteracy?
6. Switzerland is a small, mountainous, land-locked country, one of the richest in the world. Yet Nepal is among the poorest. What reasons can you find to explain Nepal's poverty? (You could think geographically, economically, historically….).
7. Finding a solution to poverty is not easy.
a) Will any of the methods
mentioned on page 43 help?
b) Can you suggest any solutions?
c) Is there any answer to unemployment?
d) What employment opportunities do you hope for?
8. Authoritarian vs. Democratic Government
a) What are the differences
between an authoritarian and a democratic government? Give specific examples.
b) Which kind of government do you think is likely to be most efficient? Why?
c) Which kind of government do you prefer to live under? Why?
d) Does a democratic government have authority?
9. On page 33 there are five kinds of violence listed. Give real life examples of each kind.
10. Why does society punish wrongdoers? Can you think of at least 4 reasons? What do you consider to be the primary point of punishing wrongdoers?
11. Is crime a problem in mainly poor countries?
12. Should drug-users be punished? Is using drugs a crime?
13. What is the prevalence of drug-use in your school or locality? Have you any ideas how to deal with this problem ?
16. Do a role-play in which several people are offered drugs for the first time. Pretend that four or five of you already smoke and are trying to get new members of your gang to smoke. Also pretend that four of you have not smoked before: one is eager to start, one is doubtful but weak, one doesn't want to and is finally bullied into trying and one is able to say no.
17. Collect several newspaper reports about girl trafficking and make a display.
18. Write a poem or make a short drama about a young girl from Trisuli who eventually is sold to a brothel but manages to escape.
19. Why do families sell
their daughters or allow them to leave home? What are the underlying causes?
Having thought about this, suggest at least 3 different
approaches that could help protect daughters from being sold.
20. Let each group take a problem:
Poverty, drugs, pollution, crime or violence
Discuss in detail if there is anything you personally, or your class acting together, can do to help alleviate the problem in your district. To do this you will need to:
a) Identify if the problem
exists, and to what extent. This may involve some research.
b) Think of as many possible ways of helping as you can, and what would be the
results of trying them.
c) Decide which way is possible and likely to be most effective.
Choose one way that you will actually be able to implement. Make a realistic plan that considers the group members' time restrictions and other responsibilities and then implement the plan.
Short Answer Question:
1. What is meant by infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births?
2. What are Kamaiyas, and what has the government done for some of them?
3. Why do authoritarian regimes either suppress education or control it very rigidly? If your rights have been abused, describe two actions that you could do to protest.
4. What is meant by domestic violence?
5. Name 2 crimes usually carried out by organized groups of criminals.
6. What is blackmail?
7. Why are many people so willing to risk imprisonment by bringing drugs into the country?
8. Distinguish between a drug and a medicine.
9. Why should all donated blood be tested before being given to a patient?
10. What is prostitution?
11. Why are many women forced to become prostitutes?
12. Is a person with AIDS a danger to his or her community?
13. Why is injecting drugs particularly dangerous?
14. What do you understand by the term 'social problem'?
15. Suicide is quite common
in Nepal. Is this a social problem? Explain your
answer.
Medium Answer Questions:
In pairs, choose one or more of the following topics, then plan and write a good, clear paragraph. Remember to give reasons and examples to support your ideas.
1. Poverty is a person's
own fault. For example, you could start:
It is a dreadful thing to say that a person is poor through his or her own fault.
OR
Poor people only have themselves to blame for their poverty.
2. Developing industry should be the government's priority.
3. Police violence increases violence throughout the country.
4. The availability of drugs in Kathmandu must be rigorously controlled.
5. Street children and girls in factories are oppressed and abused and need support.
6. Every citizen can do something to help solve our social problems.
7. There is no such thing as a problem, only a challenge to be met.
CONCLUSION <TOP>
In this unit you have learned that:
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