Monday, December 31, 2012
Mobile Phones and Scooters: Liberators of Nepali Women
The following opinion piece was published in Republica on Dec 29, 2012 with the title "Instruments of liberation". The unedited version is below.
Mobile
Phones and Scooters: Liberators of Nepali Women
In our Nepali society, responsibility of upholding the social and moral
prestige of a family lies with the female members of the family. Anything they
do or do not do is viewed with the “prestige” lens. In order to ensure that
they kept our family prestige intact, our culture has been restricting their
mobility for ages. Sometimes, this restriction is imposed directly by not
allowing females to get an access to education or to a job. While at other
times, the restriction is imposed by setting a certain time by which they
should be back at home in the evening. These are mostly done on the pretense of
keeping them safe from the ill elements in the neighborhood or the society in
general. However, it has always been more about keeping the family prestige
intact and less about safety.
In instances when female members have been granted some mobility
rights, it has usually been done by sending a male member of the household as a
protective guard or escort. However, in the last few years, restriction of
access to social spaces such as restaurants or clubs for females has been
reducing in Nepal. Girls are no longer bound by social mores to stay at home
while the boys are out having fun. The contributors to this greater liberation
of Nepali women and girls are the mobile phone and the scooter.
Mobile
phones were introduced late into Nepal. However, after their introduction, they
have changed the way we communicate with one another. Despite its criticism as
a nuisance toy, it has reduced the communication gap that existed between
people. From learning about latest news to latest fashion, mobile phones are
very handy. As a society we have come to value the impact of mobile phones in
staying in touch with family, friends and relatives. It is no secret that
mobile phones have helped a whole generation of Nepali youths to improve their
social relations. This is especially true for females since they have had
limited opportunities for continued interactions with others on a daily basis in
the past.
I
have performed a cross-country analysis of over a hundred countries with a host
of indicators to identify what factors, more so than others, could be the
potential reasons for increased usage of mobile phones. Results showed that literacy
rate and median age are very significant in that regard. It is safe to say that
these hold true for Nepal as well. As our population becomes more educated and literate
each passing year, we are more likely to embrace new technologies. Add to that
the fact that current median age of a Nepali is around 21 years old, and the increased
usage of mobile phones in Nepal becomes all the more significant. It has
changed the way and extent to which our youths, especially females who before
mobile phones had limited access to information and other people, communicate whether
the communication is about movies, dates or jobs. It has helped in liberating
Nepali women out of the information gap.
Nepal’s
economy has also been growing for years despite various hiccups. However, domestic
employment situation has not improved much in the past decade because of which more
and more Nepalis have left for jobs overseas in the last decade. The foreign
workers phenomenon dominates the current Nepali economic discussions, and has
resulted in billions of dollars of remittance inflow into Nepal. The latest
census also showed that significant proportion of Nepali households have a
member working overseas and sending remittance income home. What this has done
is provided an increased purchasing power in the hands of family members. A
common result has been that, in the remittance recipient families, males have
been buying motorcycles and females have been buying scooters in droves.
If
mobile phones lifted the information barriers that females in Nepal faced,
scooters have lifted the mobility barrier. A scooter is not simply a means of
mobility but signifies equality and liberty that greater economic growth and
purchasing power brings. Who is to say that women cannot ride motorbikes?
However, overwhelming preference for scooters by Nepali women and girls is not only
a choice but a symbol of freedom that they display. They no longer have to
depend on a male member of the household to help them get somewhere in their
motorbikes. Now, Nepali women can decide on their own where they want to go and
when. The scooter is not simply a means of mobility for them like motorbikes is
for men, but a symbol of freedom from the shackles of our various societal
dogmas, rules and pretenses of safety that they were made to live up with.
Mobile
phones and scooters have liberated Nepali women. They still have to be back
home by a certain time in the evening, but their mobile phones and scooters have
provided greater access to information and greater physical mobility than what
they had before. Ever increasing use of these two by Nepali women symbolizes
their yearning for liberation more so than anything else. They still have a long
way to go, but the mobile phones and scooters have provided them a great start.
Labels: liberation, mobile phones, scooters
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Links for August 25, 2011
.
1. Surya Nepal gives reasons for closing the garment factory in Biratnagar
The reasons:
2. Resource gap of Rs 451b threatens MDGs achievement
3. Some numbers on Nepal's telecom industry
*telecom services in the country have reached to 46 out of every 100 people
*mobile users account for 40.59 percent, fixed line 2.93 percent and other services 2.52 percent
*from mid-July 2009 to mid-July 2010, telecom operators had added 2.62 million users
*from mid-July 2010 to mid-July 2011, telecom operators added 4.23 million users
*This is an increase of 61 percent
*In 2010-11, Nepal Telecom’s subscribers grew by 23.33 percent
*Ncell’s customers grew by a 90.95 percent
*Ncell is now the market leader in the GSM segment with 43 percent market share
*This is an increment of 10 percent over the year
*NTC's overall market share fell from 61 percent to 51 percent in the last fiscal year
4. Shikhar Shoe is one of the rare business success stories in Nepal
5. Another business success story in Nepal: Poultry Farming.
Growing per capita income and living standards has meant that demand for meat, especially chicken, is growing in Nepal. Suppliers have been struggling to keep up with the demand.
--------------------------------------------------
And Finally, a satire on the banking industry:
1. Surya Nepal gives reasons for closing the garment factory in Biratnagar
The reasons:
it lost the orders it had on hand.....its buyers from the US and Europe categorically said they will not place orders in future as well
...the company suffered a severe blow mainly after the buyers came to know about ´hostage situation´ in the factory, wherein trade union affiliated with the UCPN (Maoist) locked over two dozen managerial staff for 24 hours without food and water, and rescue carried out by the police
What rattled the company most, according to Jha, was that senior trade union leaders, local political leaders, entrepreneurs, administration and local labor office could do nothing when the factory management requested them to rescue its staffers after the ANTUF-R locked them in the factory.
2. Resource gap of Rs 451b threatens MDGs achievement
...Nepal is likely to miss the targets, particularly related to hunger, employment, gender balance, environment and reproductive health...because the country suffers from a resource gap to the tune of Rs 451.43 billion over the last 5 years of the MDGs period
Targets that Nepal is likely to miss: halving the population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption, proportion of underweight children (aged between 6-59 months) and proportion of stunted children (aged 6-69 months)
Nepal also faces difficulty in achieving targeted survival rate to Grade 5 in primary education, literacy rate for 15-24 years old, proportion of births attended by skilled attendants, universal access to reproductive health, and proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility.
3. Some numbers on Nepal's telecom industry
*telecom services in the country have reached to 46 out of every 100 people
*mobile users account for 40.59 percent, fixed line 2.93 percent and other services 2.52 percent
*from mid-July 2009 to mid-July 2010, telecom operators had added 2.62 million users
*from mid-July 2010 to mid-July 2011, telecom operators added 4.23 million users
*This is an increase of 61 percent
*In 2010-11, Nepal Telecom’s subscribers grew by 23.33 percent
*Ncell’s customers grew by a 90.95 percent
*Ncell is now the market leader in the GSM segment with 43 percent market share
*This is an increment of 10 percent over the year
*NTC's overall market share fell from 61 percent to 51 percent in the last fiscal year
4. Shikhar Shoe is one of the rare business success stories in Nepal
Shikhar Shoe is now all set to scale up its production capacity...With the new technology, Shikhar’s daily production capacity will increase to 5000 units from the existing 1,000
The company has invested over Rs 100 million for the expansion of its manufacturing facility. Currently, Shikhar offers over 400 models—from sports, party wear to casual shoes. It has been selling its products from more than 1,000 outlets in 70 districts.
With Dashain around the corner, Shikhar Shoe is readying itself to launch over 70 new models.
5. Another business success story in Nepal: Poultry Farming.
Growing per capita income and living standards has meant that demand for meat, especially chicken, is growing in Nepal. Suppliers have been struggling to keep up with the demand.
--------------------------------------------------
And Finally, a satire on the banking industry:
Source: www.econosseur.com
Labels: garment, MDG, mobile phones, Ncell, NTC, poultry, Shikhar Shoe, surya nepal
Monday, August 1, 2011
Links for August 1, 2011
Some numbers on Nepalese tourism---Kantipur
*2009/10 received Rs 28.31 billion in foreign exchange from tourism sector
*First 11 months in 2009/10 saw Rs 26.4 billion in tourism revenue
*First 11 months of 2010/11 saw Rs 22.91 billion in tourism revenue
*That is a drop of 13.2 percent
*In 2010/11, average length of stay of tourists was 12.67 days
*That is the highest in the last 6 years
*In 2009/10, they spent $36.88 on average each day
*In 2010/11, they spent $46.73 on average each day
*First 6 months of 2010/11 saw a 25 percent increase in tourist arrivals by air compared to the first 6 months of 2009/10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nepal Telecom runs out of mobile SIMs---Republica
Despite the amount of money Nepal Telecom has been able to make, there is very little to show when it comes to new investments and improvements in its infrastructure. More towers need to be built. More powerful computers and systems need to be bought. The caller should not dial the same number 5 times before getting connected. When is Nepal Telecom ever going to learn 'customer service'?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Should people in Kathmandu take the bus?---Kantipur
Ashish Gajrel makes comparisons with Curitiba and Bogota. I am not very sure about this. I believe that a combination of metro buses and underground metro rail is the best option for Kathmandu. The underground rail service would remove congestion from the roads above. That, in turn, could make it easier to develop bicycle lanes. Kathmandu is not very big, and has a great potential for becoming a bicycle friendly city.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Some numbers on Nepalese BFIs---Republica
*There are 31 commercial banks in Nepal
*Until recently, they did not have to insure the deposits
*The central bank has now ordered commercial banks to insure deposits up to Rs 200,000
*Deposit and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DCGC) is the state owned deposit insurer
*133 Financial Institutions, 66 Development Banks, and 67 Finance Companies have signed up with DCGC
*Their combined deposits are worth Rs 51 billion
*DCGC charges Rs 0.20 for every Rs 100 as insurance premium
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Gurkhas in the UK---Kantipur
After winning a landmark verdict a few years ago, Gurkha soldiers from Nepal have been going to the UK to settle there. The Kantipur article covers their struggles to fit into the UK society.
----------------------------------------------------------------
*2009/10 received Rs 28.31 billion in foreign exchange from tourism sector
*First 11 months in 2009/10 saw Rs 26.4 billion in tourism revenue
*First 11 months of 2010/11 saw Rs 22.91 billion in tourism revenue
*That is a drop of 13.2 percent
*In 2010/11, average length of stay of tourists was 12.67 days
*That is the highest in the last 6 years
*In 2009/10, they spent $36.88 on average each day
*In 2010/11, they spent $46.73 on average each day
*First 6 months of 2010/11 saw a 25 percent increase in tourist arrivals by air compared to the first 6 months of 2009/10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nepal Telecom runs out of mobile SIMs---Republica
Despite the amount of money Nepal Telecom has been able to make, there is very little to show when it comes to new investments and improvements in its infrastructure. More towers need to be built. More powerful computers and systems need to be bought. The caller should not dial the same number 5 times before getting connected. When is Nepal Telecom ever going to learn 'customer service'?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Should people in Kathmandu take the bus?---Kantipur
Ashish Gajrel makes comparisons with Curitiba and Bogota. I am not very sure about this. I believe that a combination of metro buses and underground metro rail is the best option for Kathmandu. The underground rail service would remove congestion from the roads above. That, in turn, could make it easier to develop bicycle lanes. Kathmandu is not very big, and has a great potential for becoming a bicycle friendly city.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Some numbers on Nepalese BFIs---Republica
*There are 31 commercial banks in Nepal
*Until recently, they did not have to insure the deposits
*The central bank has now ordered commercial banks to insure deposits up to Rs 200,000
*Deposit and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DCGC) is the state owned deposit insurer
*133 Financial Institutions, 66 Development Banks, and 67 Finance Companies have signed up with DCGC
*Their combined deposits are worth Rs 51 billion
*DCGC charges Rs 0.20 for every Rs 100 as insurance premium
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Gurkhas in the UK---Kantipur
After winning a landmark verdict a few years ago, Gurkha soldiers from Nepal have been going to the UK to settle there. The Kantipur article covers their struggles to fit into the UK society.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Labels: central bank of nepal, gurkhas, mobile phones, nepal telecom, nepal tourism year, public transport, UK
Friday, July 1, 2011
Why cellphones sell?
There was a time in Nepal, around 2001-02, when the pager became the ubiquitous must-have tech item for everybody. It was a marvel to behold. People could send only text messages to stay in touch with friends, colleagues and relatives. The gadget was so popular that companies in Kathmandu started handing out one for free to their employees so that they could be contacted at anytime. However, the fad was not to last because something better was making its way into Nepal from the Western world. That new must-have tech toy was the mobile phone.
Mobile phones were introduced late into Nepal because of problems like government bureaucracy as well as lack of proper public and private investment in the necessary infrastructure. Once it was introduced, the mobile phone changed the landscape of communication in Nepal. It has become as much a nuisance as a boon, with some schools and campuses planning to ban them inside their compounds.
The major reason behind the mobile phone boom in Nepal is poor infrastructure. Yes, poor infrastructure, which, in many other cases would hinder economic growth, is actually the main reason why the growth of cell phones has been incredible in Nepal. Nepal has seen a steady rise in the number of landline phones since the economic liberalisation that began post-1990 democracy (see Fig. 1). However, Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) has not been able to meet the increasing demand for landline phones. The number of people who have applied to get a landline phone and are still waiting is very large (see Fig. 2).
The waiting list kept increasing from 1990 until 2002. After 2002, consumers got tired of waiting for landline phones, and switched to mobile phones even though the mobile industry in Nepal at that time was not very strong. This switch by some consumers halted the increase in the waiting list for landline phones. As a result, the number of people waiting to get landline phones has remained steady since 2003.
The main reason for NTC’s inability to satisfy the needs of landline phone consumers is that the infrastructure for landline phone is expensive, time consuming to build and cannot be constructed everywhere. On the contrary, the infrastructure for mobile phones is cheaper to build and can be built anywhere across the country. Mobile phones don’t need cable links like landline phones. Towers are relatively cheaper to build, and only a few towers are needed to service a decent sized town or village.
Researchers who have studied the mobile phone industry growth in Africa discovered that it can be a development tool through the dissemination of information. Dissemination of information regarding weather, market prices and spread of diseases helps Africans decide the necessary course of action. Should they go on a cross-country trip when weather forecasts tell them it is going to rain for the next three days? Should they sell their crop at US$ 4 a bushel in their town if sellers in the next town are selling it for US$ 6? What should their course of action be when a cholera epidemic is spreading into their town from the neighbouring towns? The usage and functions of a mobile phone assist the Africans in informing them and helping them to make the correct decisions.
What about Asia? What about South Asia? A study has shown that around 38 million Indians access the internet from their mobile phones. Computers and fixed internet access in home computers are still expensive and out of reach for most people in South Asia, where more than half the population makes less than US$ 2 a day. So, lots of people in India and other South Asian countries are using their mobile phones to access the internet at a cheaper price than monthly internet subscriptions.
A survey shows that Asian countries value the impact of mobile phones in helping them stay in touch with friends and family. People in the survey suggested that owning a mobile phone improved their social relations. Nepali consumers who own mobile phones are all too familiar with the missed calls that they always get from their friends and family. You get only one or two rings from someone you know, and the call cuts off without giving you an opportunity to answer it. These so-called missed calls are a way of reminding someone that you’re thinking of them without actually talking to them. In addition to such supposedly missed calls, the mobile phone is very handy for staying in touch with people, if you wish to, via actual calls.
The people in the same survey also suggested that owning a mobile phone helped to improve their chances and abilities to act in an emergency. These results also hold true for Nepal. We know very well that the emergency response services in Nepal are sub-par at best when compared to other nations. A call for an ambulance could leave you waiting for a couple of hours until the ambulance arrives. Sometimes, it doesn’t arrive at all. So people have determined that owning a mobile phone increases their ability to act in an emergency by giving them a tool to be in contact with their friends and relatives and ask for help during emergencies.
A cross-country study of 119 nations worldwide suggests that literacy rate, median age and poverty rate are significant factors that influence the growth of the mobile phone industry. An increase in the literacy rate results in a positive increase in mobile phone sales. As people become more educated (more literate), they are more likely to embrace technologies like the mobile phone. An increase in the poverty rate has a negative impact on mobile phone sales because when you’re poor, you have other things to spend your hard-earned money on than a mobile phone.
Median age has a positive impact. Nepal has a high concentration of young people in its demography, with the current median age of a Nepali being 21 years old. Young Nepalis may be attracted to mobile phones because they’re nice toys. It could also be that they tend to engage in more social activities. In either case, young Nepalis tend to increase mobile phone sales.
Studies and data show that the interaction of a poor country with poor infrastructure has increased sales. Thus the mobile phone industry owes a huge favor to the poor infrastructure of NTC and the Nepal government. However, mobile phone operators have been selling more mobile phone subscriptions than their current infrastructure can handle. If the current infrastructure and the subscription system are not improved immediately, the frequent “no signal” messages and dropped calls will frustrate customers and they will leave. The mobile phone industry would do better to learn a lesson from the landline industry.
This opinion piece was published in The Kathmandu Post daily on 7August 2010.
Mobile phones were introduced late into Nepal because of problems like government bureaucracy as well as lack of proper public and private investment in the necessary infrastructure. Once it was introduced, the mobile phone changed the landscape of communication in Nepal. It has become as much a nuisance as a boon, with some schools and campuses planning to ban them inside their compounds.
The waiting list kept increasing from 1990 until 2002. After 2002, consumers got tired of waiting for landline phones, and switched to mobile phones even though the mobile industry in Nepal at that time was not very strong. This switch by some consumers halted the increase in the waiting list for landline phones. As a result, the number of people waiting to get landline phones has remained steady since 2003.
The main reason for NTC’s inability to satisfy the needs of landline phone consumers is that the infrastructure for landline phone is expensive, time consuming to build and cannot be constructed everywhere. On the contrary, the infrastructure for mobile phones is cheaper to build and can be built anywhere across the country. Mobile phones don’t need cable links like landline phones. Towers are relatively cheaper to build, and only a few towers are needed to service a decent sized town or village.
Researchers who have studied the mobile phone industry growth in Africa discovered that it can be a development tool through the dissemination of information. Dissemination of information regarding weather, market prices and spread of diseases helps Africans decide the necessary course of action. Should they go on a cross-country trip when weather forecasts tell them it is going to rain for the next three days? Should they sell their crop at US$ 4 a bushel in their town if sellers in the next town are selling it for US$ 6? What should their course of action be when a cholera epidemic is spreading into their town from the neighbouring towns? The usage and functions of a mobile phone assist the Africans in informing them and helping them to make the correct decisions.
What about Asia? What about South Asia? A study has shown that around 38 million Indians access the internet from their mobile phones. Computers and fixed internet access in home computers are still expensive and out of reach for most people in South Asia, where more than half the population makes less than US$ 2 a day. So, lots of people in India and other South Asian countries are using their mobile phones to access the internet at a cheaper price than monthly internet subscriptions.
A survey shows that Asian countries value the impact of mobile phones in helping them stay in touch with friends and family. People in the survey suggested that owning a mobile phone improved their social relations. Nepali consumers who own mobile phones are all too familiar with the missed calls that they always get from their friends and family. You get only one or two rings from someone you know, and the call cuts off without giving you an opportunity to answer it. These so-called missed calls are a way of reminding someone that you’re thinking of them without actually talking to them. In addition to such supposedly missed calls, the mobile phone is very handy for staying in touch with people, if you wish to, via actual calls.
The people in the same survey also suggested that owning a mobile phone helped to improve their chances and abilities to act in an emergency. These results also hold true for Nepal. We know very well that the emergency response services in Nepal are sub-par at best when compared to other nations. A call for an ambulance could leave you waiting for a couple of hours until the ambulance arrives. Sometimes, it doesn’t arrive at all. So people have determined that owning a mobile phone increases their ability to act in an emergency by giving them a tool to be in contact with their friends and relatives and ask for help during emergencies.
A cross-country study of 119 nations worldwide suggests that literacy rate, median age and poverty rate are significant factors that influence the growth of the mobile phone industry. An increase in the literacy rate results in a positive increase in mobile phone sales. As people become more educated (more literate), they are more likely to embrace technologies like the mobile phone. An increase in the poverty rate has a negative impact on mobile phone sales because when you’re poor, you have other things to spend your hard-earned money on than a mobile phone.
Median age has a positive impact. Nepal has a high concentration of young people in its demography, with the current median age of a Nepali being 21 years old. Young Nepalis may be attracted to mobile phones because they’re nice toys. It could also be that they tend to engage in more social activities. In either case, young Nepalis tend to increase mobile phone sales.
Studies and data show that the interaction of a poor country with poor infrastructure has increased sales. Thus the mobile phone industry owes a huge favor to the poor infrastructure of NTC and the Nepal government. However, mobile phone operators have been selling more mobile phone subscriptions than their current infrastructure can handle. If the current infrastructure and the subscription system are not improved immediately, the frequent “no signal” messages and dropped calls will frustrate customers and they will leave. The mobile phone industry would do better to learn a lesson from the landline industry.
This opinion piece was published in The Kathmandu Post daily on 7August 2010.
Labels: cell phones, mobile phones, nepal, NTC
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