"Will you get your expenses today?" I asked Anil, a government engineer who I'm working with.
A rye laugh and a non-committal shake of the head indicated an angry no. My heart sank as another day's work was lost in unreasonable bureaucratic assault course of per diem recovery.
Anil, Bishal, Nupu and Shyam have been contracted (paid for the the UNDP) to help develop designs for our programme of earthquake resistant school retrofits. They had just come back from two weeks in the mountains of Taplejung District assessing school buildings and understandably didn't want to have to battle the powers that be.
This is a big opportunity to show their worth and break in to the employment ladder. They need some technical support but are young and keen.
I asked if they would be willing to stay on through January and February until the project was up and running. A non-committal wobble of the head indicated enthusiastic agreement.
"But we want to go for government service exams" said the Bishal the unofficial spokesperson. "we have requested January off to study."
My heart sank another notch in my chest. But it was understandable, the government offers safe continuous employment, a nest in the branches of power. And being from Kathmandu, they spoke the right language, were from the right castes and had the right connections to make it there.
But even for qualified engineers, the choices are few. The competition runs into the hundreds for every job that comes up, let alone the plum jobs at International NGOs with their reliable benefits decent salary and skilled workforce.
Which is part of the problem. Donated money can't yet be trusted to go through the government system, so it's bypassed - sucking skills with it.
It's a difficult balance with lots of history, NGOs (staffed almost entirely by Nepalis) fill gaps for peoples lives that would never otherwise get filled and create demand for better government. But the very existence of NGOs weakens the civil service, leaving provincial offices unable to organise even the payment of expenses.
I suppose at least this time, that particular trend doesn't look like it'll be reinforced.
A rye laugh and a non-committal shake of the head indicated an angry no. My heart sank as another day's work was lost in unreasonable bureaucratic assault course of per diem recovery.
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| Nupu, Bishal, Shyam and Anil on the way to Taplejung |
This is a big opportunity to show their worth and break in to the employment ladder. They need some technical support but are young and keen.
I asked if they would be willing to stay on through January and February until the project was up and running. A non-committal wobble of the head indicated enthusiastic agreement.
"But we want to go for government service exams" said the Bishal the unofficial spokesperson. "we have requested January off to study."
My heart sank another notch in my chest. But it was understandable, the government offers safe continuous employment, a nest in the branches of power. And being from Kathmandu, they spoke the right language, were from the right castes and had the right connections to make it there.
But even for qualified engineers, the choices are few. The competition runs into the hundreds for every job that comes up, let alone the plum jobs at International NGOs with their reliable benefits decent salary and skilled workforce.
Which is part of the problem. Donated money can't yet be trusted to go through the government system, so it's bypassed - sucking skills with it.
It's a difficult balance with lots of history, NGOs (staffed almost entirely by Nepalis) fill gaps for peoples lives that would never otherwise get filled and create demand for better government. But the very existence of NGOs weakens the civil service, leaving provincial offices unable to organise even the payment of expenses.
I suppose at least this time, that particular trend doesn't look like it'll be reinforced.
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