Deepak Prakash Baskota

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Personality

 

 

 

By Bivek Dhakal


deepakbaskota

The Guardian of Nepali Cooperatives

Deepak Prakash Baskota, is an epitome for the people who think that grey hairs become barrier for chasing success. In a journey from a politician to entrepreneur he came across numerous challenges but they never deterred his enthusiasm and determination to realize his dreams.

Visit cc’s home at Manbhawan, Lalitpur, and you are surely to receive a hearty welcome with warm cups of ‘special’ tea grown in his own Kanchanjunga Tea Estate. A well-known name in Nepal’s cooperatives sector, Baskota is buoyed up by the saying “Water the root, enjoy the fruit”. Recuperating from an accident he met with during a recent visit to London, Baskota feels life has given him another chance to serve the nation. A former State Minister for Home Affairs, Baskota, now 68, is no more into active politics. But he is actively involved in the management of various institutions such as Kanchanjangha Tea Estate and Research Center (the first Certified Organic Garden), Panchthar Multiple Campus, Naya Namuna Secondary School, Phidim, and Nepal Organic Foundation. “The work I have been doing for society is my way of doing politics,” he says.

Baskota’s inexhaustible zeal for creativity and active life does not let him feel ‘old’ though he is already in his late sixties. “Age should not have its face lifted, but it should rather teach the world to admire wrinkles as the etchings of experience and the firm line of character,” he shares cheerfully. He takes satisfaction in the fact that he is the founding chairman of National Cooperative Development Board (NCDB), National Cooperative Federation (NCF), and also the president of Himalayan Orthodox Tea Producers’ Association, and the Tea Development Alliance.

Baskota was brought up by his mother at his birthplace, a remote village in Panchthar district. He learnt to read and write through non-formal education in the village itself. “I was only 12 when my mother passed away. It was my brother who guided me and boosted my morale to tread the rocky roads lying ahead in my life,” Baskota reminisces.

Baskota spent his early young days rambling in the wilderness under the serene sky of his village. It was a time of complete freedom for him. Later, as time passed, something inside him urged him to get formal education. He then enrolled at Phidim High School in the district.

“Passing the SLC exam, also known as the Iron Gate, was a challenge. But I did it with ease,” he goes down memory lane. Hale and hearty Baskota takes a balanced diet, desists from eating meat items and meditates every day. He believes that it’s his positive attitude and ardent love for the motherland that make him feel he has miles to go in life. Baskota finds the slow growth of agriculture, purportedly the backbone of Nepal’s economy, distressing. He observes that most of the co-operatives in Nepal are related to agriculture and are thus the best friends of farmers. “It will take a long time to establish the cooperative sector as the real backbone of our economy, if the right action plans are not formulated immediately,” says Baskota.

Baskota joined politics at an early age. Back then in his village, Baskota was doing both teaching and learning simultaneously. Along with venturing into the spheres of politics and business, it was the love for his roots — the birth place - that motivated him to build a school there. At 21, he was included in the voters’ list and was also elected the Village Panchyat Chief. Baskota remembers an important event in life, which has left a deep impact somewhere on his mind. “While pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree, I got rusticated for three years because of my political beliefs. As a result, I had to discontinue my studies,” he flips back an important page of his life. His political path was shaped after he joined the Nepal Student Union (NSU), the student wing of the Nepali Congress. The topsy-turvy ride of his life took an unprecedented turn when he dedicated himself to the Cooperative Movement in the country.

“For me, politics is to make good policies and to work for the welfare of society,” he says. It was in 1996 that he got the post of State Minster for Home Affairs. According to Baskota, it was the seminal role he had played in the drafting of the Cooperatives Act and the acknowledgement of the same by the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala that landed him the important government position. Late Koirala always encouraged and motivated him to continue his good work, Baskota still remembers.

According to Baskota, the same act governs the cooperative sector even today. “I don’t call the present chaotic political situation a practice of true and good politics,” he admits with a deep disappointment. Baskota’s creativity in work, led him to develop Kanchanjunga Tea Estate (KTE) in 1982. He is proud to claim that the flourishing tea business in the east today was his initiative. Since its establishment, KTE has given jobs to more than 500 local farmer families. Baskota has dedicated 17 long years of his life to the National Cooperative Society (NCS) formed in 1993. He is still actively working as a Past President of NCS. He also founded Nepal Maharshi Vedic Foundation, recently.

Baskota believes that a person’s age is no barrier to work as long as s/he is healthy – mentally as well as physically. Updated with the latest management strategies, he borrows Mahesh Yogi’s words, “For an effective result, we should monitor for four hours and work for two.” He believes that one should be clear about his vision to reach the desired goal. According to Baskota, to start a new business, a manager should be loyal to his duties and employees need to abide by the rules and accomplish given responsibilities on time. “If both the manager and the employee work in equilibrium a good management is definitely possible”, Baskota shares.

Given the nation’s recent chaotic situation, he thinks, every citizen should have peace of mind first. Baskota says that, it is the stereotypical teaching methodology in our schools that makes the curriculum and learning experience boring. His recent trip to London made him realize that, all the learnt knowledge will bear no fruit without a practical education. “On the one hand, we lack enough skilled human resource, and on the other, our talented youth are brain drained,” he complains. Baskota believes that practical education should be given to all citizens. For him resolution is a must to accomplish every duty.

As a very sane piece of advice for the youths, Baskota says; “It’s the youth who carry the thoughts, vision and leadership needed for change. They should hence set their aims in lives at an early age and prepare for every rocky road ahead”. The new generation can learn the importance of patriotism and simplicity from him. Patriot at heart, Baskota wishes to see the nation prosper; and maintains that it is achievable through the development of agriculture sector. “A number of young Nepali talents are abroad at present. If we can bring them back to the country and persuade them to contribute in the field, it will be more fruitful for our economy,” Baskota believes. He also urges the youngsters to start meditating while still young.

“I use the lessons from my experience and strongly believe that hard work and sacrifice is a must to climb up every rung of success,” Baskota says. Keeping intact with the zeal while still aging, he hates to waste time idle and instead likes to go through books and to meditate. He says his work, which includes occasional field visits to his various offices, keeps him busy. He loves travelling and has already been to many parts of the country. People close to him call him the ‘Father of Nepal Cooperative Movement’ and it gives him a warm satisfaction.

 

PERSONAL SIDE

 

Philosophy: Let’s not harm others and perform our duties with loyalty.

Music: A good listener and prefers patriotic songs.

Sports: Not so keen about sports, but keeps himself updated in the sector.

Travelling: An ardent traveler. If in sound health, he only stays home for two/three days and travels the other days

Foods: He prefers vegetarian food.

Pet: Has kept a dog at his home on the request of his children.

Brands: Prefers local brands.

Socialization: Attends most of the functions he is invited to.

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