NC leader Thapa calls for broad-based economic growth, Pledges to free economy from party control

KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa has pledged to liberate Nepal’s economy from party influence, pressure, and institutional capture, calling for a fundamental shift toward a policy framework that delivers broad-based and sustainable economic growth.

Presenting a contemporary proposal during the closed session of the party’s Statute Convention on Monday, Thapa said Nepal must now abandon narrow and fragmented economic approaches and adopt a wider growth strategy focused on productivity, innovation, and good governance.

He stressed that all sectors of the economy must be freed from partisan control to unlock new opportunities and build a productive economic base. “Sustainable economic development is impossible without good governance,” Thapa said, asserting that the Nepali Congress has both the historical experience and political capacity to lead a new phase of economic transformation.

Referring to past policy reforms and growth momentum achieved under Congress-led governments, Thapa said the party must regain confidence in its ability to deliver economic change. He outlined a vision centered on creating new economic opportunities, developing a productive economy, ensuring equitable distribution, and breaking the cycle of poverty and deprivation to restore dignity for ordinary citizens.

Thapa said the party would rethink existing economic and development policies and move toward a long-term, sustainable model of broad-based growth. He also emphasized the need to more effectively implement policies for environment-friendly large-scale physical infrastructure development.

According to Thapa, the Nepali Congress will prepare clear policy frameworks and action plans in key sectors including education, health, employment, agriculture, and tourism, with the goal of setting the country on a defined path toward prosperity.

At the same time, Thapa acknowledged the party’s shortcomings in addressing Nepal’s deep-rooted economic challenges. He admitted that the Nepali Congress had failed to play an adequate role in solving long-term economic problems, including attracting private investment and generating sufficient domestic employment.

He said weaknesses in policy execution and political instability had discouraged industrialization, entrepreneurship, and job creation, forcing a large number of young Nepalis to seek employment abroad. Thapa conceded that the party shares responsibility for this outcome.

“Political economy teaches us that economic transformation is possible only through political stability and policy continuity,” he said. “But due to chronic instability, Nepal has failed to achieve meaningful progress in structural reforms, private-sector confidence, industrialization, employment creation, and entrepreneurship.”

Thapa also delivered a strong self-critique of excessive politicization in state institutions, saying successive governments prioritized partisan control over strengthening public institutions. He said transparency and merit were repeatedly undermined in political appointments, eroding institutional capacity and public trust.

He linked public frustration and the rise of what he described as the Gen Z revolt to the continuation of repeatedly failed leadership, institutional decay, poor governance, and corruption. Thapa said the youth-led discontent should be understood as a broader public demand for economic development, accountability, and systemic change.

He acknowledged that governance failures by ruling parties, including the Nepali Congress, had created the conditions for such public anger. Thapa said the party must accept that, while in power, it failed to properly balance party ideology, government programs, national priorities, and public aspirations, resulting in a breakdown of trust between citizens and political leadership.

The proposal places renewed pressure on the Nepali Congress leadership to translate internal commitments into concrete policy reforms as Nepal continues to grapple with weak growth, high youth outmigration, and declining public confidence in political institutions.