The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Nepal Compact Programmes is currently mired in a raging debate whether the compact should be endorsed by the parliament. Top political brass is divided over the endorsement of the American grant. Due to this divide, clouds of uncertainty have hung over the future of the ruling alliance. The Nepali Congress, a major partner of the alliance, is gunning for the approval of the US $ 500 million grant from the parliament while other key components of the coalition, the CPN-Maoist Centre and CPN- Unified Socialist, and Rastriya Janamorcha have expressed their reservations over the grant. They have called for amending some of the points of the MCC before passing the agreement from parliament.

However, the current government is under pressure from the US agency to endorse the grant soon or the US government would scrap the compact and take it elsewhere. Nepal should take solace from the fact that the US agency while providing the grant to it, had announced that Nepal has complied with all requirements of a democratic nation having vibrant human rights records. In the meantime, one should not forget that there is a kind of real-politicking going on the part of the main opposition - the CPN-UML. It has asked the ruling Nepali Congress that it would help it pass the grant from the House if the latter sacked the incumbent Speaker. When he was at the helm of the government, he had attempted to get the grant agreement endorsed by the House. He could not do so after the internal strife in the then Nepal Communist Party and later in his own CPN-UML deepened.

The UML has exhibited its double standard after the party chair told the government that his party had not yet made a clear stance over the American grant. He has recently told the Prime Minister that his party would extend support in passing the grant if the PM broke his party's alliance with other parties. It appears that the fate of the American grant to Nepal has hanged in the balance only because of the dubious stand of leaders. Otherwise, the business community and stakeholders believe that the US grant should be endorsed at the earliest. They believe that in case Nepal fails to accept the grant, it will send a negative message. It would certainly anger and frustrate the donor party and other donor countries from the West. Nepal may suffer in the future because it is likely that the Western nations may stop providing grants or cut back the number of donations and grants.

Many who believe that Nepal cannot generate enough resources on its own for building key infrastructure in power generation, supply and road networks must accept the grant wholeheartedly. For the US aid will assist in boosting the development of the key infrastructure sector of the country. Nepal has frequently looked for foreign aid and grants whenever it needs to build infrastructure in power, road, airports and other sectors. As such, the American assistance will do wonders for a resource-strapped Nepal if the nation can utilise the aid judiciously for promoting the MCC grant's targeted sectors- the power supply and road networks. Our leaders and stakeholders must pay attention to this truth as the government cannot ignore the grants offered by our friendly nation.