Babu Ram Acharya
Board of Director
Zest Ideology Saving & Credit Co-operative Ltd.
Babu Ram Acharya, son of father Hemraj Acharya and mother Narmada Acharya was born in Arga-3, Adheri of Argakanchi district. His parents shifted from Argakhachi to Kapilbastu when he was a child. He is currently living in Ekatabasti, Kirtipur, Kathmandu. Mr. Acharya has been holding the responsibility as board of director at Zest Ideology Saving and Credit Cooperative Ltd. He is also involved in various social organizations. Apart from this, he is a Central Committee Member of NAGARIK SAMUHA NEPAL, Central Committee Member of CHILDREN HUMAN RIGHTS NEPAL, Secretary of YOUTH AGRO FORUM, Vice President (2019-2020) of ROTARY CLUB OF MATRIBHUMI BALUWATAR KATHMANDU, Company Director of KAVRE KIRSHI BAZAR MULTIPURPOSE PVT.LTD, Company Director of ZEST SCHOOL BASUNDHARA KTM, Company Secretary of SAGARMATHA GAGRIT INVESTMENT PVT.LTD.
He belongs to an educated family. His father, Hemraj Acharya, was a popular person in education who had spread the light of education in his village and its adjacent areas. This phenomenon fired Babu Ram’s enthusiasm further, and he eventually ventured into the academic field and social service.
Academic Background
Babu Ram Acharya started his early education from Janajagriti Primary School, Argha-3, Arghakanchi. Following his fourth grade, he joined Argha Rajasthal Secondary School, Argha-2, Arghakhanchi which was being headed by his father. He was one of the good students of the school. After attaining his SLC examinations, he went to Kathmandu for higher studies with a dream and he was the first person to reach Kathmandu for higher studies from his home town. He was even the first person of his SLC batch to reach Kathmandu for the same. Subsequently, he joined Management Faculty at Patan Multiple Campus but couldn’t continue his study at this campus and later he was transferred to Mahendra Ratna Campus, Tahachal where he completed I.Ed. and B.Ed. in Economics. As he was passionate about attaining a higher level of degree, he successfully attained an MA in Sociology from the University Campus, Kirtipur and an M.Ed. in EPM from Tahachal Campus. More interestingly, he is still continuing his study to attain an LLB.
Job Career
He was from a bucolic area and had to struggle a lot in Kathmandu. After completing an I.Ed., he joined computer class and waiter training. When he joined Radisson Hotel as an intern, he was offered a job as waiter due to his good performance. Later, Mr. Acharya’s status was upgraded as Banquet In Charge as he continued showing phenomenal performance in the workplace. He completed his Bachelor Degree while working at various star hotels. Honesty, dedication, hard work, commitment, respect, faithfulness and responsible demeanor are his precious assets that helped him grab a higher position in hospitality industry. In the initial phase of his entry to hospitality industry, it was very arduous for hotels to get a skilled human resources required for the hospitality industry. In addition to his regular job, he had also run a restaurant in his ownership. Not only that, he got involved in the establishment of Zest Ideology as a training center with his like-minded friends. The training center started training courses for hotel trainings, public speaking, computer, dance, personality development, etc. In the course of time, the training center was developed as a cooperative to serve the community people for their economic growth.
Currently, Babu Ram Acharya is working at Zest Ideology Saving and Credit Cooperative Ltd. as board of director.
Experience in Zest Ideology Co-operative
Babu Ram Acharya is enthusiastic and hardworking in nature. He started his job as a waiter while he was pursuing Bachelor level. Subsequently, he was promoted as Banquet In Charge based on his best working style and honesty. He also ran a restaurant in his own initiation which shows that his experience in hospitality sector is appealing.
No sooner had he joined Master Degree than his family suggested him to pursue master’s degree course quitting the existing job. Then he quit the job and devoted to his study. He completed Master Degree in Education Planning and Management (EPM) which has become advantageous for handling management sector. He has also gained essential knowledge and practical skill in management sector.
By the time he completed his final degree, Zest Ideology had already been converted into a cooperative and it was functioning under the Cooperative Act. His necessity was demanded to handle the cooperative, especially for head office operation management. The cooperative has shown marvelous achievement and extended its activities very soon. According to the report presented at its 10th Annual General Meeting, it’s making transactions of near 1.5 billion of its capital which explicitly shows that his experience and expertise has resulted in successful management and profit gain by the cooperative. More than six thousand members have been benefited from this co-operative.
To run a cooperative successfully and smoothly, one should have ample knowledge and skill in particular sector and devotion to work. Similarly, a cooperative should be run according to the objective of the Cooperative Act. If a cooperative runs under the norms of Cooperative Act, it definitely gets a success. Mr Acharya says, “We have run the cooperative strictly following the norms of the Cooperative. So, we have been able to extend our branch to Maitidevi and recently a new branch in Pepsikola.”
Cooperative and Hospitality Industry: Management Strategy
As far as accomplishment is concerned, it is easy to handle hospitality industry. Generally, there are two aspects of hospitality industry/sector. One aspect is dealing with educated person as a professional and another is technical field. Mr. Acharya is trained for technical field and has worked as a middle level human resource. However, in cooperative sphere, he has the responsibility of both management (as a board of director) and employees (as a leader). So, he has to take the leadership of employees and provide them proper guidelines. Nevertheless, he meets a variety of people who have distinctive likes and dislikes, ranging from people who depend on a daily wage to rich and elite groups.
Challenges of Cooperatives
Mr Acharya believes in team spirit and has been working in a team. All the activities and transactions are strictly based on the norms of the Cooperative. All procedures are fully based on the policy and rule of the cooperative, but some of the cooperatives are not working according the Cooperative norms to earn cheap popularity and swift commercial boost. So, his experience shows that such undisciplined cooperatives themselves are the challenges of cooperatives since they are creating an unhealthy competition. For the sustainability of cooperatives, they should run in a systematic way.
His initiation to Social Service:
Mr. Babu Ram Acharya has equally given importance to social service. For an instance, Nagarik Samuha has started campaign against corruption simultaneously with another campaign, ‘Let’s build the Wall at Open Border’. Furthermore, Youth Agriculture Forum has initiated to use modern technology on agriculture by uniting active youths of all over the country who are involved in agriculture field. The forum has also started to export Nepalese Agricultural products to foreign countries.
Prospects of Cooperatives, Agriculture and Tourism in Nepal
In the context of Nepal, agriculture and tourism have high prospects. Therefore, the government should create such an environment that strengthens the sustainability of both peasants and tourism industry. For this, the government should facilitate youths with proper job opportunities so that they feel secure and financially sustainable in their native land. In addition, the government should provide essential training and facilities to youths who want to involve in these sectors: tourism and agriculture. Similarly, hotel management and hospitality sector is witnessing exciting opportunities in the present context.
