Articles & Publications

The government must lay to rest speculations that surround the introduction of the National Integrity Policy to limit INGOs.

Kathmandu is abuzz with discussions on the National Integrity Policy proposed by the government. Like any other government policy inherited through the autocratic monarchy, the documents have been kept secret and no provisions have been provided for public discourse. The Nepali government suffers from a ‘credibility drought’, a term translated directly from Nepali that means people do not trust the intentions of the government. Speculation is rife on whether this move is influenced by the control apparatus of Pakistan, where the army is involved in the control and banning of civil society organisations. Read more

On a whirlwind road trip across many cities in Western Nepal, one can find a lot of similarities with the Capital. Although construction is booming, the roads are dug up without a timeframe for when it will be re-laid, and houses are built in an unplanned manner. It’s as if the road conditions are accepted as long as there is enough space for motorcycles to pass through, never mind ambulances or fire engines. Ugly hoarding boards jostle with each other; and, if there is anything that unites Nepal visually, it is the presence of massive boards advertising Alcoholic beverages everywhere. Read more

Last week, a consultant on a mission came to see me. This was the first time I met him. He told me he was back in Nepal for the first time since his last visit more than ten years ago. He had a big question to ask—does anything change in Nepal? He shared with me how, during his last visit, he worked as a note-taker for a person in a more senior position, but now he is the key man. Yet in Nepal, he went on to say, those people he met who held leading positions the last time he was here held the same positions this time around too. Read more

It is very interesting to watch campaigns for the upcoming elections. While driving through town on Saturday, I had to give way to a bunch of motorcycles with party flags. They had turned their headlights to high beam despite the fact that it was mid-day and were honking continuously as they whizzed past. They disrupted traffic and it seemed as though they were heading out for a ‘gang-fight’ instead of campaigning for their candidate. Read more

On a recent Qatar Airways flight from Washington Dulles to Doha, after completing the safety briefing, the Senior Cabin Attendant came over to speak to me and welcomed me on board. She was Nepali. We had a brief conversation and she told me she had been working with the airline for ten years. This was not the first time I had met a fellow Nepali in a similar position. And the reoccurrence of such events has set me to wondering why it is that we Nepalis perform so well in other countries, but not in our own. Read more

Nepal will slowly inch back to normal by the end of the week, after a month full of festivities. In an agrarian society, a month’s break and the accompanying celebrations after hard physical labour is perfect. But we need to start thinking about whether we can afford to take a month long break with the globalised economy in mind. The fact that people are fine with activities slowing down for a month shows how the economy is insular, reliant on domestic consumption, and has little to do with export or the outside world. Read more