<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637209209c7e80680e0b5524jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1079" height="1119"/><figcaption>Sundar Yatayat electric bus</figcaption></figure>There has been a spurt in imports of electric vehicles in the past six months since the government restored tax rebates, but there has not been a similar increase in the much more important battery-operated public transport sectorNepal imported 1,113 electric cars, jeeps and vans between last July and December, 2021 – nearly five times more than the same period last fiscal year when 249 such 4-wheelers were imported.“Imports of electric vehicles increased as a direct result of the government’s revenue policy to discourage fossil fuel cars,” says Nawaraj Poudel of the Nepal Energy Vehicle Association (NEVA). However, there is a 50% cash margin threshold for diesel and petrol cars, but there is no such limit for electric vehicles, which has kept the prices of battery cars high.Still, since the excise and customs duties on electric vehicles were reduced, they were competitive compared to petroleum-based vehicles which have much higher taxes.From last July to December 2021, Rs3.24 billion worth of electric four-wheelers were imported, up from only Rs105.1 million during the same period last fiscal year.However, besides the high dealer margins on electric cars making them expensive, there is also a  shortage of battery vehicles because of global supply chain disruptions. This means many customers are on six month waiting lists to buy their electric vehicles.“It is not possible to buy electric vehicles off the shelf right now,” says Dhruva Bahadur Thapa of NADA (Nepal Automobile Dealers Association) "The shortage of chips has slowed vehicle production. And this has also affected India and Nepal.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-electric-transport-future-is-here/">Nepal's electric future is here</a>, Sonia AwaleAlthough consumers of private vehicles have been able to reap the benefits of the government's changes in tax policy, the same has not been true for public transport.Sundar Yatayat ordered 20 Chinese electric buses, but they have been stuck at the Birganj customs checkpoint for the last three weeks because of a dispute over how much they should be taxed.“The government has fixed only 1% customs on public electric vehicles, but they said we have to pay 13% VAT and 5% tax, so we are negotiating,” says Bhesh Bahadur Thapa of Sundar Yatayat. “Apart from the taxes, the number plate charge and other fees drive up the cost of electric buses which are already more expensive than diesel buses.”A diesel bus of the same size costs up to Rs4.5 million but the tax for an electric bus alone is as much, putting the price tag of Sundar’s Chinese buses at nearly Rs20 million each.“If the government scraps the road tax for electric buses, the cost will come down by Rs1.3 million,” says Thapa. “We will sell the buses to India if the government does not review its policy.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-electric-shock-to-nepals-energy-future/">An electric shock to Nepal's energy future</a>, Ramesh KumarNepal levies high taxes on petroleum vehicles but has been providing special rebates for the import of electric vehicles. Before fiscal year 2020/2021, electric vehicles had an excise duty of 10% and customs duty was completely waived.But the then Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada, increased the excise duty 80% from zero according to the capacity of the vehicles in the budget of 2020/2021.He also increased the customs duty from 10% to 40%. This brought the import of electric vehicles to almost zero. Khatiwada had argued that such a tax policy was introduced to increase revenue and curb the drain on foreign exchange in importing luxury electric SUVs.His tax policy was widely criticised as being contrary to the policy of the government, which was to shift towards renewable. However, Khatiwada stuck to his guns.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637209239c7e80680e0b5525jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It was Khatiwada’s successor Bishnu Poudel who once more slashed the excise duty on electric vehicles and reduced the customs duty by one-fourth. However, electric vehicles would still have to pay customs duty, depending on their battery capacity.Electric vehicles up to 100kW have to pay 10% customs duty, 15% customs duty has been levied on electric vehicles of 100 to 200 kilowatts and 40% on electric vehicles of 200 to 300 kilowatts.The main reason electric buses have not been able to compete with their petroleum counterparts is that there is hardly any difference in the taxes they pay. Although the excise duty, customs and other charges on petroleum private vehicles is more than 240%, private electric vehicles pay ten times less. This has encouraged consumers to buy private electric vehicles.But in the case of public transport, even petroleum buses enjoy special tax breaks. Moreover, the showroom price of electric buses is upward of Rs10 million. Although it may look like all electric vehicles enjoy similar concessions, there is no real rebate for electric buses.“Even when consuming electricity at night, they have to pay extra in the name of demand charge. No matter whom we talk to in the government regarding change in policies favoring electric buses, nothing happens,” rues Sundar Yayat’s Thapa.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-nepal-needs-to-restore-ev-tax-subsidy/">Why Nepal needs to restore EV tax subsidy</a>, Raunab Singh KhatriEnvironmentalist Bhusan Tuladhar, who is also with Sajha Yatayat, says the government's current policy on electric vehicles is positive but inadequate: “Private petroleum cars will be gradually replaced by electric vehicles. But it is more important to replace diesel-powered buses with electric ones. That should be our priority.”He argues that private investors will not invest more on electric buses if the current customs and other policies are not revised. "If we really want to promote electric public transport, we need to provide additional tax rebates and other facilities. Other countries, including India, have offered similar concessions,” he says. “Electric public transport will have a direct impact on public health by reducing vehicular emission and air pollution.”Bishwas Gauchan of Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) says that the existing policy of providing tax exemption on electric vehicles is itself lopsided. "Tax exemption should be for public vehicles, not private ones,” he says.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637209269c7e80680e0b5526jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1061">Since big buses, taxis and two-wheelers are responsible for more of the carbon emissions as they travel more distances, they should be prioritised in government policies. “There is no need to rush tax exemptions for private electric vehicles to the detriment of the economy," says Gauchan.Tuladhar also agrees that two-wheelers which make up about 80% of vehicles in the country and a major emitter of poisonous carbon monoxide, should be prioritised. He argues that taxes and other benefits should be provided to electric two-wheelers to reduce pollution and carbon emission.According to the Economic Survey 2021, two-wheelers account for 79.3% of the 3.987 million vehicles registered by February 2021.The Delhi state government in India has introduced a policy that when delivery companies buy new vehicles, a certain percentage of them should be electric. "Even in Nepal, policies targeting electric two-wheelers need to be put forward. Additional concessions are needed to promote electric two wheelers," says Tuladhar.NEVA’s Nawaraj Poudel argues that due to the high prices, complex geographical location of Nepal and lack of charging stations, electric two-wheelers have not been able to compete with petroleum ones.Although imports of electric motorcycles and scooters have tripled since last year, this is far less than the number of petroleum two-wheelers. Around 300,000 new two-wheelers are added to the roads of Nepal every year.More than a dozen brands of electric two-wheelers are currently sold in Nepal. Sanjeev Shilpakar, director of E-Motors at Yoma which sells TailG two-wheelers, says that the new Rs10,000 road development fee has discouraged consumers."In addition to the road development fee, consumers still need to pay 40% tax under various names," he says.Another reason that electric two-wheelers have failed to gain traction in the market may also be attributed to their higher cost. The price of electric two-wheelers in Nepal is much higher than the international market since the dealers keep a higher margin.Shilpakar refutes this, saying that the transportation cost itself is higher and the bikes have to be modified to fit Nepal’s terrain. He adds, "Although the cost price of electric two-wheelers is higher than petroleum ones, the operating cost is definitely lower."Import of electric vehicles in the last five years:Fiscal year                          Electric four wheelers    Electric two wheelers2021/22 (6months)          1,103                                    1,9222020/2021                         249                                      2,3332019/2020                         575                                      3902018/2019                         4,745                                    2,0472017/2018                         5,239                                    1,004Source: Revenue DepartmentRead more:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-backs-evs-to-boost-hydro-electricity-uptake/">Nepal backs EVs to boost hydro-electrivity uptake</a>,  Nepali Times

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Nepal goes electric, but conditions apply

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636bac079c7e80680e077f0ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Prime Minister K P Oli inaugurating the first electric bus service in 2018 after announcing 20% of vehicles in Nepal would be battery-powered by 2020. The government did not allow those electric buses to go into service, and has now reversed its tax policy favouring battery-operated vehicles. Photo: Bikram Rai</figcaption></figure>Developing countries are usually late-comers in adapting to advanced technologies, but new innovations like battery-powered cars give countries like Nepal the chance to leapfrog to clean and green energy.Nepal has been kept back by poor and limited education, low levels of industrialisation and bad governance. However, this actually puts the country in a position to catch up through the adoption of new technologies.Especially when it comes to energy and the environment, Nepal does not need to reinvent the wheel. It just has to build on past policies that have worked – like the community forestry program, manage hydropower to generate surplus electricity, and restore tax subsidies for electric vehicles.When Sajha Yatayat introduced <a href="https://en.setopati.com/market/132700">five new BYD electric buses </a>in 2018, there was great optimism that Nepal was on the right path. Prime Minister K P Oli himself inaugurated those buses by riding them into Singha Darbar, and announced that 20% of vehicles in country would be electric in two years time. Well, it is now 2020 and instead of promoting EVs, this year’s budget has withdrawn the tax breaks for battery-powered cars.Nepal needs to foster a new climate for investment in green technologies with a paradigm shift in reducing the technology gap. One such paradigm shift had been the tax concessions on electric vehicles, but Finance Minister Yuvaraj Khatiwada’s budget raised <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-takes-3-steps-back-on-e-cars/">excise tax by 40% with another 60% of custom duty</a> and put a question mark on the government’s commitments to its own sustainability goals.There are two compelling reasons to support EV growth: controlling air pollution and cutting petroleum imports. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-pollution-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking/">An estimated 35,000 people die annually</a> from pollution emitted by fuel-driven vehicles. Nearly <a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/country/npl">15% of Nepal’s total imports</a> is for petroleum making it Nepal’s number one item of import.According to <a href="https://gggi.org/site/assets/uploads/2020/02/GGGI_Nepal_Investment-Projects-for-Electric-Mobility_Final.pdf">Global Green Growth Institute</a>, proposed new 6.8GW of hydropower projects will give Nepal excess electricity supply in next few years. Electrifying the transportation sector will allow <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-chance-to-green-its-budget/">proper utilisation of domestic resources</a>, and enable  new innovative business strategies for energy sufficiency.To benefit from both aspects, the government needs proactive subsidies to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles. This not only helps in low-cost access to electric vehicles, but also create the environment to <a href="https://gggi.org/site/assets/uploads/2020/02/GGGI_Nepal_Investment-Projects-for-Electric-Mobility_Final.pdf">build an electric mobility ecosystem</a> for sustainable growth.China provides a good example. Its economic development formula starts with local experimentation of reform initiatives, which then can be replicated at the national level.Back in 1998, China’s first phase of EV development actually happened on a small scale across 12 major cities.For the next 10 years, the focus was given to battery production and setting up of necessary infrastructure which then got integrated into the national plan. Subsequently, after 2008, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321869464_Electric_mobility_and_the_quest_for_automobile_industry_upgrading_in_China">conventional fossil consuming motorcycles were banned</a> across 16 major cities, and government promoted preferential treatment and subsidies including purchase tax waiver, trade barrier removal and infrastructure subsidy that expanded pilot initiative from 12 to 88 major cities.Since then, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/can-chinas-electric-car-industry-weather-the-covid-19-storm/">450 new EV manufacturers</a> have been registered in China, including giant  oligopolies like BYD which have taken the global lead in electric vehicles. For the past three decades, EV sales have seen an increasing trend in China and they are projected to reach <a href="https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/11405-Can-China-electrify-all-new-passenger-cars-by-2-3-">price parity with petrol</a> and diesel by 2030.The <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/battery-pack-prices-fall-as-market-ramps-up-with-market-average-at-156-kwh-in-2019/">87% drop</a> in battery prices worldwide between 2010 to 2019 will also reduce the price of electric vehicles and make them more competitive vis-à-vis fossil cars.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636bac0a9c7e80680e077f0fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1086" height="672">For Nepal, this means electric vehicles will gradually replace petrol and diesel vehicles whether we like it or not. It is better to stay ahead of the curve and actively promote battery-powered cars now so that Nepal gets an early-bird advantage from reduced imports, improved air quality and better public health.As the Saudi Arabian Oil Minister <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2003/10/23/the-end-of-the-oil-age">Seikh Zaki Yamani once said: </a>‘The stone age did not end for the lack of stones, and the oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil.’ Despite the global importance of alternative energy, Finance Minister Khatiwada’s  argument that an increase in imports of electric vehicles would drain the economy does not hold much water. Being a one-time import, EVs replace up-front cost of petrol cars, but reduce the long-term running cost by cutting the use of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-a-fossil-past-to-an-electric-future/">imported fuel.</a>Similarly, the argument that only high-end vehicles were imported in large numbers fails to take into account that cheaper Indian and Chinese electric cars and e-scooters like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/electri-city-cars/">Niu and Terra Eco</a> had begun to replace petrol-powered scooters. Instead of raising taxes, Khatiwada should have should have been given incentives for <a href="https://english.khabarhub.com/2020/18/105016/#.Xurj2Xw2GrQ.twitter">entry-level or mid-range EVs</a> and electric buses which cater to local needs, reduce other costs and promotes sustainability.Germany subsidised solar power and China subsidised electric vehicles more because they made economic sense, than just because of their ecological benefits. Nepal should also embrace the benefits of electrifying the transportation sector for economic and health reasons, rather than try to convince Nepalis to reduce the country’s carbon footprint to save the planet.Raunab Singh Khatri is a graduate student in economics at the Yenching Academy of Peking University

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Why Nepal needs to restore EV tax subsidy

Who is accountable for teacher-student relationships?

Chronic winter drought and decades of unmanaged forest biomass have turned wildfires into a systemic risk for Nepal. We need to re-learn to convert fire fuel in forests into fertilizer for crops.&nbsp; On 11 January, a huge forest fire spread rapidly from China into the forests of Sindhupalchok, 40km northeast of Kathmandu. The newly-opened Tatopani border checkpoint was closed. Smoke from the fire spread across central Nepal, blocking the sun.&nbsp; The fire burnt itself out within a few days, but the border stayed closed for longer. Such wildfires were once rare in mid-winter, and traditionally peaked between March and May as temperatures rose ahead of pre-monsoon showers. What is unsettling is not just the early onset of the fires, but also their scale. This shift is not accidental, the pattern has been unfolding over years due to winter drought, weakening post-monsoon moisture, and the accumulation of dry forest biomass as Nepal’s forest area doubled in the past 30 years.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026022009024_5f4a84bb389f9b56f4fa47d4f694adcd464eb13b192d184af0f1eb20efdfeebf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026022009024_5f4a84bb389f9b56f4fa47d4f694adcd464eb13b192d184af0f1eb20efdfeebf" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1055" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfire season NT"> <figcaption>A NASA FIRMS image of Nepal with red dots signifying fires in February 2025.</figcaption> </figure>  Together, these factors have made forests tinder dry in spring, just waiting for a spark. Nepal has experienced winter drought in eight of the past ten years (this winter was an exception). Winter rain and snow at higher elevations play a decisive role in maintaining surface moisture, recharging shallow aquifers, and keeping forest floors damp enough to resist ignition. When winter rains fail, forests dry out months earlier than usual. Satellite-based assessments show a steep decline in surface moisture across the middle mountains of Nepal, particularly in areas with dense forest cover but limited undergrowth management. Springs that once flowed year-round are now seasonal.&nbsp; More than half of the springs in the mid-hills have either dried up or show significantly reduced discharge, a trend closely linked to declining soil moisture and disrupted recharge zones. Dry soil does not just threaten water security — it helps the vegetation ignite. FUEL WITHOUT FUNCTION For decades, Nepal’s forests have been accumulating dry leaf litter, fallen branches, shrubs, and deadwood. Historically, this biomass was not considered waste because rural households regularly collected leaf litter for livestock bedding, which was later composted and returned to farms as fertilizer.&nbsp; Forest floors were therefore relatively clean while the mulch fertilized farms. That relationship has steadily eroded due to outmigration, changes in livestock systems, restrictions on access to community forests, and the growing availability of chemical fertilisers.&nbsp; Community forests across the country today are thick with dry twigs, branches and leaves — a highly combustible carpet. When prolonged drought dries this biomass, even a small spark from a herder’s intentional fire, a cigarette, or lightning strike can trigger massive fires.&nbsp; Under such conditions, the question is no longer whether fires will occur, but how intense and widespread they will be. Forest fires are often framed as an environmental issue concerning trees and wildlife. In reality, their impact extends far beyond forest boundaries.&nbsp; Smoke travels faster and further than flames. Fine particulate matter, especially harmful PM2.5, spreads across countries. In recent fire seasons, air quality monitors in Kathmandu have recorded air quality levels several times higher than WHO guidelines. The smoke adds to Kathmandu’s own pollution and lingers for days.&nbsp; Flights are cancelled or delayed in cities like Pokhara, and poor visibility blocks mountain views affecting tourism. Health facilities report spikes in respiratory complaints, particularly among children and the elderly. Just as wildfires have multi-sectoral causes, the impact of forest fires go beyond forests. One critical dimension remains largely invisible: the soil. The fires cause silent damage beneath the ash, and the emergency does not end when the flames subside. Beneath the surface, soil suffers long-term damage. Organic matter burns away, beneficial microorganisms die. The soil structure weakens, reducing the land’s ability to absorb and retain water. The scorched earth is more prone to erosion, increasing the risk of floods and landslides once the rains return.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026022009028_cc54ff056b2cac8b789cfd4d11afef9eaf943368e47b99aabd57c7b63b776cf2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2026022009028_cc54ff056b2cac8b789cfd4d11afef9eaf943368e47b99aabd57c7b63b776cf2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1717" height="2143" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfire season NT"> <figcaption>Wildfire risk map based on the validated Random Forest model (a) Overall reclassified wildfire risk map of Nepal, (b) District level wildfire risk, and (c) Municipality wildfire risk map.</figcaption> </figure>  In many of Nepal’s agricultural areas, soil organic matter levels are already below 2% -- lower than what is needed for resilient and productive farming. Repeated fires push these levels even lower, undermining soil fertility and forcing farmers to rely more heavily on chemical fertilisers, unleashing a vicious cycle of higher costs and food insecurity.&nbsp; Climate breakdown is often cited as the primary culprit, and rightly so. Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall have intensified fire risk. But fires in Nepal are increasingly the result of human intervention.&nbsp; The response of all three levels of government remains too little, and too reactive. Each year, resources are mobilised to extinguish fires once they have already spread. Far less attention is paid to managing the fuel load within forest undergrowth that makes such fires inevitable.&nbsp; Meanwhile, forestry and agriculture policies are not coordinated, missing opportunities to address shared challenges. Forest fires are not natural disasters, but predictable outcomes of governance choices. National plans and climate pledges set an ambitious target of raising soil organic matter to 4%. The science behind this goal is solid. Higher organic matter improves water retention, stabilises yields, reduces fertiliser dependence, and enhances long-term food security. What remains unclear is the pathway.&nbsp; Where will the organic inputs come from? How will they be processed and applied safely at scale? Without practical answers, the 4% target risks remaining aspirational rather than achievable. Forest undergrowth can be turned into fuel and fertiliser. Biochar is produced by heating organic biomass in a low-oxygen environment, converting it into a stable form of carbon that can be added to soil.&nbsp; When properly produced and applied, it improves soil structure, enhances water and nutrient retention, supports microbial activity, and locks carbon into the ground for decades. In Nepal biochar addresses two interconnected problems: reducing the accumulation of combustible biomass in forests, lowering fire risk, while simultaneously rebuilding depleted soils. In doing so, it restores the broken link between forest management and agriculture.&nbsp; Done well, biochar is not merely an environmental intervention. It is an economic one, with potential to create local employment, reduce farmers’ input costs, and support climate-smart agriculture. But biochar propagation depends on improved governance. If promoted as isolated pilots or short-term projects, it will fail. What is needed is institutional clarity: standards for production and safety, quality control mechanisms, farmer extension services, and coordination across local, provincial, and federal levels.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026022009028_e6e2218f38fae5b1fe81d9f99078fe01f58d04b4b3b2c41447f017c3f838a1d4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2026022009028_e6e2218f38fae5b1fe81d9f99078fe01f58d04b4b3b2c41447f017c3f838a1d4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1536" height="2048" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfire season NT"> <figcaption>Freshly prepared biochar under control tempature (350-600°C).</figcaption> </figure>  Community forest user groups could manage biomass collection. Local governments then support safe, decentralised production units. Agricultural extension services guide farmers on application, linked to soil testing and monitoring. Such an approach would reduce fire risk, improve soil health, and generate rural livelihoods.&nbsp; Poorly produced biochar or contaminated feedstock can harm soils and human health. Without training, standards, and oversight, good intentions can backfire. Nepal needs to move beyond fire-fighting to fire prevention and confront the structural causes that make them a growing risk. It is not just a technical choice – it is one that demands political will from newly-elected leaders after March. &nbsp;&nbsp; Ngamindra Dahal is a hydrometeorologist with the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation specialising on climate and water management issues.&nbsp;

RED ALERT: Get ready for the wildfire season

Early on Monday morning, a bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu plunged off the highway in Dhading killing 19 passengers. Two weeks ago, another bus fell into the Tama Kosi in Manthali, killing 12. A few days before that a bus crash in Baitadi killed 13 people.&nbsp; In just the month before Nepal's election, more than 50 people have been killed in road traffic accidents. Most of these cannot be called 'accidents'. They are a direct result of poorly maintained highways and lack of enforcement of traffic discipline. Political parties in Nepal have rolled out their election manifestos, and voters are once again presented with a flood of promises. Page after page, these documents list megawatts and microcredit, highways and airports, jobs and investment. In these manifestos, growth is quantified, projects itemised, revenue forecast — and there are even threats to beat up contractors who do not finish their jobs. But when everything is declared a priority the stale promises are empty. The voter is left confused as to where the party’s loyalties really lie. Will any of these plans and pledges actually ever materialise and help Nepalis live longer, safer, healthier lives? The main job of any accountable government is to protect its citizens, not so much from foreign enemies but from domestic mismanagement. And this means the most basic test the new government should be made to pass is whether it can ensure basic well-being and protection for all its people. The problems of safety, health, and survival remain unresolved for most Nepalis, and are quietly eroding their lives. In the past year alone, the country’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/roadkill">roads and highways claimed more than 2,300</a> lives. An estimated 41,000 Nepalis die each year directly because of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-is-invisible-is-more-dangerous">air pollution</a>, and their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/air-pollution-killing-season-starts-early">lifespans are lessened by 3.4 years</a>.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health">Non-communicable diseases</a> now account for well over half of total deaths in the country. And even where survival has improved, deprivation remains. Chronic malnutrition continues to haunt communities in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mass-migration-from-muktikot">Nepal’s western mountains</a> despite progress in maternal and child health.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260223130240_4f4ef83a31c3c4ae36ecdffb33a355e2fa3de9e98244b840a895af2d95c35ac0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260223130240_4f4ef83a31c3c4ae36ecdffb33a355e2fa3de9e98244b840a895af2d95c35ac0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="683" loading="lazy" alt="A life-first manifesto for Nepal NT"> </figure>  These are the lived realities of most Nepalis, and it is here that development can deliver its most immediate returns. A rising GDP, in and of itself, does not make roads safer, clean polluted air, or provide enough nutrition to children. Such outcomes demand intentional, granular policies that confront the specific, everyday problems shaping people’s lives.&nbsp; Macroeconomic growth, trade and investment are important, but these alone cannot guarantee improvements health and safety. The word ‘growth’, after all, is also synonymous with malignancy. Economic progress and human protection are correlated only when governance deliberately links them. Impact on life is the unit in which ordinary Nepalis calculate progress. What is needed, then, is a governing philosophy measurable in these same terms: a ‘life-first’ standard where every policy, budget, and reform can be understood and judged by its impact on protecting and extending human life. Such a ‘life-first’ approach would scrutinise three aspects of every policy. First, whether the policy prevents loss of life. A death is termed preventable if better, more coordinated response systems and regulations could have avoided it (vaccines, drugs, road safety, clean drinking water). A newly built six-lane highway <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/highway-accidents-are-no-accident-in-nepal">can be a death trap</a> due to poor design or lax enforcement of safety rules. If neonatal deaths continue in a district despite hospitals being present, or if malnutrition claims lives in predominantly agricultural regions, they too are failures. Preventable deaths also cluster where accountability is less direct. Just last year, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/suicides-a-pandemic-within-a-pandemic">Nepal recorded 6,866 suicides</a>, with nearly 20 lives lost every day, yet these deaths fail to prompt any serious examination of governance. The same holds for fatalities linked to domestic or communal violence, alcohol and substance misuse, or ‘natural’ disasters, which register as ‘tragedies without remedy’ rather than as outcomes policy can influence. But when avoidable loss of life recurs at scale, isolated incidents become patterns, and patterns reveal systemic neglect. Saving lives, however, is only the first step, and what matters just as much is the quality of years lived. Nepal’s life expectancy now stands at 71 years, yet many citizens spend years in avoidable disability, untreated chronic illness, or mental distress. A life- first government must ask not only whether people live, but whether they thrive. Are citizens able to pursue education, work, and family life without fear of preventable harm? Do communities have access to clean air and water, nutritious food, and basic healthcare? Can a teenager anywhere in Nepal imagine a future not foreclosed by premature marriage, or untreated depression?  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260223130240_157d72b80b82a07699b6bffbb30036b86f0f767a5674cc3db3d5c20343442940.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20260223130240_157d72b80b82a07699b6bffbb30036b86f0f767a5674cc3db3d5c20343442940" data-rendition-name="original" width="2529" height="1427" loading="lazy" alt="A life-first manifesto for Nepal NT"> </figure>  Thriving requires policies that prevent suffering and promote well-being in addition to ensuring survival.&nbsp; Finally, governance must consider graceful aging. Elderly Nepalis should not be left to navigate disease, poverty, or isolation alone. Social systems, healthcare, and community support must enable their continued participation and dignified well-being. Adopting this three-layered standard would gradually reorient how success of any new government is defined. Transportation would be judged by fatalities reduced on the roads. Electricity generation would be measured by whether households can switch from firewood dependence to smoke-free electric stoves.&nbsp; Increase in annual rice harvest must translate into better nutrition, reducing the prevalence of chronic diseases like diabetes. Accountability must follow problems rather than stop at Singha Darbar. Only then will politicians and bureaucrats eventually recognise that their work converges on the same human endpoint. Critics will argue that economies are complex, trade-offs are inevitable, and that governance cannot be reduced to a single metric.But, as Acemoglu and Robinson show in their book <a href="https://ia801506.us.archive.org/27/items/WhyNationsFailTheOriginsODaronAcemoglu/Why-Nations-Fail_-The-Origins-o-Daron-Acemoglu.pdf">Why Nations Fail</a>, the key difference between prosperity and poverty lies in inclusive institutions that empower citizens and create broad incentives for well-being.&nbsp; Extractive institutions concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a few while keeping the majority trapped in neglect. Nepal’s governance has remained a striking example of extraction. If lawmakers in the new Parliament continue to resist changes that would save and improve the lives of ordinary citizens, the same systemic rot will persist for generations to come. A life-first mentality can cut through this inertia by clarifying the moral centre of governance and reminding policymakers that behind every policy failure lies human cost. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-hunger">Every mother in Bajura</a> with a child going hungry at night, every farmer in the Madhes unable to afford medical care, and every family that has lost <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/saving-kidneys-to-save-nepal">a migrant son to kidney failure</a> understands the true <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/dirty-dangerous-difficult-and-dehydrating">value of a life saved</a>. Life is the one metric that transcends ideology, ethnicity, and region. Centering governance on this single, focused metric, can shift an election from a contest of rhetoric to a contest of evidence. Which party ensured access to safe water and basic healthcare? Which made work at home and abroad safer and less exploitative. Which measurably extended healthy years of life for ordinary citizens? Health is wealth. By improving the healthy lifespan of citizens economic prosperity would follow naturally. A ‘life-first’ governance model would therefore compel Nepal to address the underlying structural failures across all sectors, rather than merely alleviating their symptoms. The GenZ protest that toppled the government last September was, at its core, a demand for accountability and a rejection of politics as usual. But as the country edges closer to the polls, that clarity has started to dissipate. Parties are now echoing the language of reform, but the public discourse remains dominated by promises that feel disconnected from Nepal’s most immediate and basic priorities. Every preventable death, every hungry child, and every neglected elder becomes a direct failure of governance and a moral debt the state must answer for. It is how we can make sure we keep the next government in check. The writers are Nepali GenZ students of biomedical engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Nepal’s life or death election

Party flags and banners wave from electric poles, houses and e-rickshaws are festooned with posters. Madhes Province is in the grip of election fever, and in a tour through four of its districts, there is the sense that any efforts by mainstream political parties at reforms have come too little too late. Among the banners, the sky blue of the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/new-vs-new-in-nepal"> RSP is more prominent </a>here this time, and the rallying cry across the country for new and improved leadership is echoed on the ground. “For the people around here, whatever these old leaders are saying has become just noise,” says a lassi shop operator in Janakpur, waving a dismissive hand at flags with the NC’s tree symbol across the street. In Janakpur, UML nominee Raghubir Mahaseth was barred from canvassing door-to-door. Campaign posters of the mainstream parties have been torn from walls and replaced with RSP posters.&nbsp; In Inarwari village of Rautahat in the Madhes heartland, local elected officials whose parties have been merged into the Nepali Communist Party hope to retain enough supporters this election. But not many residents say they would vote for its candidate. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026022005024_a793e3a19cbd536fde50708c4a41b8b0d39a4716c6973feddad889097b655641.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2026022005024_a793e3a19cbd536fde50708c4a41b8b0d39a4716c6973feddad889097b655641" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Battleground Tarai NT"> <figcaption>Photos: SHRISTI KARKI</figcaption> </figure>  A first-time voter in Sarlahi’s Haripur is home on a semester break from medical school in Kathmandu, and is waiting excitedly for 5 March. “You can’t really say out loud whom you’re voting for around here,” he says, as he mimes ringing a bell. “It is time for someone new to be in-charge." In the highway town of Bardibas, an elderly teashop owner says that all she hears are calls for घण्टी, the RSP’s bell symbol. “After all, bells are rung in the house of gods,” she says. “It seems like the right choice.” The RSP wave sweeping the nation after the GenZ movement is seen in Madhes, and the PR ballots might reflect that, notes political analyst Tula Narayan Shah.&nbsp; “But the socio-cultural networks, organisational setup, and legacy of democratic movement of traditional parties might still give them a fighting chance on the first past the post ballot,” he says. &nbsp;“The door-to-door campaign style of candidates has always been more prominent in Madhes than elsewhere.”&nbsp; Villages like Dhankaul in Sarlahi-4 where <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/grand-split-in-nepal-s-grand-old-party">Gagan Thapa</a> of the Nepali Congress (NC) is running against incumbent Amresh Singh, is an NC stronghold. Singh won the election here twice before in 2013 and 2017 when he was an NC leader, and still had goodwill among NC voters when he ran and won as an independent during the 2022 election. “I voted for him twice before when he was in the NC, but he did not do anything for this or other villages. Once he is elected, he has not set foot here,” says Rajiv Yadav, a voter in Dhanakul. “The RSP will get more votes here than last time, but Gagan is sure to win. This village will vote for him.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026022005024_26691bb5a37edf705cc197a632d0bf032f984079a838d31bcd943bc0b9c97ff3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2026022005024_26691bb5a37edf705cc197a632d0bf032f984079a838d31bcd943bc0b9c97ff3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Battleground Tarai NT"> </figure>  Madhes is in the spotlight this election because two prime ministerial candidates have focused their attention in the region. Balen Shah began his campaign in Janakpur (main picture, left) in January as a ‘Son of Madhes’, and Gagan Thapa chose Sarlahi-4 as his constituency over Kathmandu-4, from where he has been elected since 2013.&nbsp; The Madhes has always been the battleground for Nepal’s electoral politics, and candidates from here, like Krishna Prasad Bhattarai from Parsa, Pushpa Kamal Dahal from Siraha, Jhala Nath Khanal from Sarlahi, and Madhav Kumar Nepal from Rautahat, have all been prime ministers. Despite electing politicians to high office in Kathmandu, districts of Madhes have consistently ranked low in development and service delivery indicators, especially in basic healthcare and education. Socio-economic inequalities stemming from a lack of opportunities has also meant that Madhes districts have the highest rate of out-migration in the country.&nbsp; What is different this time is that the people of the province have a Madhesi prime ministerial candidate who will represent them in national politics, and the main competition ultimately will be between the NC and RSP prime ministerial candidates. Interestingly, voters seem to be looking beyond Madhes-based parties who have historically campaigned on identity and federalism.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026022005024_1b5c1134fb02ded72a12221200918df584b0cd003139bb2be44951efe9a65bf1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2026022005024_1b5c1134fb02ded72a12221200918df584b0cd003139bb2be44951efe9a65bf1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Battleground Tarai NT"> </figure>  “Leaders of Madhes parties have glorified their struggle for votes but failed to perform on good governance at local and provincial levels,” explains Tula Narayan Shah. “Now, Balen has become a PM candidate as a face of the region, and as someone who will deliver based on his work as Kathmandu mayor.” If the RSP wins, it will be governing in the absence of provincial leadership that would play a crucial mediatory role between Kathmandu and local units. On Wednesday, RSP’s Madhes province chair Mamta Sharma resigned from the party and joined the NC. There is also some underlying tension between RSP cadre loyal to Balen Shah and Rabi Lamichhane. “It is not prudent to predict who will win the election and whether parties will deliver on promises,” says Tula Narayan Shah. “But win or lose, there is little basis at this time to believe that the RSP will be committed to making the federal system and provinces more functional.” Voters here in the heart of the federalism movement, however, are willing to give the RSP the benefit of the doubt. &nbsp;Resident Brahma Dev in Janakpur told us: &nbsp;“The RSP, like parties that came before them, deserve a chance to prove their leadership in the next five years. If they do not deliver, we can always vote them out next time.”&nbsp; On Wednesday, NC leaders unveiled the party’s 10-point election manifesto at a large rally in Janakpur (main picture, right). Gagan Thapa began by addressing a cheering crowd in Maithili, and said the NC was reformed, adding:&nbsp; “The GenZ did not reject us, they told us to change our ways.” Also on Wednesday 800km away at the other end of the country in Dhangadi, Balen Shah, in a speech that lasted just three minutes, he said: “Don’t vote for us, give us work to do.”&nbsp;

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