<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933d29c7e80680e03dfbfjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>PHOTO: Kunda Dixit</figcaption></figure>As chair of the Colombo Process, Nepal is hosting the 5th ministerial meeting of this network of 12 labour-sending countries in Kathmandu on 15-16 November. Labour Minister Gokarna Bista spoke to Nepali Times about the recent labour pact with Malaysia, and how this loose forum can promote safe migration. Excerpts:Nepali Times: How will Nepali migrant workers and Malaysian employers benefit from the bilateral MoU you signed? Gokarna Bista: Malaysia had been hiring migrant workers from Nepal for over two decades, but the two countries never had a written agreement. Our workers therefore faced problems like lack of minimum pay, social security and workplace safety. Malaysian employers had their own grievances. But we never had a legal or policy framework to address these issues. Now we finally have an agreement that not only protects Nepali migrants but also helps Malaysia manage foreign workers in a dignified way. The pact is even more important for us because it requires Malaysian employers to bear airfare, insurance, visa and security clearance fees previously charged to Nepal’s workers. It also makes it mandatory for employers to deposit the minimum salaries into bank accounts of Nepali workers within the first week of every month. It binds employers to grant workers a 15-day leave if anyone dies in their families.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/bargaining-power/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bargaining power</a>, Editorial<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/paying-an-arm-and-a-leg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paying an arm and a leg</a>, Om Astha RaiBut aren’t there challenges in implementing these points? Those who have been exploiting poor migrant workers probably want to foil this agreement, but I am sure it will be implemented because it reflects the common interests of Nepal and Malaysia, and both governments are committed to promoting safe and dignified migration.Is this model now going to be applied with Gulf states as well? We have labour agreements with a few Gulf countries, but they are obsolete. Some do not have provisions for social security, forcing Nepali migrants to work for less than minimum wages. They cannot return home because their passports are controlled by employers. We need to renew and update these agreements with Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait, incorporating new measures to tackle new challenges.How important do you think is the Kathmandu meeting of Colombo Process? It is very important. There is a sense that destination countries are hiring migrant workers out of charity, making sending countries feel humiliated about exporting manpower. We want to change this misguided notion, and the Kathmandu meeting of the Colombo Process will be crucial in making both sides feel respected. It may be a loose forum of 12 labour-sending countries, but it will certainly amplify the voice for zero-cost and hassles-free labour migration. It can be a win-win.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/manpower-agencies-of-Nepal-are-the-ones-against-zero-cost-migration-policy,2402" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Who is against zero cost migration and Why?</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kleptocrats of Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur</a>, Ramu Sapkota and Alya AlhadjriWhat is your take on the ban on Nepali housemaids? A parliamentary committee had directed the government in early 2017 to bar Nepali women from going abroad as housemaids. We need to review this, and have already begun discussions with the parliamentary committee. But before taking a decision on the ban, what we really want is to have exclusive MoUs with countries that want housemaids from Nepal. We want to ensure that Nepali domestics are paid well, have a safe place to live, stipulated working hours and a safe environment in which to work.Many migrant workers return home wounded. How can we tackle this problem? When Nepali workers get wounded or disabled while working abroad, they are simply dumped by their employers and they have to be taken care of by the Nepal government and their families. So we are holding talks with governments of labour-receiving countries to ensure that employers also take responsibility for wounded workers. Malaysia has already agreed, and I hope other countries will follow suit.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/nepalis-killed-in-the-line-of-duty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Killed in the line of duty,</a> Om Astha Rai and Sonia AwaleT<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-lottery-of-migration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he lottery of migration</a>, Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/zero-cost-migration-qatar-nepal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zero cost migration, really?,</a> Om Astha Rai<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/disproportionate-number-of-deaths-of-Nepali-workers-in-Malaysia,2812" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dying to work in Malaysia</a>, Sonia Awalehttps://youtu.be/SMdywykmPdk

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Win-win migration

<figure><img width="1400" height="934" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171116/636930259c7e80680e03c0e2jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: GOPEN RAI</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s Number 1 export has been its people. In feudal times, impoverished farmers fled indebtedness, poverty and discrimination and migrated to India by the tens of thousands. They settled in Sikkim, Assam, Kumaon and Garhwal in India and in southern Bhutan.Today, a quarter of Nepal’s population is <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepali-enrolments-in-australian-educational-institutions,3457">working, studying or living abroad</a>. The Nepali diaspora spans the globe, and Nepalis carry the passports of many countries. Among them are the uncounted millions who go to India to work either seasonally, contract workers in Malaysia, the Gulf, Korea and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepalis-from-chitwan-to-chidoya,4110">Japan</a>, or those who emigrate permanently. The push factors are not always poverty, but an aspiration for better lives, livelihoods and a higher standard of living. Nepalis do not just migrate because they <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/young-educated-unemployed,664">cannot find a job here</a>, but because there is peer pressure to go out and seek their fortune.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/migration-certificate/">Migration Certificate</a>, Prakriti KandelWith the democratic changes of 1990, there was at last supposed to be accountable and efficient government that would ensure economic growth and job creation so that Nepalis would no longer be forced to leave. But democracy soon disintegrated into infighting, and the country plunged into a war. Not only did successive governments in the past 30 years fail to deliver, they actively encouraged Nepalis to migrate so there would be less pressure from the streets.Migration let rulers off the hook because they have not had to worry about job creation at home, and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Nepal-economy-supported-by-remittance-money,2874">the remittances</a> overseas Nepalis send home officially and unofficially (estimated at anywhere between $8-10 billion a year) is keeping the country afloat. It pays the country’s petroleum import bill which has tripled in the past five years.Despite tales of abuse and exploitation by employers, the real mistreatment and cruelty of Nepalis is by fellow-Nepalis. Recruitment agents fleece the most vulnerable, squeezing every rupee out of the most desperate. The state and its agencies are ruthless in the harassment of migrants, erecting obstacles every step of their way as they leave the country and on their return. Instead of being hailed as national heroes for propping up the national economy, they are treated like dirt.More than 4 million Nepalis went abroad in search of work in the last 20 years, nearly all of them paid a hefty fee to manpower middlemen, and had to overcome unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles. A <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centre for Investigative Journalism report in August</a> exposed how corrupt Malaysian and Nepali politicians and officials colluded to steal Rs 20,000 each from poor Nepali workers for over five years. Regime change in Malaysia and a can-do Labour Minister in Nepal are negotiating a government-to-government arrangement to bypass middlemen.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kleptocrats of Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur</a>, Ramu Sapkota in Kathmandu with Alyaa Alhadjri in Kuala LumpurA scathing report by Amnesty International <a href="https://www.amnesty.ie/turning-people-into-profits-abusive-recruitment-trafficking-and-forced-labour-of-nepali-migrant-workers/">Turning People into Profits: Abusive Recruitment, Trafficking and Forced Labour of Nepali Migrant Workers</a> lists instances of state collusion in directly defrauding its own people. The report said nearly 90% of overseas contract workers were forced to pay unnecessarily high fees to recruiters to get them jobs overseas, and most were heavily indebted as a result. Amnesty said such ‘country-wide exploitation was flourishing under an often indifferent government’. Not indifferent. Greedy.In this edition we carry an investigation into <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/migration-certificate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">student visas becoming the preferred way for young Nepali men and women to emigrate</a>. In the past year alone, at least 60,000 Nepalis have left the country with one-way tickets on student visas. In all, they spent at least $50 million in fees and other costs.The number of students leaving for Asutralia has grown dramatically in the past three years, overtaking Japan. Both governments are aware of what is happening, and allow students to work about four hours a day. The earnings mostly go to educational establishments within their own countries, and the students provide a cheap source of unskilled labour that their own nationals shun.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepalis-from-chitwan-to-chidoya,4110">Japan</a> is now tightening on student visas, and there are dire reports from Australia of Nepali students who cannot juggle study and work. Outmigration in any form: be it as overseas contract workers or as workers pretending to be students is not a sustainable way to run the country’s economy.There has to be a coherent long-term strategy to create jobs at home through vocational training and enforcing the minimum wage. In the shorter term, Nepalis going abroad have to be protected from rapacious fellow Nepalis preying on them, they need better orientation and job training, and the country should be willing to absorb them on their return and put their savings and experience to productive use.Read also:<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepali-enrolments-in-australian-educational-institutions,3457">Trending: Australian Education</a>, Jessica Cortis<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepalis-from-chitwan-to-chidoya,4110">From Chitwan to Chiyoda</a>, Kunda Dixit <h2>10 years ago this week</h2> In the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/422" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#422 issue of Nepali Times ten years ago</a>, we published a story about how perplexed Maoist lawmaker Sarala Regmi felt when UML leader Bam Dev Gautam became Home Minister. Regmi had defeated Gautam in his own Bardiya constituency in the first Constituent Assembly elections in April 2008, but the UML heavyweight went on to grab a powerful ministerial portfolio despite the defeat.Fast forward to 2018, Gautam is still trying to sneak into the Parliament despite being defeated by a relatively unknown NC candidate in the recent elections. All the pre-Dasain political buzz was about Gautam, and how he persuaded an MP from his own party to resign so he could contest a by-election and enter the House.Gautam faced criticism not just on social media but within his own party, and the first post-Dasain meeting of the Nepal Communist Party this week decided to close his 'chapter'. Meanwhile,  Regmi has deviated from mainstream politics and is active with a Maoist faction that aims to re-start the war.Here is what Regmi said in that 10-year-old story: "A lot of people back in the district ask me what I think about the man I defeated being made the home minister.... We don't want a Bihari-style republic." <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/422" data-elementor-open-lightbox=""> <img width="507" height="796" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171116/636930299c7e80680e03c0e3jpeg.jpg" alt=""></a>

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Samsung Nepal has opened pre-orders for the Galaxy A57 5G and A37 5G. Both phones run Samsung’s One UI 8.5, featuring AI capabilities like voice transcription, Circle to Search, and photo editing. They feature a 50MP triple-camera system, a Super AMOLED display, and six years of OS and security updates.

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‘One early morning, we heard the ambassador’s wife cry out, “Ram, Ram, Ram!” A disaster has befallen Nepal!” She had heard on the radio that a fire had consumed Singha Durbar." This is not about the arson attack on 9 September 2025, but the one on 8 July, 1973. It started in the South Wing of the then single-largest building in all of Nepal. It took two days to bring the blaze under control, requiring the use of explosives to demolish one wing to protect the imposing western facade. As Bhekh Bahadur Thapa recalls in the English translation of his memoir A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy, he was then on leave from the Nepal government serving with the IDRC in Ottawa.&nbsp; He had already served as Nepal’s Finance Secretary at age 25, went on to be Finance Minister and Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. He was already younger than some of the GenZ ministers in Nepal’s present RSP government. Thapa, now 89, was at the launch of the book in February which was attended by former diplomats and bureaucrats. After speeches by panelists, there was a question from the audience about how Thapa had managed to be the diplomat he was, managing Nepal’s international relations on the world stage.&nbsp; Writer and journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay, who was moderating the panel, responded by going into the section of the book where we see Thapa as an ambassador to the US, playing tennis with White House officials, cultivating a network of contacts to project the identity and welfare of Nepal, and making it possible for a state visit by King Birendra to Ronald Reagan’s America. The book is full of anecdotes that suggest Thapa was a clever and strategic diplomat, always calm and unruffled, easily making friends in high places with his maturity and engaging sense of humour. Thapa’s memoir is heavy on details about Nepal’s administrative history during the years he was active in public service, serving as minister and ambassador under three kings: Mahendra, Birendra and Gyanendra, and alongside five prime ministers.&nbsp; Aside from an insider look on how certain treaties, development deals and research projects in Nepal came into fruition, Thapa goes into great detail about his personal and professional relationships with the kings, ministers, ambassadors, foreign leaders and politicians.&nbsp; As a reader, one is struck by the level of detail around the events that unfolded in Nepal over the years during Thapa’s tenure. Was Thapa recording a journal over the years of the events and the conversations that transpired, or were they committed to his phenomenal memory? Either way, the reader gets a glimpse of Nepal’s recent history from the early days of the Panchayat, through the People’s Movement and the democracy period, the Maoist insurgency, Royal Palace massacre of 2001, and Gyanendra’s coup of 2005.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1584" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How to win friends and influence nations NT"> </figure>  Not enough is said about the political parties of the time whose presence led to the way Nepal’s multiparty democracy came to be shaped. The book keeps its focus on the administration and the key figures around it, mostly those in the Panchayat era. Towards the second half of the book, we do start to hear about political parties, but not in great depth. Another figure whose presence in the book is conspicuously less prominent is that of his wife, Rita Thapa — the person who seems to have rescued him every time financial quandary or family care became a challenge. Yet, we do not see her as a full person. Perhaps because of the personal tragedies in his life, the children are also barely mentioned.&nbsp; The book is therefore less personal and more technical. Throughout, we learn about Thapa’s thinking as he navigated the world of diplomacy to win him the trust of those who mattered. There are tips here for a new generation of Nepali officials and diplomats about how much commitment and focus is needed to be good at one’s job and serve the national interest. This book adds to tomes that have been written on Nepal’s fragile relationship with India. ‘India has always wished for Nepal to remain dependent on it,’ writes Thapa, who served as Nepal’s ambassador to India and later in the Eminent Persons Group &nbsp;on Indo-Nepal relations that has been allowed to languish. The book has several insights into the Indo-Nepal trysts with diplomacy and agency.&nbsp; China’s role is also recorded, viewed through conversations during a visit to Beijing, but all that was before Nepal’s neighbour to the north emerged as a world economic and military power. The book also has such sudden instances of quirkiness and humour. For instance, we see a young Thapa in America explaining to a government official why he would like to return to Nepal instead of settling down in the US. “Because, Nepal is beautiful,” he said. The text is immaculate and does not read much like a translation, credit for which clearly goes to the team that put the edition together: translator Prawin Adhikari, &nbsp;Anagha Neelakanthan and Bhekh Thapa’s daughter, Manjushree. As Nepal enters a new era of governance and diplomacy, A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy should be essential reading for students of political science, economics and foreign affairs who can gain a fresh perspective on the country’s trajectory.&nbsp; There are dozens of forgotten state secrets recorded in the book, but the reader must also remember this is a story told from one person’s perspective and there may be others.&nbsp; So, what really made Thapa the diplomat he was? I met him in 2004 at the Kantipur TV studio when he was serving as king Gyanendra’s foreign minister. He was there for a studio interview, and I was just done with my English newscast.&nbsp; He surprised me at the door: “Pratibha! I’ve been reading your articles in The Kathmandu Post. You must keep writing.” I thanked him, glad to have been noticed for my work by a stranger. That was perhaps one of the things that set Thapa apart — he excelled at staying close to those in power, while also noticing those who were not.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Book details"> </figure>

How to win friends and influence nations

Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Wednesday broke tradition and met with 17 foreign envoys collectively, a move that was a notable departure from how his predecessors operated.&nbsp;
Shah had already set himself apart by talking less, listening more, and delegating to trusted friends. But by meeting all ambassadors at one go in the presence of the Foreign Ministry, he signalled a paradigm shift in how he wants Nepal to be seen: no longer just balancing India and China, but as a country confident about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/tripolar-contestation-over-nepal">strategic importance and place in the world</a>.
In just two weeks, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rsp-dos-and-don-ts">RSP has sprung into action </a>on multiple fronts to implement its ambitious 100-point, 100-days action plan. It has taken short-term measures to mitigate the impact of the Gulf war, as well as medium- and long- term measures to streamline the bureaucracy. A few high-profile figures have been made examples of to drive the message home.
Earlier this week, the government recalled six politically appointed ambassadors, the most notable being long-serving Shankar Sharma from New Delhi. The Kathmandu District Court issued arrest warrants against former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his former foreign minister wife Arzu Rana on charges of money laundering and corruption.
Each ministry has been trying to clean up the accumulated rot from the past three decades: regulatory overhaul of microfinance, education, health and service delivery.&nbsp;
These actions widely disseminated campaign-style on YouTube and TikTok have made most Nepalis hopeful that the party they installed in power means business.
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BACKLASH
But such attempts to overhaul a long-entrenched political culture were bound to face backlash. In their impatience and enthusiasm to get things done, some of Prime Minister Shah’s ministers have over-reached.
It was common knowledge that government-paid advertising in the mainstream press was kickback-driven, but the PMO’s directive that official notices be published or broadcast only on state-run media has been denounced — especially as the media industry struggles to stay afloat.
More serious are some recent appointments by ministers of relatives and figures closely associated with the RSP to key positions. This has rankled because this party built its political plank on ending nepotism and graft.&nbsp;
News that Home Minister Sudan Gurung allegedly had not paid rent on leased land, which illegally encroached on the lake in Pokhara did not help. &nbsp;
Prime Minister Shah himself has come under scrutiny for appointing a kitchen cabinet full of male buddies from his time as Kathmandu mayor. To douse criticism he brought in as adviser investigative journalist Deepa Dahal, who has exposed corruption in high places of the previous coalitions.&nbsp;
Shah’s appointment of another political adviser Asim Shah to the head Constitution Amendment Task Force, is also seen as problematic. He is a filmmaker and former lawmaker, but does not have a background in constitutional law.&nbsp;
Even more controversial is the Cabinet’s decision to appoint RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane’s legal counsel, Narayan Kandel, as Attorney General. Kandel used to be a UK permanent resident, and does not have as much experience practicing law in Nepal.&nbsp;
Kandel’s appointment drew flak and raised eyebrows, and with the pending legal cases against Lamichhane this appointment represents a flagrant conflict of interest.
Health Minister Nisha Mehta was also accused of favouritism after reappointing Junu Shrestha, wife of Labour Minister Dipak Kumar Shah, as member of the Health Insurance Board which had earlier suspended her. The Labour Minister’s rambling rant at the Board’s meeting on Tuesday has not helped the RSP’s image.&nbsp;
(UPDATE: On Thursday, Prime Minister Shah sacked the Labour Minister after the RSP found him in breach of the party's code of conduct and discipline. He served 14 days in the Cabinet, one of the shortest tenures for a minister in Nepal )
It is hard to know what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ball-in-balen-s-court">Balendra Shah is thinking</a>, and how Rabi Lamichhane is going to justify some of these moves. After all, making politics, governance, and bureaucracy a meritocracy has been the core tenet of the RSP, and it risks alienating its mainly youth base if these missteps persist.
But at least for now, most RSP supporters seem to be giving the party the benefit of doubt.

emigration

Win-win migration

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How to win friends and influence nations

Nepal’s new government springs into action