<figure><img width="1570" height="940" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be2179c7e80680e083e89jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Charikot Hospital in 2015 after it was upgraded from a primary health care centre by Nyaya Health Nepal. Photo: Nyaya Health Nepal. </figcaption></figure>In one of the few arrangements of its kind in Nepal, a public-private partnership initiative has handed over to the local government the management of Charikot Hospital which had been run by a private non-profit organisation <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/building-back-better-health-facilities,2980" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/building-back-better-health-facilities,2980&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1606125430794000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0J3sDGN8guCJPn5fY-UA5M">ever since the earthquake five years ago</a>. Bhimeswar Municipality took over the hospital from the group Nyaya Health Nepal on 30 October in an innovative and successful DBOT (Design, Build, Operate, Transition) model which is significant in Nepal’s new federal structure where local governments take on more responsibility for grassroots healthcare delivery.This is especially remarkable considering that improving public sector healthcare, especially in rural areas, has been a challenge in Nepal. The country’s already under-resourced healthcare is also under strain because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nyaya Health signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health in 2015 to rebuild the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/earthquake-survivors-waiting-to-rebuild,2566" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/earthquake-survivors-waiting-to-rebuild,2566&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1606125430794000&amp;usg=AOvVaw19bLuxfgcmw9SWnbrzetxq">damaged healthcare facilities</a> in Dolakha and upgrade the primary healthcare centre in Charikot into a full-fledged hospital. The organisation was building on its experience in Achham where it manages <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-how-to-upgrade-nepals-rural-health/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-how-to-upgrade-nepals-rural-health/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1606125430794000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1qCyHqyny7Q3qtyJjYIfZS">Bayalpata Hospital</a> under a similar partnership model since 2009. Although there are other similar activities in Nepal’s public health sector, especially in the distribution of healthcare products, there are only a handful examples of partnerships that are for overall management of health institutions. The government's readiness to adopt innovations that have been put in place through the partnership is unique, and unprecedented. <figure><img width="1500" height="805" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be21a9c7e80680e083e8ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The transfer of management has been smooth -- Bhimeswar Municipality has retained 40 hospital employees recruited by Nyaya Health, and will continue the internal management procedures, monitoring of quality service, and a digital health information system.In the past five years, Nyaya Health provided more than 335,000 people in Dolakha with direct free health care, repaired 19 earthquake damaged health posts, and handed them over to the local government ensuring the delivery of health services. <figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be21c9c7e80680e083e8bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>The handover ceremony of the Charikot Hospital on 30 October to the Bhimeswar Municpality by Nyaya Health Nepal after a unique private-public partnership project. All Photos: NHN</figcaption></figure>The hospital also saw the introduction of digital patient records, development of a performance based system for staff, training and development, expansion of community health and mental health services, addition of infrastructure, equipment and services, and for the past eight months has been at the forefront of an effective Covid-19 response.As a result, Dolakha’s overall health indicators such as the rate for institutional delivery, neonatal mortality and other parameters have seen marked improvements in the catchment area population in the past five years. <figure><img width="799" height="533" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be21f9c7e80680e083e8cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1086" height="724" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be2229c7e80680e083e8djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Patients in the maternity ward of the Charikot Hospital of Dolakha District where the mother child survival rate has improved in the past five years.What was unique was that the Government of Nepal and Nyaya Health Nepal both invested in strengthening healthcare during the partnership period – the government with a community hospital grant, medicine and equipment, human resources and Nyaya Health put in $6.8 million and managed treatment and care in the hospital.Recently, the Bagmati Province government declared Charikot Hospital a ‘provincial hospital’ and this paved the way for additional local investment from the continuity of ongoing services. Under Nepal’s federal structure, every municipality is allotted a budget specifically to improve the local health system. This has increased access to health care, and raised the health status of the local population. Dolakha’s health care system thus literally ‘built back better’ after the earthquake.Under the terms of the handover, Nyaya Health Nepal transferred to Bhimeswar Municipality all fixed assets and consumables worth Rs62.67 million, its digital systems, and the ownership of all data collected for service management and quality improvement.Even after the handover, Nyaya Health Nepal will continue back stopping the Municipality in some areas like technical assistance in managing the Electronic Health Record (EHR), monitoring and evaluation, and service improvement till the end of this fiscal year. Nyaya Health, in turn can use data from the hospital for research, including for ongoing projects.Specialist services with consultants have also been arranged keeping in view the needs of the patients. The federal or provincial governments need to manage the necessary Rs2.5 million per month for specialist care, which are beyond the coverage of basic health services.The municipality has set up an inter-municipal fund to ensure access to care, particularly for the underprivileged at Charikot Hospital, which is providing services also as a referral hospital for the surrounding municipalities and districts.This handover proves that strengthening healthcare is possible only through a multi-dimensional partnership with short-term support, innovation in healthcare delivery and management, long-term planning and resource management. Ultimately, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure healthcare for all, and partnerships like these are useful to jump-start the process. Nepal has established itself as a modern progressive and welfare state, with the Constitution pledging to make basic healthcare a fundamental right of all citizens. In Dolakha, we took a path of a partnership between the government and a non-government entity to lay the foundation of accessible healthcare for all. The central and local governments have now taken the lead for its continuation. We hope that this will be an example for other municipalities and provincial governments that are trying to strengthen health services, and are seeking a model to follow. <img width="122" height="150" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be2259c7e80680e083e8ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="122" height="150" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be2269c7e80680e083e8fjpeg.jpg" alt="">Bharat Bahadur KC is the Mayor of Bhimeswar Municipality and SP Kalaunee is Executive Director of Nyaya Health Nepal. <a href="mailto:spkalaunee@gmail.com">spkalaunee@gmail.com</a>

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Unique hospital handover in Dolakha

<figure><img width="3510" height="1500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a651f9c7e80680e059913jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/state-of-the-art-rural-hospital/">Bayalpata Hospital</a> has won an international award in the Health Category at the World Architecture Festival held in Amsterdam on Thursday.The hospital in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17650#.Xens94Mza72">Nepal’s Achham district</a> is a public-private partnership between the group Nyaya Health and the Nepal government, and is built almost entirely using rammed earth technology using locally available material with an ambitious zero carbon construction.‘This is an example of when architecture provides more than a building. Although modest in scale and architectural expression is delivers a massive leap in healthcare provision in a region with scarce resources,’ jury members of the Global Architecture Festival said in their citation. ‘A great example of an architect listening closely and responding intelligently to site and situation. The building is rooted in its site through its use of onsite materials and has impeccable zero carbon design credentials.’ <img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a65229c7e80680e059914jpeg.jpg" alt="">Bayalpata was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17650#.XensoYMza71">started by visionary Nepali and American public health experts in 2009</a>, and took over a defunct government hospital to show that accessible and free medical care was possible in a rural Nepal district that had the highest maternal and child mortality and lowest lifespan.Today, the hospital <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/upgrading-health-care-through-public-private-partnership-model,582">treats 100,000 patients a year</a> from Achham and six surrounding mountain districts. Paid for mostly by crowd-funding, the $4 million three-phase expansion of Bayalpata Hospital with its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/starting-nepals-green-school-movement/">state-of-the-art architecture</a> was completed earlier this year.“Our specs were to use local materials as much as possible, keep energy costs low, and respect the local context,” explains Arun Rimal, a Nepali architect with the US-based Office of Structural Design (OSD). “The rammed earth uses local clay and sand from the river. The thick walls give thermal mass for insulation, and the skylights optimise sunlight and ventilation.”  <img width="4416" height="3312" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a65279c7e80680e059915jpeg.jpg" alt="">The reliance on local material turned out to be a huge advantage because the project faced unforeseen logistical problems due to the 2015 earthquake and Blockade. However, the four-year construction was delayed by just six months because it did not rely too much on bricks, steel and other imported material. The facility has a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5877#.XWZGkOMzaUk">rainwater harvesting system</a>, treats its wastewater and has a network of greywater-irrigated terraces and bioswales to control erosion and recharge the acquifer. A 100kw solar array on the roof meets most of the hospital’s electricity needs, even powering the facility’s only air conditioning unit in the surgical ward. “It was a deliberate design decision to work with the natural environment as much as possible and also to address the cultural context,” says Tyler Survant from Sharon Davis Design in New York, which also conceptualised the unique Women’s Opportunity Centre in Rwanda. “We had to plan for a different kind of hospital from the West: here you have patients and relatives who have travelled for days on foot to get here.” <img width="640" height="828" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a652b9c7e80680e059916jpeg.jpg" alt="">Bayalpata has public outdoor spaces and canopied courtyards to serve as comfortable waiting areas, while the operating theatres and wards are recessed. Unlike in the US, staff housing also had to be integrated into the facility since it has fulltime resident doctors, who live with their families.

Bayalpata Hospital in Nepal wins global design award

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141144/6365179b9c7e80680e02c286jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="905"/><figcaption>IN GOOD HANDS: Community Health Worker Bhajan Kunwar checks patient Namsara Tamrakar at her home in Chandika village of Achham. Pics: Marty Logan and Srawan Shrestha</figcaption></figure>Rounding a steep curve on the road to the district capital of Mangalsen a startling set of modular structures comes into view. The modern buildings look out of place in this scenic, but underserved, region of western Nepal.The construction is part of a $4 million expansion of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17650#.WreWXNRua70">Bayalpata Hospital</a>, a unique medical facility that is a model for public-private partnership to improve medical care in Nepal’s remote interior.Inside the ward, orthopaedic surgeon Mandeep Pathak is examining an elderly man with a swollen knee. Clearly visible on an x-ray monitor is a short pin inserted by a general practitioner a few weeks ago, after the patient fell and broke his kneecap.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuWvlDGasEAIn the same room with the surgeon today is Community Medical Assistant (CMA) Khagendra Pant, who is wrapping plaster around the arm of a small boy. Thanks to training at the hospital, Pant was able to diagnose the boy’s injury as a clean fracture that did not require an operation.Such training means Bayalpata now has to refer just 10-20% of orthopaedic cases to hospitals in Dhangadi and Nepalganj, compared to nearly 70% two years ago.“I am proud to say that all the basic trauma care can now be done by general practitioners. Plus they can diagnose cases and decide which need to be referred to outside centres,” says Pathak.Training is integral to Bayalpata’s mission, says Director of Medical Education <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/Saving-one-mother-at-a-time,816">Bikash Gauchan</a>: his hospital has continuing medical education for clinicians, and on the job training for future nurses and other staff. General practitioners from various centres learn rural surgery at Bayalpata while mid-level staff come to improve their clinical knowledge.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141144/6365179e9c7e80680e02c287jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="650"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>For some <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/aim-for-fewer-patients-in-achham-possible-hospital,2022">patients who travel many days</a> to reach Bayalpata, access to basic surgery here means avoiding an expensive trip to the city. People whose limbs were fractured as long as three years ago delayed treatment until surgery was available at the hospital because they couldn’t afford the trip to a city hospital.Treatment at Bayalpata and at another hospital in Dolakha run by the non-profit Possible, is <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nation-free-for-all-healthcare,491#.UbrA4ueLA1s">free</a>. The group believes healthcare is a fundamental human right protected by Nepal’s Constitution, and should have no cost at point of delivery.Possible is funded by donations and Nepal government grants, which will grow as its hospitals attain clinical targets, such as the percentage of women who give birth in a facility with a trained clinician. Operating expenses last year were $4.8 million, of which 9% came from the government.Arrivals are registered in the hospital’s Electronic Health Record (EHR), which puts patients’ information at the fingertips of clinicians throughout the hospital, and eliminates bulky paper records.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141144/636517a19c7e80680e02c288jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="823"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>One patient already on the EHR is Namsara Tamrakar. Sitting cross-legged on a raised, wooden platform outside her home in Chandika village (left), the elderly woman shows visiting hospital staff that she knows how to use her inhaler, but it is empty.Three years ago, a doctor at Bayalpata diagnosed her with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and prescribed medicine via inhaler. Now Community Health Worker Bhajan Kunwar (see box, left) visits regularly to follow up. Like others, Tamrakar’s house has a small blue metal tag on an outside wall with a unique household ID. The houses are also geo-tagged.Kunwar’s visit is guided by CommCare, a software developed by Dimagi and customised by Possible that includes counselling information and checklists for each patient. Plans are to integrate CommCare with the EHR so that field followups are immediately reflected in the hospital’s system. Eventually, Bayalpata’s EHR will be linked to a national data system.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141144/636517a49c7e80680e02c289jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1024"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Kunwar takes Tamrakar’s blood pressure: 120 by 80. The woman is happy to hear the news and to see Kunwar again: “She comes, does a check-up, and tells me what sickness I have, and if it is getting better or worse. She insists I go to Bayalpata for a follow-up.”The hospital's <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nation-Crowdfund-globally-act-locally,490">community health program</a> focuses on maternal and child health as well as non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and respiratory ailments. Possible employs 56 community health workers looking after more than 80,000 people in Achham and Dolakha. It is planning to more than quadruple that number next year.Bayalpata Hospital started in 2009, when the group <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Crowding-it-out,1003">Nyaya Health</a> (now Possible) took over an abandoned government facility. Then it had five beds and treated up to 12,000 patients a year. Last year, Possible saw 86,000 patients at Bayalpata: the goal is to treat 150,000 people annually after the new wards, emergency room, administration building, a dormitory and remaining small houses for on-call staff are added.“Our integrated, hospital-to-home approach will be a model for Nepal, and beyond,” explains Gauchan, “and we will be proving that in a resource-limited setting, health care expansion, providing universal health coverage to people is possible.”But is the Bayalpata model really replicable? Skeptics say that two hospitals could have been built for the cost of the new buildings, which feature rammed earth technology, solar energy and rainwater collection, and that only substantial donor support made the expansion possible.Gauchan admits that the initial investment may seem high but says it will be more cost-effective in the long run.He adds: “The existing infrastructure for rural health care is way less than the minimum needed to address the emerging burden of non-communicable diseases and road accidents as well as infectious diseases. That is why we are investing in a very robust infrastructure.”<h2>Community spirit</h2>In 2011, Bhajan Kunwar (pictured above) was living an “Ok” life with her husband Purna and children in Bhageswor village of Achham when her sister-in-law Shavitra asked for a favour.Shavitra had been hearing rumours that her husband, who was working in India, was having an affair or had even remarried. Would Purna take her to India to find out? Purna agreed, and brother and sister set off with a friend. En route, Purna received a phone call from Shavitra’s husband warning them not to come, or there would be trouble.They continued anyway, and after crossing the border got on a train. That night, a group of men, perhaps including police, boarded the train and took Purna away. He later called Shavitra’s husband to say he had been kidnapped and would be killed unless help came quickly.Police found Purna’s body the next morning, on the roadside in Ahmednagar, east of Mumbai. It looked like he had been run over, but Bhajan believes he was murdered.Widowed at 25 and with two small children, Bhajan spent the mourning period worrying about how she would afford to send the children to school, and if her mother-in-law and community would accept her becoming the breadwinner for her husband’s four younger brothers and sisters and their families. (Her father-in-law had died earlier).That month, Bayalpata Hospital had a vacancy for a community health worker for the area. Bhajan was hired and six years later, still visits on foot the more than 700 households in her catchment area, checking that patients are taking their medicines, and much more (see main article).“This hospital made me strong,” she tells us. "Before I didn’t know anyone in my village and I didn’t know so many things.” Now with a college certificate, Bhajan advises young women to get educated before they get married. “I tell them ‘if I can do it, you can do it too’. I believe in myself and don’t care what others say about me. If you are true and honest, no harm will come to you.”Bhajan says she will never forget her husband. “But I have to live for my children, and control my mind and my heart. If I am strong, they can have a regular life. The hospital is now my husband, I cannot imagine leaving it.”Marty Logan in Achham<h2>Operating remotely</h2>When nine-year-old Samir Tamang was bitten by a dog on his way to school in Rayale village of Kavre last week, he had to take a two-and-a-half hour long bus ride to Kathmandu with his grandfather Suk Bahadur Tamang, for a rabies vaccination at Teku Hospital.Samir missed school and his grandfather, who works as a driver in Kathmandu, had to ask for leave from his employers.“We are relatively close to the capital, but imagine what it must be like for people living in remote parts of Nepal where there are no roads,” says Suk Bahadur.Indeed, despite the spread of basic health care in Nepal, emergency treatment and procedures like mending broken bones or caesarean sections are not yet available in rural areas. This means families have to sell property or borrow from moneylenders to be able to afford treatment in the cities. Studies have shown that many Nepali families are driven to poverty if relatives are referred to private hospitals.Unmet surgical needs in remote districts remain a major public health issue in Nepal, according to a recent study in 39 remote area hospitals commissioned by the Nick Simons Institute (NSI).One day this week, an informal survey of patients at the government-run Bir and Teaching Hospitals in Kathmandu showed that a majority of the patients were from remote districts, some as far away as Piuthan and Jajarkot.The NSI study shows that except for caesarean sections in Dolakha, Lamjung and Panchthar, very few government hospitals elsewhere were able to do simple operations of the abdominal cavity, or even mend broken bones.Nepal’s surgery rate falls well below the Lancet Commission target of 5,000 operations per 100,000 population. If the goal is to have a surgical facility within two-hour travel distance for patients, at present only a third of the population can reach an orthopaedic surgeon, and only 22% have access to abdominal surgery.However, the survey reaffirms that the presence of a medical general practitioner (MDGPs who can perform caesarean sections and other relatively simple surgical procedures) can change this. District hospitals with resident MDGPs can eliminate the need for patients to make expensive and extended trips to the cities for treatment.The minimum personnel at a district hospital should include an MDGP, obstretrics doctor, anaesthesia assistant, staff nurse and biomedical technician. However, Nepal’s density of hospitals with such staffing is very low (0.4-3.1 per 100,000) as against the Lancet Commission target of 20 per 100,000 population.“In the long run we need specialists but placing three of them in each district hospital will take a long time. For the next 5-10 years, MDGPs will be the answer to solve surgical problems throughout the country,” explains Anil Shrestha, NSI’s Executive Director.The study recommends an MDGP-led generalist surgical team with proper staff, drugs and equipment to upgrade emergency surgical care in all district hospitals.Adds Shrestha: “The government has to strengthen strategically located district hospitals and make them functional to take care of surgical needs throughout the year. It is entirely possible to do.”Sonia Awale in KavreRead also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health/">Poor health</a>, Editorial <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17650#.Wrydky5ubIV">Resurrection Accham</a>,  Paavan Mathema<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/aim-for-fewer-patients-in-achham-possible-hospital,2022">Boy walked eight days to treat broken arm</a>,  Tsering Dolker Gurung<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nation-free-for-all-healthcare,491#.UbrA4ueLA1s">Free-for-all health</a>,  Duncan Maru and Roshan Bista

Marty Logan

State of the art rural hospital

After a week of violent and destructive protests, Nepal’s President Ram Chandra Poudel on Friday appointed <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Legalese/justice-in-chief,804">former Chief Justice Sushila Karki</a> as a caretaker Prime Minister to lead an interim citizens' government.&nbsp; Poudel had been in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-next-nepal">closed-door discussions since Thursday</a> with youth members who spearheaded the protests, constitutional experts, the House Speaker, and the Army Chief. There was a consensus on the choice of Karki as candidate for interim prime minister, but her swearing-in was stalled due to a disagreement about Constitutional processes for her appointment.&nbsp; Youth delegates and Karki demanded that Parliament be dissolved before the appointment of the caretaker prime minister, while President Poudel had been arguing that Parliament would be automatically dissolved once the new council of ministers announced elections. Representing the GenZ movement, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-or-what-is-hami-nepal">Sudan Gurung</a> (pictured, below) is said to have insisted that dissolution of Parliament first was non-negotiable because he did not trust the political parties. He is said to have added that he would call his supporters out into the streets, and the President relented. The military’s warning earlier that an emergency would be declared if there was no agreement tonight clinched it.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091216098_cdd409c5824b578a04f05a43280e3f475d92bf7123d3a4565b4d720768fcc1b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025091216098_cdd409c5824b578a04f05a43280e3f475d92bf7123d3a4565b4d720768fcc1b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="600" loading="lazy" alt="Sudan Gurung"> <figcaption>Sudan Gurung of Hami Nepali during negotiations.</figcaption> </figure>  With this, Karki becomes Nepal’s first female prime minister, exactly a decade after she became the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/a-woman-is-as-capable-sushila-karki,3375">country’s first female chief justice in 2016</a>.&nbsp; Nepalis, still shocked by the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">death and destruction of the past week</a>, heaved a sigh of relief at the announcement, which was greeted as a victory of youth power for political reform led by the GenZ movement. Its initial anti-corruption protest on 8-9 September <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">spiralled out of control into violence and arson</a> nationwide that claimed at least 51 lives. Several other candidates were floated for the caretaker prime minister’s post. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah and former head of the electricity utility Kulman Ghising were being considered, but both declined possibly because they want to contest the next national elections. Given her experience in the judiciary and zero tolerance for corruption, Karki was the favourite of various groups within the GenZ campaign.&nbsp; The site of the negotiations moved to the official residence of the president in Shital Niwas from the Nepal Army Headquarters on Thursday. The Army had come under criticism on social media and from civil society for detaining the President and not letting him speak or be a part of the negotiation.&nbsp; This fuelled public perception that the military had a soft spot for a return of the monarchy. There were widespread rumours on Thursday that king Gyanendra, who was ousted after the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, was trying to stage a comeback by piggybacking on the agitation. Writing on X, senior journalist Kishore Nepal revealed that the Chief of Army Staff Ashokraj Sigdel had allegedly asked Poudel to step aside and pave the way for the military to negotiate, to which the President is said to have replied: “I will not resign. Kill me instead and blame it on the protesters. Then you can do whatever you like.” Live broadcast of swearing in of Sushila Karki:&nbsp; <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/53go4OxuOa0?si=Zd89QGIAX8-7Bm75" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091219094_41b0f97a5925ab6969e1413636bf073ae43262893a55d9c177cb1312dea52f0d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2025091219094_41b0f97a5925ab6969e1413636bf073ae43262893a55d9c177cb1312dea52f0d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="851" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki swearing in"> <figcaption>President ram Chandra Poudel swearing in Sushila Karki as the 42nd Prime Minister of Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091303098_8f2b6f98898c4cd73c271caa51b8e29d679a7385c249380aeb96d7cc2c3f6dba.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2025091303098_8f2b6f98898c4cd73c271caa51b8e29d679a7385c249380aeb96d7cc2c3f6dba" data-rendition-name="original" width="1480" height="924" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki PM"> <figcaption>GenZ representatives with new Prime Minister Sushila Karki after her swearing in.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091301098_470dbca4f4d34ca4533ce4d160045ffe8e525e98380f6f1e20eb24a6236c6029.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025091301098_470dbca4f4d34ca4533ce4d160045ffe8e525e98380f6f1e20eb24a6236c6029" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki PM"> <figcaption>Sushila Karki with supporters including Genz representative Sudan Gurung of Hami Nepal and Sumana Shrestha of Rastriya Swatantra Party.</figcaption> </figure>  COURAGE AND INTEGRITY Sushila Karki served as the chief justice between 11 July 2016 to 6 June 2017, and has been known for her frugal ways. She was a firebrand judge unafraid to ruffle powerful feathers, and as chief justice was behind ruling to impeach for abuse of office a powerful head of Nepal’s anti-graft body in 2016. She wrote that he had ‘<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Legalese/the-end-of-karkistocracy,827">neither the moral character nor qualifications for the post</a>’. Even before she became Chief Justice, Karki was one of the two judges on the bench that convicted the sitting Minister for Information and Communication, Jaya Prakash Gupta, of corruption in 2012. Then in 2016, a bench including Karki ruled against granting amnesty to former Maoist lawmaker and convicted murderer Bal Krishna Dhungel. Karki was born on 7 June 1952 in Biratnagar. She completed her undergraduate studies at Mahendra Morang College in 1972 before obtaining a postgraduate degree in political science from Banaras Hindu University in India three years later. This was followed by a Bachelor's in Law in 1978 from Tribhuvan University, and she started her law career as an advocate a year later. In 1985, Karki worked as a teacher at Mahendra Multiple Campus in Dharan, and was jailed for participating in the 1990 People’s Movement to overthrow the Panchayat absolute monarchy. She became a senior Advocate at the Nepal Bar Association in 2008 and was appointed an Ad-Hoc Justice at the Supreme Court in January 2009.&nbsp; On Thursday, there were supporters for other candidates for the post sloganeering against Karki’s nomination outside the Army Headquarters. Some on social media were also skeptical of her connection to the Nepali Congress (NC) party. Growing up in Biratnagar Karki was close to the family of B P Koirala, Nepal’s first elected prime minister in 1960. Her husband Durga Subedi was part of a group of underground Congress activists who hijacked a Royal Nepal Airlines plane in 1973, flying it to India to snatch cash belonging to Nepal Rastra Bank in the cargo hold.&nbsp; The money was used for the party’s pro-democracy campaign. Karki has no love lost for the political establishment. In April 2017, the governing coalition under Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/lady-justice-sushila-karki,3693">submitted an impeachment motion against her</a> after the Supreme Court overturned his decision to install a favoured police chief, violating succession based on seniority. It was a political move backed by Dahal’s coalition partner Sher Bahadur Deuba of the NC who was waiting to become prime minister for the 4th time. CHALLENGES AHEAD With Karki now in charge of the interim government, she has the daunting task of forming a council of ministers made up of amorphous and disparate groups from the GenZ, technocrats, and current politicians. Karki has said she will not prevent members of her cabinet from contesting elections, which means those with electoral aspirations like Kulman Ghising, Balen Shah and Sumana Shrestha could be asked to join. Karki has her work cut out as she has to get her team members to pull in the same direction to hold free and fair elections. She also has to make sure she has the support of the military without giving the generals too much say, while also smartly maneuvering Nepal’s precarious geopolitical ties with its giant neighbours, China and India. But most of all, the new prime minister must lay the foundations to not just physically rebuild the judiciary, executive and legislature but also ensure that elections will produce a more accountable and efficient government. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/trial-by-fire">Trial By Fire</a>, Editorial

Madam Prime Minister of Nepal

Many had never heard of <a href="https://www.haminepal.org/">Hami Nepal</a>, the organisation that is part of the GenZ movement that did not just topple the government this week, but <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-next-nepal">pushed Nepal’s political system into new, uncharted territory</a>. It was part of an organic coming together of various youth groups fed up with Nepal’s corruption, mismanagement and lack of accountability. Hami Nepal and its GenZ comrades are now part of the negotiations with the Army to form an interim government. Hami Nepal is a non-profit dedicated to supporting communities and individuals in need, guided by its motto ‘For the People, By the People’. Its core mission is to assist individuals and communities in need, particularly during emergencies and crises, with a focus on directly connecting donors with recipients, and delivering aid efficiently and transparently. It was set up after the 2015 earthquake, but was formally registered and gained recognition in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Hami Nepal is led by 36-year-old civic activist Sudan Gurung who started the organisation after he lost his own son in the 2015 earthquake.&nbsp; Leading up to the events this week, it played a central role in guiding the demonstrations, using its Instagram and Discord platforms to circulate protest information and share guidelines. Other GenZ groups used their own WhatsApp groups and other fora.&nbsp; Among the 20 or so volunteers is Ronesh Pradhan, who spoke to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-gen-z-protest-turns-deadly">Nepali Times on 8 September </a>morning during the GenZ rally, before the violence escalated.&nbsp; “The voices of young people matter. We can’t keep being ruled by the same old men,” Pradhan said. “Our generation is the future and if there are older leaders in government, they need to be competent and accountable. We are ready to lead this country forward.” Hami Nepal’s earliest visible campaigns include donating more than 400 blankets to Bir Hospital’s Covid unit in 2022, creating a plasma and oxygen bank during the pandemic, and distributing school jackets to children in rural districts. More recently, it mounted a relief effort in response to the 2023 Jajarkot earthquake, reaching over 13,000 families with shelter, food, and medical support. The organisation was also associated with the two-month ‘Save Ghopa’ campaign, demanding effective and smooth administration of the BPKIHS (B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences) in Dharan. The organisation was also actively engaged in providing rescue and relief during the Kagbeni and Sindhupalchok floods this year. It even sent aid to Turkey after its 2023 earthquake. After the Kavre floods last year, Hami Nepal donated solar lights. Funding for Hami Nepal comes directly from public donations, with a policy of channeling 100% of received funds for aid distribution. Volunteers self-finance administrative costs, and the group publishes detailed expenditure figures, regularly sharing updates and transparency reports through their social media and website which it launched at its Annual General Meeting in Bhaktapur last year.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250911090920_cd40c472bd7e06cc038a2d77a431cba777b6f53e4374a0216c9af2c4feb56c88.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250911090920_cd40c472bd7e06cc038a2d77a431cba777b6f53e4374a0216c9af2c4feb56c88" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="719" loading="lazy" alt="Who, or what, is Hami Nepal?"> </figure>  Following the death of Nepali student Prakriti Lamsal at KIIT University in India earlier this year, Hami Nepal advocated for justice using its Instagram account, raising concern about the safety of Nepali students. Its advocacy platform started with rescue and relief, and Hami Nepal managed to develop a track record for efficient campaigns and transparency in Nepal’s humanitarian landscape. But its work pushed the group to realise that there was a deeper malaise in Nepali society. Its #youthsagainstcorruption campaign on social media platforms gained rapid momentum, and that led to the rally on 8 September. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">Nepal’s 8 September massacre</a>, Shristi Karki The international #Nepobaby trend on TikTok propelled the rally even more, and young Nepalis used it to expose the scions of powerful politicians and politically-connected influencers who were exhibiting their flashy lifestyles on social media while citizens struggled with joblessness, corruption and poor service delivery. Public anger reached a tipping point when the UML-NC coalition led by Prime Minister K P Oli announced a sweeping ban on major social media platforms citing tax revenue, cyber security, and lack of content moderation. Netizens, civil society and media, however, saw it as the latest authoritarian attempt by the government to clamp down on free speech, increase surveillance of citizens and constrict Nepal’s open society. Susmita Khadka, 22, told us at the rally: “Politics is everywhere. Gen Z has the most platforms, and we want a revolution.” Leading up to 8 September, the GenZ movement disseminated information and reassured participants with volunteers readily available for help, medical support, and assistance. It put up a protest support helpline so that students needing assistance could get help. As the protests intensified, leaving at least 20 dead outside Parliament, and forcing Prime Minister K P Oli to resign, Hami Nepal shifted into a mediator role, engaging in talks with officials and seeking GenZ’s views on future leadership.&nbsp; Influencers like TikToker Nimesh Shrestha publicly backed the group, amplifying their voice in ongoing negotiations with the Nepal Army alongside other GenZ representatives. However, as the protests escalated on 9 September, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">resulting in massive arson and vandalism of public and private property</a>, many GenZ activists disavowed association with the attackers, saying their movement had been infiltrated. The group backtracked, with Gurung saying he was not the leader of the protests.&nbsp; Meanwhile, others accused Hami Nepal for singlehandedly speaking with the Army chief, and said that they did not represent GenZ’s collective voice. Most GenZ supporters backed <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Legalese/justice-in-chief,804">Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki</a> as their candidate for interim prime minister in an online group. Not everyone in the GenZ movement agrees with that choice, with support for Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, even though he has endorsed Karki’s appointment. Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang rushed to Kathmandu on Wednesday to push his own candidacy. Hami Nepal has supported Balen Shah to lead the country for the next five years, not just during the interim period, and have called on the public to share their posts supporting Shah to amplify the message. With the old guard gone, there is a power vacuum with multiple actors with competing interests to fill it. GenZ’s youth-led activism has brought new energy for political reform, but its real test begins now — whether it can unite Hami Nepal and other sections to negotiate with the Nepal Army.&nbsp;

Who, or what, is Hami Nepal?

As this story is being uploaded on Wednesday evening, sloganeering is going on outside the gates of the Nepal Army headquarters in Kathmandu between various GenZ groups about who should be the caretaker prime minister.&nbsp; The GenZ campaign includes Hami Nepal and several other groups that spearheaded the anti-government rally this week against corruption and neoptism. Thirty people died as the protests in Kathmandu turned violent on Monday and Tuesday. After Prime Minister K P Oli stepped down on Tuesday, Nepal has existed in a power vacuum, with no one really in charge. The Nepal Army took over security management from Monday night, and President Ram Chandra Poudel appealed to Nepali youth to come to the negotiating table.&nbsp; Thousands of GenZ youth held hours long discussions on Discord and other online fora on Wednesday, and voted to endorse former Chief Justice Sushila Karki to lead the transitional government. The group informed Chief of Army Staff Ashokraj Sigdel about their choice, but he has also been meeting leaders of at least 12 other groups claiming to be the genuine GenZs. Among them are royalist and other groups that many saw as having infiltrated the GenZ rally on Monday in which 20 people were killed while trying to storm Parliament.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910170936_4efefa67f54228154d316ca692838c3d0c078f5f9ec96ea68cfc4ca740f4df4d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250910170936_4efefa67f54228154d316ca692838c3d0c078f5f9ec96ea68cfc4ca740f4df4d" data-rendition-name="original" width="640" height="387" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki"> <figcaption>Photo: SHAHIDUL ALAM</figcaption> </figure>  On Tuesday, disparate groups joined the arson and looting that ended up gutting Singha Darbar, the Parliament and Supreme Court buildings and attacks on party offices, media, schools and private residences across the country. The original GenZ disavowed involvement.&nbsp; 'Nepal's 2015 Constitution does not envision any transitional or emergency provisions to address a state of political and constitutional vacuum. For now, the President, per Article 273 of the Constitution, can exercise emergency powers in light of the current situation,’ wrote former National Human Rights Commissioner Mohna Ansari on social media on Wednesday evening. The President can declare a state of emergency per Article 273 of the Constitution, but that must be endorsed by a two-third majority of Parliament within a month, after which it will be in effect for three months. ‘Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki is the best option to address the adverse circumstances prevailing in the nation. The President must heed the Constitution and take the next steps in a manner that is transparent, keeps the public informed, and is in the national interest,’ Ansari added.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910140912_019d62de4b62a366299a27d1276e931a7dadefcc674441e7fb3acd503970efaf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250910140912_019d62de4b62a366299a27d1276e931a7dadefcc674441e7fb3acd503970efaf" data-rendition-name="original" width="8000" height="5760" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal in ashes"> <figcaption>Photos: KAMAL PRASAI</figcaption> </figure>  The Gen Z movement itself appears fragmented and without distinct leadership, both before the anti-corruption protests on 8 September and in the aftermath of the two-day protests.&nbsp; Various groups are said to have met or waited to meet the Gen Sigdel on Wednesday. The Army told others claiming to be GenZ and raising slogans against Karki’s candidacy to appear at the army headquarters on Thursday.&nbsp; Nepalis had floated the names of some of Nepal’s more acceptable public figures to lead a caretaker government, including Kathmandu mayor Balen Shah. But Shah told the Army chief he endorsed Sushila Karki’s nomination. <div class="embed-block"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FbalenOfficial%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02M9CBZiWETz4qocKaYUG6ZSZ4ARNcq231V8edJJVGQhPLmpSRMdv1mTWM2q7mJijjl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="256" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div> The names of former NEA chief Kulman Ghising and ex-education minister Sumana Shrestha of the RSP had also been proposed.&nbsp; Polls conducted on social media to gauge public sentiment show a significant number are open to Sushila Karki taking charge of a transitional government. Both Shah and Shrestha are not so keen, and are probably waiting to contest elections.&nbsp; Meanwhile, Nepal’s young reform campaigners largely seem to reject the idea of handing leadership to RSP chair Rabi Lamichhane who was retrieved by supporters on Tuesday from Nakhhu jail after eight months of incarceration for embezzling depositers of cooperatives. But even as GenZ held discussions with the Army chief to decide on the interim government, other interest groups have continued to engage as well. Erstwhile royalist businessman Durga Prasai, posted a photo of himself with Sigdel on social media and professed that he has 'no interest' in leadership and would accept whomever GenZ youth chose. The job of the caretaker government, whoever leads it, will primarily be to hold free and fair elections for a new leadership which will then face the challenge of reestablishing Nepal’s democratic institutions.&nbsp; “The course of events showed that the movement has gone beyond Constitutional remedy,” political analyst Krishna Khanal told BBC Nepali following erstwhile Prime Minister Oli’s resignation on Tuesday. “There needs to be a middle-ground solution that will be acceptable to the people who took to the streets while upholding the existing constitutional process.” Various GenZ collectives have issued demands that include the dissolution of Parliament and the formation of a new civilian government, which analysts say are antithetical. Constitutional experts have suggested that the youth opt for a solution that allows for new leadership to move forward under the current Constitution.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910140912_e6bf05bfe95f519e05ab8d9016587211b241340fd23a0f9ae728e74747fc5f29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250910140912_e6bf05bfe95f519e05ab8d9016587211b241340fd23a0f9ae728e74747fc5f29" data-rendition-name="original" width="8064" height="6048" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal in ashes"> </figure>  One option, they say, is for the President to appoint any prime minister from the existing Parliament under Article 76(5) if all other measures fail, who would then have the authority to appoint up to 25 non-elected ministers for six months. This can be a way for that temporary leadership to hold elections within the mandated time frame. The existing Constitution can then be amended to accommodate the aspirations of the Nepali youth after the election.&nbsp; But any conditions put forward by GenZ youth that requires a new Constitution might set Nepal back years, warn some experts. The 2015 Constitution was the result of nearly 10 years of negotiations and strife, and the formation of another charter will mean that Nepal will head into decades more of rotating governments and political instability. For now, Nepali youth need to unite to decide by Thursday who leads the country into the next phase.&nbsp;

What next, Nepal?

Edited: The paragraph about K P Oli's whereabouts has been deleted. On Wednesday morning, orange flames are still leaping out of the windows of Singha Darbar. Fire trucks which could finally make their way in, were trying to douse the fires. Most of the ministries inside Singha Darbar, including the Prime Minister’s Office, are charred hulks. Singha Darbar’s imposing west facade built by Chandra Shumsher Rana 117 years ago and the hall where he met visiting foreign envoys was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. It was restored last year to its original splendour with stained glass windows and an ornate ceiling. After demonstrators entered the central government secretariat on 9 September they set the entire complex on fire. Dozens of SUVs and cars that were smashed and burnt litter the parking lot.&nbsp; Across to the south at the Supreme Court, a fire truck belonging to Kathmandu Metropolitan City is trying to put out the flames. The building is still smoking, and hundreds of case files have gone up in flames. There is now also a threat from escaped prisoners from jails all over the country.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100936_fd21ff82606c8ab6ec729b3758edb70e7f4498004d71ba7a857a86c9fb75f786.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250910100936_fd21ff82606c8ab6ec729b3758edb70e7f4498004d71ba7a857a86c9fb75f786" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1066" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>Supreme Court sustained heavy damages following Tuesday's arson.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100932_6c36bde0847f90934f6a40086a92573c1eec8f2967a4ddc59d79a56c08495628.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250910100932_6c36bde0847f90934f6a40086a92573c1eec8f2967a4ddc59d79a56c08495628" data-rendition-name="original" width="7008" height="4672" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>Nepal Army cleaning up the debris outside the main gate of Singha Darbar.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091010098_f4c7d857ae1111968223d20ad02bda6ac0127a3fe4caaa779b35d0e8f07b3529.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025091010098_f4c7d857ae1111968223d20ad02bda6ac0127a3fe4caaa779b35d0e8f07b3529" data-rendition-name="original" width="7008" height="4672" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>The grand staircase leading to the upper balcony of the Parliament building.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100916_39154c14faa25b5a8838f75c9cb4aa7505f228bd344e19c8e29209cebfb25d46.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250910100916_39154c14faa25b5a8838f75c9cb4aa7505f228bd344e19c8e29209cebfb25d46" data-rendition-name="original" width="6526" height="4350" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>Nepal Army armoured car guarding the Baneswor intersection outside Parliament.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100916_1dabfef07b909c916aa462b7c0bb62a1db96ebe4f0b52d61f71140edffd429f4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250910100916_1dabfef07b909c916aa462b7c0bb62a1db96ebe4f0b52d61f71140edffd429f4" data-rendition-name="original" width="6677" height="4451" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>The row of electric vehicle showrooms in Thapathali were all torched with the cars inside.</figcaption> </figure>  Interestingly, the under construction Supreme Court, and the newly-built Parliament Complex are untouched. The current Parliament is housed in the Birendra International Convention Centre (BICC) built by the Chinese in 1993, and was the first target of protesters on 8 September. Outside its gates was where 20 students were shot and killed as they tried to storm the gates. After Tuesday’s mayhem, Kathmandu’s streets are now under control of the Nepal Army which has imposed a nationwide curfew. K P Oli was whisked out of his official residence in Baluwatar on Tuesday.&nbsp; Tuesday and Wednesday saw additional 8 casualties, including policemen who were lynched in Tinkune and Budanilkantha.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100916_1e93335333741ec809cff95e27e7b714bfea6af527c94c6f74f7cbd311562bbf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250910100916_1e93335333741ec809cff95e27e7b714bfea6af527c94c6f74f7cbd311562bbf" data-rendition-name="original" width="6539" height="4360" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>The parking area of the Department of Roads with a row of charred cars (also below).</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100920_a3e5a54cf11411c8b81a7b2a01c0f43bff451f343b7b2ce35de70d5719f35d30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250910100920_a3e5a54cf11411c8b81a7b2a01c0f43bff451f343b7b2ce35de70d5719f35d30" data-rendition-name="original" width="7008" height="4672" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100920_e75830d7d0e87dc8c451be3caccf1f00ef858b8299a20fe8c7dc8805d83a82aa.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250910100920_e75830d7d0e87dc8c451be3caccf1f00ef858b8299a20fe8c7dc8805d83a82aa" data-rendition-name="original" width="6726" height="4484" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>A police vehicle set on fire by demonstrators at Patan Darbar Square on Tuesday.</figcaption> </figure>  The Army is negotiating with the president and representatives of the GenZ campaign that includes Hami Nepal group that organised the protests to form a new government. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki have been named as potential candidates to lead the new government The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has decided to keep Kathmandu airport closed for all domestic and international flights ‘until further notice’. Update: The video of a flight attendant speakling on social media has now been found to be fake. The error is regretted.&nbsp;