<figure><img width="1500" height="900" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636be9ea9c7e80680e0878eajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Actress Shilpa Maskey in Maya Handicrafts Jewelry's Asarfi mala necklace and Former Miss Nepal Shrinkhala Khatiwada promoting her own line of Glambisque palette. Photos: MAYA HANDICRAFTS JEWELRY and GLAMBISQUE INSTAGRAM</figcaption></figure>Staff at <a href="https://mayahjewelry.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maya Handicrafts Jewelry</a> in Thamel, are busy these days managing delivery for handmade silver jewellery ordered by customers in Kathmandu, Butwal, Pokhara, Dharan, as well as from outside Nepal. The store has seen its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-e-shopping-booms-under-covid-19/">online sales peak</a> despite the pandemic, making for up to 70% of total transactions. Encouraged by their success, the owners opened Nakkali, to sell gold-plated jewellery. Up to 90% sales are currently conducted through digital platforms. “Nepalis now have an easy access to online shopping because of increased Internet connectivity. This, coupled with better online service has translated into healthy digital sales. The pandemic has only accelerated the growth,” says Samir Shakya of Maya Handicrafts. Following the Covid-19 lockdown, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/glambisque/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Glambisque</a>, an up-and-coming Nepali cosmetics brand, shut down its stores in Lazimpat and Labim Mall. Since then, the two-year-old company has been operating only online. The sales have been more or less the same, but 100% driven by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-budding-e-commerce-ecosystem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital transactions</a>. “At this rate we won’t even need to have physical stores anymore when things get back to normal,” says Shalini Rana of Glambisque. “<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/daraz-finds-nepalis-still-shy-to-shop-online/">People weren’t comfortable</a> with online shopping in the past. Lockdowns and safety protocols however forced them to try it out. And upon finding that it’s reliable and convenient, they have now gotten used to it.” Small and medium businesses like Maya Handicrafts Jewelry and Glambisque use social media sites like Instagram and Facebook, to market their products. Increasingly, more companies are also using e-commerce platforms like Daraz and Sastodeal to advertise their goods. Payments are usually made via e-wallets (e-Sewa, Khalti, IME pay) or by cash on delivery. Goods are either home delivered or couriered if clients are outside Kathmandu.  <figure><img width="1000" height="667" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636be9ee9c7e80680e0878ebjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Nepal was already transitioning to e-commerce and digital market, but the pandemic sped up the process and provided a much-needed boost,” explains digital marketer, Saniaa Shah.  “Even so, businesses with a hybrid presence are ahead of the others. Also, certain categories such as healthy food, fitness and gadgets which are directly on the rise due to the pandemic are more popular,” she adds.   Many people turned to organic produce and super foods during the pandemic, with the hope of building immunity against coronavirus. The inclination towards a healthy diet and fitness caused online grocery and health stores to thrive.    The increasing need to stay ‘online’ has also had an impact on businesses selling electronic items. People have been upgrading their smartphones and computers for webinars and online classes, which increased business for gadgets and repair shops.  <a href="https://hamrobazaar.com/">Hamrobazaar</a> online classified has seen 40% increase in overall traffic since the pandemic. Categories like computers and laptops and two wheelers — because public transport is now considered unsafe — have the most enquires in this Nepali version of eBay.   Covid-19 seems to have made people health conscious as well as tech savvy.  Bibek Neupane of <a href="https://juasstore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Juas Health Food Store</a> says, “Before the pandemic, people interested in our products used to ask for our physical stores. Now they call us up for home delivery of ayurvedic items like shilajit, and Keto diet ingredients.” Capitalising on the growing online market, former Miss Nepal Anushka Shrestha also recently launched <a href="https://www.facebook.com/makkuse.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Makkusé</a>, an online dessert store that specialises in Nepal's authentic and traditional sweets (such as Gundpak and Pustakari) with modern touch.  <figure><img width="739" height="399" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636be9f09c7e80680e0878ecjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Not all businesses have found the trend towards online shopping as encouraging. Despite demand and overwhelming enquiries, <a href="https://misumicosmetics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Misumi Korean cosmetics</a> in Labim Mall has not been able to stock up because they haven’t been able to import goods due to lockdowns and restrictions. The recently launched online handicraft store, <a href="https://www.durbar-square.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Durbar Square</a>, is also still waiting for sales to pick up. Even so, Suresh Shrestha of <a href="https://www.ratnabook.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ratna Books</a> says the shift towards online shopping has other benefits besides a growth in sales. “It has also allowed us to understand the taste of our consumers. This is an invaluable information for better future planning,” he says.  <figure><img width="1000" height="667" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636be9f29c7e80680e0878edjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nepal’s proposed Electronic Commerce Bill is expected to standardise online transitions while protecting user data and privacy. It also has provisions for easy return, exchange and refunds, and traders found violating the rules will be fined up to Rs300,000. As per the draft, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/outdated-laws-limited-ecommerce-hold-back-tech-industry%20,3547">e-commerce</a> businesses will need to be registered with the Company Registrar Office and obtain a licence to operate, which needs to be renewed every year. Despite the entry into Nepal’s online retail market of China’s <a href="https://www.alibaba.com/?src=sem_ggl&amp;cmpgn=407465347&amp;adgrp=26917222987&amp;fditm=&amp;tgt=kwd-40556346123&amp;locintrst=&amp;locphyscl=1011034&amp;mtchtyp=e&amp;ntwrk=g&amp;device=c&amp;dvcmdl=&amp;creative=232561557314&amp;plcmnt=&amp;plcmntcat=&amp;p1=&amp;p2=&amp;aceid=&amp;position=&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8IPYmonx7QIVCX8rCh0F_g5tEAAYASAAEgKfrvD_BwE">Alibaba</a> through <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/daraz-launches-stimulus-package-to-promote-e-commerce/">Daraz</a> and India’s <a href="https://www.flipkart.com/">Flipkart</a> via <a href="https://www.sastodeal.com/">Sastodeal</a>, e-commerce is still at a nascent stage. But one of the side effects of Covid-19 is that it is set to grow in the next few years as more people find online shopping safe, convenient and time efficient. “This boom in online shopping is driven by pandemic-induced need. It might be challenging to sustain it, but not if we improve consumers’ online shopping experience,” says Manohar Adhikari of <a href="https://foodmandu.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Foodmandu</a>. “Stocking up on quality goods, and improved infrastructure with a reliable street address system would be key in upping the online shopping game," he adds.

Sonia Awale

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Nepal goes online shopping in 2020

<figure><img width="1500" height="900" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0cf4b0ad905ca02f033jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Actress Shilpa Maskey in Maya Handicrafts Jewelry's Asarfi mala necklace and Former Miss Nepal Shrinkhala Khatiwada promoting her own line of Glambisque palette. Photos: MAYA HANDICRAFTS JEWELRY and GLAMBISQUE INSTAGRAM</figcaption></figure>Staff at <a href="https://mayahjewelry.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maya Handicrafts Jewelry</a> in Thamel, are busy these days managing delivery for handmade silver jewellery ordered by customers in Kathmandu, Butwal, Pokhara, Dharan, as well as from outside Nepal. The store has seen its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-e-shopping-booms-under-covid-19/">online sales peak</a> despite the pandemic, making for up to 70% of total transactions. Encouraged by their success, the owners opened Nakkali, to sell gold-plated jewellery. Up to 90% sales are currently conducted through digital platforms. “Nepalis now have an easy access to online shopping because of increased Internet connectivity. This, coupled with better online service has translated into healthy digital sales. The pandemic has only accelerated the growth,” says Samir Shakya of Maya Handicrafts. Following the Covid-19 lockdown, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/glambisque/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Glambisque</a>, an up-and-coming Nepali cosmetics brand, shut down its stores in Lazimpat and Labim Mall. Since then, the two-year-old company has been operating only online. The sales have been more or less the same, but 100% driven by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-budding-e-commerce-ecosystem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital transactions</a>. “At this rate we won’t even need to have physical stores anymore when things get back to normal,” says Shalini Rana of Glambisque. “<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/daraz-finds-nepalis-still-shy-to-shop-online/">People weren’t comfortable</a> with online shopping in the past. Lockdowns and safety protocols however forced them to try it out. And upon finding that it’s reliable and convenient, they have now gotten used to it.” Small and medium businesses like Maya Handicrafts Jewelry and Glambisque use social media sites like Instagram and Facebook, to market their products. Increasingly, more companies are also using e-commerce platforms like Daraz and Sastodeal to advertise their goods. Payments are usually made via e-wallets (e-Sewa, Khalti, IME pay) or by cash on delivery. Goods are either home delivered or couriered if clients are outside Kathmandu.  <figure><img width="1000" height="667" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0d24b0ad905ca02f034jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Nepal was already transitioning to e-commerce and digital market, but the pandemic sped up the process and provided a much-needed boost,” explains digital marketer, Saniaa Shah.  “Even so, businesses with a hybrid presence are ahead of the others. Also, certain categories such as healthy food, fitness and gadgets which are directly on the rise due to the pandemic are more popular,” she adds.   Many people turned to organic produce and super foods during the pandemic, with the hope of building immunity against coronavirus. The inclination towards a healthy diet and fitness caused online grocery and health stores to thrive.    The increasing need to stay ‘online’ has also had an impact on businesses selling electronic items. People have been upgrading their smartphones and computers for webinars and online classes, which increased business for gadgets and repair shops.  <a href="https://hamrobazaar.com/">Hamrobazaar</a> online classified has seen 40% increase in overall traffic since the pandemic. Categories like computers and laptops and two wheelers — because public transport is now considered unsafe — have the most enquires in this Nepali version of eBay.   Covid-19 seems to have made people health conscious as well as tech savvy.  Bibek Neupane of <a href="https://juasstore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Juas Health Food Store</a> says, “Before the pandemic, people interested in our products used to ask for our physical stores. Now they call us up for home delivery of ayurvedic items like shilajit, and Keto diet ingredients.” Capitalising on the growing online market, former Miss Nepal Anushka Shrestha also recently launched <a href="https://www.facebook.com/makkuse.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Makkusé</a>, an online dessert store that specialises in Nepal's authentic and traditional sweets (such as Gundpak and Pustakari) with modern touch.  <figure><img width="739" height="399" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0d54b0ad905ca02f035jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Not all businesses have found the trend towards online shopping as encouraging. Despite demand and overwhelming enquiries, <a href="https://misumicosmetics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Misumi Korean cosmetics</a> in Labim Mall has not been able to stock up because they haven’t been able to import goods due to lockdowns and restrictions. The recently launched online handicraft store, <a href="https://www.durbar-square.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Durbar Square</a>, is also still waiting for sales to pick up. Even so, Suresh Shrestha of <a href="https://www.ratnabook.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ratna Books</a> says the shift towards online shopping has other benefits besides a growth in sales. “It has also allowed us to understand the taste of our consumers. This is an invaluable information for better future planning,” he says.  <figure><img width="1000" height="667" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0d64b0ad905ca02f036jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nepal’s proposed Electronic Commerce Bill is expected to standardise online transitions while protecting user data and privacy. It also has provisions for easy return, exchange and refunds, and traders found violating the rules will be fined up to Rs300,000. As per the draft, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/outdated-laws-limited-ecommerce-hold-back-tech-industry%20,3547">e-commerce</a> businesses will need to be registered with the Company Registrar Office and obtain a licence to operate, which needs to be renewed every year. Despite the entry into Nepal’s online retail market of China’s <a href="https://www.alibaba.com/?src=sem_ggl&amp;cmpgn=407465347&amp;adgrp=26917222987&amp;fditm=&amp;tgt=kwd-40556346123&amp;locintrst=&amp;locphyscl=1011034&amp;mtchtyp=e&amp;ntwrk=g&amp;device=c&amp;dvcmdl=&amp;creative=232561557314&amp;plcmnt=&amp;plcmntcat=&amp;p1=&amp;p2=&amp;aceid=&amp;position=&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8IPYmonx7QIVCX8rCh0F_g5tEAAYASAAEgKfrvD_BwE">Alibaba</a> through <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/daraz-launches-stimulus-package-to-promote-e-commerce/">Daraz</a> and India’s <a href="https://www.flipkart.com/">Flipkart</a> via <a href="https://www.sastodeal.com/">Sastodeal</a>, e-commerce is still at a nascent stage. But one of the side effects of Covid-19 is that it is set to grow in the next few years as more people find online shopping safe, convenient and time efficient. “This boom in online shopping is driven by pandemic-induced need. It might be challenging to sustain it, but not if we improve consumers’ online shopping experience,” says Manohar Adhikari of <a href="https://foodmandu.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Foodmandu</a>. “Stocking up on quality goods, and improved infrastructure with a reliable street address system would be key in upping the online shopping game," he adds.

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.

Galaxy A series

The war in West Asia has exposed the fragility of the economic architecture Nepal has built on over two generations. If the conflict continues, growth across developing Asia will slow and prices will rise. For Nepal, this will be felt through higher living costs, weaker economic activity, and growing uncertainty for the millions of families who depend on remittances.&nbsp; Nepal now needs to structurally transform from exporting labour to investing in domestic job creation. &nbsp; The country's current path toward a knowledge economy has a blind spot. A <a href="https://iids.org.np/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/unleashing.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> by the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) in Kathmandu shows that IT export companies alone generated 7,228 jobs and income for 66,509 freelancers.&nbsp; We are building digital labour export, not an economy that accumulates institutional knowledge. The Nepali Upwork developer and a migrant construction worker in the Gulf are engaged in the same economic activity, but with different tools. Nepal’s reliance on a <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?locations=NP" target="_blank">remittance-driven economy,</a> means the country has failed to create enough <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nepal/publication/unlocking-nepal-s-growth-potential" target="_blank">quality jobs</a> at home. For millions of young people, leaving the country is not a choice but a necessity to survive and support families back home. <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nepal/publication/unlocking-nepal-s-growth-potential" target="_blank">Remittances</a> have no doubt helped reduce poverty. Thirty years ago, 55% of Nepal’s population lived on less than $2.15 a day, now it is 20% after the absolute poverty line was revised upwards. This progress has come at a cost — &nbsp;an economy that depends more on exporting workers than creating opportunities at home. This development reflects a deeper political failure to create meaningful jobs within the country. Since the democratic transition in 1991, Nepal’s leadership has largely recycled the same faces, with limited progress on job creation or industrial growth.&nbsp; Nepal cannot build a <a href="https://nipore.org/accelerating-nepals-startups/" target="_blank">knowledge economy</a> while its most ambitious people are outbound to Doha and Tokyo. We are also not just losing ‘labour’. We are losing the entrepreneurial risk tolerance of our youth.&nbsp; If the most ambitious 25-year-olds are abroad, who is left to support innovation and entrepreneurship? The same people who are working tirelessly abroad, are our biggest asset for development. Their work ethic and the know-how inurban renewal could well fit into the new RSP government’s mandate of 7% annual growth.&nbsp; The <a href="https://english.biznessnews.com/posts/-nepal%E2%80%99s-it-exports-cross-1-billion-" target="_blank">$1B milestone</a> of IT exports is a celebratory moment for Nepal. However, that cannot lead to a pathway to a $100 billion economy without innovation ecosystems that go beyond individual labour export. Companies like SecurityPal and industry associations such as NASIT have made significant efforts in building such an environment, recently championed by private sector leaders as a &nbsp;<a href="https://www.securitypalhq.com/blog/silicon-peaks" target="_blank">Silicon Peaks</a> model that emphasises a home growth tech cluster. The need to accelerate this transition is even more urgent with the escalating conflict in West Asia. &nbsp;The recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) <a href="https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/Nepal%20LDC%20Graduation%20Employment%20Impacts%20Report.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> shows that LDC graduation is expected to adversely impact manufacturing with losses of $1 billion by 2030.&nbsp; If manufacturing takes such a large hit from losing trade preferences, then Nepal’s services and IT sectors need to structurally transform and shift from exporting individual talent to building firms. &nbsp; A generation’s frustration has finally forced a shift in Nepal’s political structure, handing the new government a clear mandate to fix failures. But the question still persists: what prevents Nepal from achieving sustained, productivity-driven growth? &nbsp;&nbsp; RSP is in the right place at the right time to put Nepal's economy on a firm footing. At the heart of Nepal’s economic underperformance lies a major development binding constraint: low returns to investment on projects.&nbsp; The government invests like a high-growth economy, with gross capital formation at around <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.GDI.FTOT.ZS?locations=NP" target="_blank">25–30 percent of GDP</a>. Yet economic growth remains modest. The problem is not how much the country invests, but how little it gets in return. One way to see this is by looking at how much investment is required to generate growth.&nbsp; Nepal needs large amounts of capital to produce relatively small gains in output (graph, below). For instance, in 2024, the ICOR was 8.29, this suggests that Nepal had to invest more than 8 units of capital to produce a one unit of additional economic output.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260406040412_605dc527641d2ff2dc5723ed8bbec946898331d5538a55b9941e32a0725bf811.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260406040412_605dc527641d2ff2dc5723ed8bbec946898331d5538a55b9941e32a0725bf811" data-rendition-name="original" width="1827" height="925" loading="lazy" alt="Economy graph"> <figcaption>Source: Author's calculation based on a Growth Diagnostic simulation</figcaption> </figure>  This reflects a deeper issue in how investment is allocated and executed. Capital is often locked in low-productivity sectors or diluted by delays, inefficiencies, and policy uncertainty.&nbsp; As a result, even high levels of investment fail to translate into sustained growth. Until investment shifts toward productive, firm-building activities, higher spending alone will not deliver results. &nbsp; To reverse this, the government must focus on raising the returns to investment by enabling firms to grow and compete. This requires a shift from managing scarcity to creating an environment where capital can generate consistent and predictable returns. A central priority should be given to attracting and retaining both domestic and foreign private investment. Investors do not just respond to direct incentives, but also to policy stability in the country. Nepal’s economy cannot sustain high growth if its human capital continues to leave the country.&nbsp; The goal should not simply be to create jobs, but to build companies that scale, innovate, and compete beyond Nepal. This requires supporting sectors with strong productivity potential and ensuring that firms can expand without being constrained by infrastructure gaps or regulatory friction. Finally, the state must improve the quality of its own investment. Public spending should focus on lowering the cost of doing business through reliable electricity, efficient logistics, and digital infrastructure.&nbsp; The GenZ movement took two days to bring change. The economic transformation of Nepal might take a generation. The RSP can accelerate this transition, but only if it focuses on building a better investment climate for business and not just feeding the global labour pool. Kailash Raj Pandey is an MPA/ID and MBA candidate at Harvard Kennedy School and MIT Sloan School of Management and a fellow at MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Innovation and Prosperity.&nbsp; Siddhartha Raymajhí is a policy researcher based in Kathmandu.

Creating a firm future for Nepal

Know your Ministers

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.

super-food

Nepal goes online shopping in 2020

Nepal goes online shopping in 2020

Galaxy A series

Creating a firm future for Nepal

Know your Ministers

Nepal’s new government springs into action