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No other national football player has represented Nepal more often than Biraj Maharjan. The 30-year-old, who made 73 international appearances for Nepal in his defending career spanning 13 years, debuted against Pakistan in 2008. Mahrajan was in the national squad that won gold at the 2016 South Asian Games and took home the trophies at the Bangabandhu Gold Cup (2016), AFC Solidarity Cup (2016), and Three Nations Cup (2021).

On the domestic front, Maharjan debuted with Sankata Boys SC in 2006. Further on, he has played for New Road Team (NRT), Three Star Club, Manang Marshyangdi Club, Machhindra FC, and Butwal-Lumbini FC. The veteran footballer has three Martyrs Memorial A-Division League titles under his belt—one each with Three Star (2012-13), Manang Marshyangdi (2018-19), and Machhindra (2019-20).

One of the most decorated Nepali footballers in recent times, Maharjan retired from national duties in 2021, the March 29 final of the Three Nations Cup against Bangladesh being his last appearance in red and blue. Coinciding with the ongoing Euro and Copa America tournaments, Pratik Ghimire caught up with Maharjan to talk about his post-retirement life and state of Nepali football.

How does it feel to hang up your national boots?

As I am still playing at the club-level, I don’t feel like I have retired. The previous month went well as we participated in the Nepal Super League (NSL). Right now, I am enjoying quality time with my family. Of course, I miss the national jersey, but we must accept that every beginning also has an end.

Biraj Maharjan thanks the supporters after Nepal beats Bangladesh 2-1 in Three Nations Cup final on March 29. It was also his last match in national jersey | Sunita Dangol

I will play a couple more seasons in the domestic league and then see what lies ahead for me. Even then, I am certain that I will be involved with football. I can’t think of life outside it.

Has a time come when Nepali players can survive solely by playing football?

Survival comes with recognition and recognition with opportunities. Earlier, we only had limited opportunities to prove ourselves. But now, it is much more convenient. Those playing for the national squad and the clubs are more financially stable, though aspiring players can still struggle.

The corporate sector should invest more in our young lads. Similarly, the government should categorize players and look after their well-being. They should be free from all forms of tension so that they can give their best on the field.

What kind of an impact will tournaments like NSL have on the national squad?

In my opinion, NSL or a similar league should have been in place at least half a decade ago. If that had happened Nepali football would have reached new heights by now. For instance, we can see how the Indian Super League helped the Indian squad. Besides the growth of good teams, these kinds of franchise-based leagues help boost the confidence of individual players. This in turn directly takes the national team forward.

Having said that, NSL still has a long way to go. I hope the organizers will resolve issues that surfaced in the inaugural edition. The league hasn’t been recognized by FIFA or AFC. The organizers should plan to get the recognition needed for the league to go international. 

The national squad recently got Abdullah Al Mutairi as the new coach. What do you think of his approach to the team?

Coach Abdullah Al Mutairi could have chosen a better team to coach, but he chose Nepal’s national team, considering its potential. Before taking charge, he had studied each player and their position. He has energized the squad with young players. That’s the best part of his approach. We may not have seen great results immediately, but Al Mutairi is preparing our team for a long and glorious run.

I had time to chat with him and found that he has a strong, positive spirit. We had seen his impact on the team within a few games—the attitude, mindset, and confidence level of players is high. I appreciate his efforts.

It’s often said the average height of Nepali players lets them down in international matches. They also appear physically weak.

For a player to deliver excellent performance, he must be physically, mentally, and tactically strong. We have always struggled with physical fitness, but these days we are much better. The national team as well as every club these days have qualified physiotherapists and they help maintain strength. After corporate investment in Nepali football, we have implemented essential diet plans and workouts and accordingly, performance has also improved. Besides, players have also realized it’s a necessity to spend quality time in the gym.

We can’t say it all boils down to it, but yes, the height disadvantage has contributed to many of our losses. In 2010, when we were playing Afghanistan during the SAF championship in Delhi, an Afghan player had jumped right over one of our defenders.

How have things changed after the infamous ‘match fixing’ scandal in 2015?

Those were the ‘black days’ of our football history and everyone—players, staff, and officials—was confused about the future. After the news broke, we were devastated, and it took a few months for us to recover. In between, we lost to Sri Lanka for the first time. Nothing was going well. But then coach Patrick Aussems entered the scene and helped revive the national team. Similar to what Al Mutairi is doing now, he refreshed the squad, provided exposure to young talents, and exuded a positive mentality, which we needed the most at that time.

For me, this was a turning point in our football. Every sector supported and helped us and soon, we won the Bangabandhu Gold Cup and the gold at the SAG. Our team has never looked back since.

For a long time, the SAF championship has been the gold standard for Nepal. When do you think the team can look for titles beyond this?

The SAF championship is like the World Cup to us. But I also think now is the time to aim for greater heights. We are in the third round of Asian Cup qualifiers this time and hopefully, our team will stage a good performance there.

Japan is one of the strongest teams in Asia and they have the goal of winning the World Cup in the next 50 years. We could also set a timeline to qualify for the World Cup. This timeline could be a couple of decades long. If all sectors work together, this dream is not so far-fetched. Nepali football team is always thankful for the immense support from spectators and we know they will always root for us. This will motivate our team to do better in every match.

In his budget speech for the fiscal year 2018/19, then finance minister Yubaraj Khatiwada had announced plans to provide a loan of up to Rs. 0.7 million to aspiring entrepreneurs by accepting their degree certificates as collateral. Since then, every year, speculations over the plan peak for a while during the budget period. Yet only a handful of people have benefitted from the scheme so far.

During the Panchayat period, then Prime Minister Kirti Nidhi Bista had first announced a plan to provide loans to educated but unemployed youths against their degree certificates to help them set up businesses. But the plan never took off. When Prakash Chandra Lohani, one of the key Panchayat figures, became finance minister in 2003, he resuscitated the idea. But his plans too were limited to paper.

In his budget speech for 2021/22, Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel once again announced loans of up to Rs. 2.5 million to aspiring entrepreneurs by accepting their university degree certificates as collateral.

Following Khatiwada’s announcement last year, Nepal Rastra Bank had issued a directive to banks to allow this kind of loan. According to the central bank, 142 project leads have taken out loans against their graduate certificates so far. “The loan amount has also increased from Rs. 0.7 million to Rs. 2.5 million,” says NRB Spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal. The NRB is now coming up with a new directive to implement Finance Minister Paudel’s program, says Dhakal

Any unemployed individual with a Bachelor’s degree can apply for a loan, officials say. If a bank trusts the business plan, it can issue the loan. Dhakal adds, “The bank should be convinced that the business plan is promising.”

That only a handful of people have benefitted from the project shows that the scheme is problematic, says former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal. In addition to the complicated directives from the central bank, Nepali banks don’t have human resources to assess the feasibility of business plans. If someone comes with an idea and submits a proposal to a bank, the proposal cannot be properly accessed. “Without proper infrastructures and human resources, we can’t expect any such scheme to succeed,” he adds.

Even for those selected under the scheme, the banks offer them loans in installments rather than a lump sum. “Just as you get installments to complete your home affected by the quake, you get installments from the bank only after you show the bank your project’s progress,” says Dhakal.

Bank representatives inspect the project periodically to decide whether to issue the next installment. Also, the bank may also choose to issue the payment to the concerned business instead of the individual loan-taker so that the fund is not misused.

In other countries where such programs have been implemented, if a skilled person asks for a loan against their academic credentials, the bank helps them prepare a proposal. The banks themselves provide alternative startup plans, if required. For instance, PayPal was a startup proposal financed by a commercial bank. “We don’t see the same spirit and system in Nepal,” adds Khanal.

“Not a single Nepali bank has the mechanism to investigate the future of a project or a startup,” he says, adding the only thing our banks do is evaluate physical collateral and issue loans accordingly.

Govinda Aryal, a resident of Butwal, has a strange experience to share regarding the loan. In 2019, when he approached Nepal Bank Limited for a loan against his certificates, the manager told him that he could get the loan only against something valuable. Acharya explains, “This might have happened as the loan quota may already have been exhausted.”

NRB has provided a quota of 500 and 300 to commercial and development banks respectively for this kind of loan. But banks are still reluctant as they are far from assured they can recover their money if the business fails. “To make every concerned body comfortable, we are working on a new directive,” Acharya tells ApEx.

Most people think this loan system will only benefit political workers, and Khanal is one of the skeptics. “To get a loan against educational certificates in Nepal, either you have to be rich or you should have political backing,” he says.

As the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit Nepal, governments at all levels were under pressure to make quick decisions to save lives. Perhaps local government representatives who are directly in contact with people day to day were under most pressure to help the infected and save terminally ill patients. While some mayors made tall promises and failed to deliver, others led from the front to fight the pandemic. ApEx talked to the heads of nine local bodies asking about their experience managing the crisis.      

Bidur Kumar Karki
Bardibas Municipality

When the second wave of Covid-19 infections hit Nepal and the supply of oxygen needed for treatment was scarce, Bardibas Municipality didn’t have any oxygen plants. As patient numbers began shooting up, the town faced another scarcity: that of trained human resources and medical equipment. 

But Mayor Bidur Kumar Karki didn’t give up hope. His team fought the pandemic making the most of available resources. Karki’s most effective program has been ‘Ghar Gharma Swasthakarmi’ through which a team of medical officers visited every house informing people about the disease. 

Free swab collection for Covid-19 testing at Bardibas Municipality

When the total positive cases hit 98, the city also enforced a tough lockdown--most citizens abided by it. Karki is thankful to every citizen of his city following prohibitory orders. Thanks to the measures, the number of Covid cases in the town has gone down significantly.

But that doesn’t mean the town should let its guard down, says Karki. “We need to prepare for another wave,” he says. “We realized that If we had a hall in every ward, we would have done much better,” Karki says. “So, our municipality has proposed a plan to construct multi-purpose halls in every ward in the coming fiscal year.” 

Bhim Neupane
Panauti Municipality 

Because of its proximity to Dhulikhel and Banepa hospitals, Panauti Municipality never felt the need to set up its own hospital. But this pandemic has taught them a lesson. 

“We will immediately build a hospital in our area,” says Mayor Bhim Neupane, whose team has worked relentlessly to help save lives at the local level.

He rues not getting any assistance from the provincial or central government. “Our municipality and citizens feel left out,” he says, due to the sheer negligence of the authorities who should be acting like our parents. Yet with the help of civil society and non-profits, we are doing our best, he adds.

Neupane and his team built an isolation center in the town so that patients could get basic treatment. Provisions were also made to rush terminally ill patients to Dhulikhel or Banepa. 

“We have enough isolation centers,” Neupane says with confidence as the municipality prepares to fight a possible new wave.

Dilip Kumar Agrawal
Rangeli Municipality

Rangeli municipality didn’t have money to fund its campaign against Covid-19 when the second wave struck. 

The city under Dilip Kumar Agrawal stopped all its development works and funneled the money to combating Covid-19. He faced a lot of criticism for making such a bold move.

“We can build roads later,” Agrawal says. “But right now we need to save people’s lives.” There was a small hospital in their district and a new emergency ward was being constructed when the first wave hit. Agrawal and his team turned that emergency building into a treatment center for infected patients. 

As they didn’t have enough doctors, the city hired more doctors from nearby districts. The municipality brought in oxygen cylinders and PCR test kits from all over the country. 

“Those pieces of equipment were expensive but we didn’t get a dime from the federal government throughout the second wave,” Agrawal says. Budget relocation is going to hurt the municipality’s development but the mayor sees no other option.

Khadga Bahadur Khatri
Kamalamai Municipality

For Kamalamai Municipality, the biggest difficulty was finding a place to isolate sick people. Lack of preparation hurt the town badly and it took time for everyone to come together and build a place for the patients to isolate themselves.

“Finding an appropriate place to set up an isolation center was difficult,” says Mayor Khadga Bahadur Khatri. He and his team allocated a budget for a proper place to keep the patients and a new hospital to treat Covid-19 patients was also built. In addition to the hospital, a total of 47 isolation centres have been set up across town.

Khadga Bahadur Khatri, mayor of Kamalamai Municipality, inquiring about the health of home-isolating people

Following the construction of the new hospital, the city has also installed an oxygen plant to overcome the problem of oxygen shortage. 

As only a small number of vaccine doses have been distributed by the federal government to outlying districts, Khatri has ensured that only eligible people get them. The pandemic’s situation has greatly improved in the municipality and Khatri is confident he and his team are better prepared for another wave.

Laxmi Narsing Bade Shrestha
Banepa Municipality

When the pandemic was at its peak in Banepa, says Mayor Laxmi Narsing Bade Shrestha, they didn’t receive any help from the federal government to manage the crisis.

But that didn’t stop Shrestha from taking action. The municipality’s officials raised funds by diverting the money set aside for the people’s representatives’ allowances. Similarly, budgets for other activities were also diverted. Almost Rs 10.5 million has now been allocated for the health sector.

“A separate hospital for Covid-19 patients has been built,” Shrestha shares. “It has the resources we didn’t have six months ago. We weren’t prepared when the first wave hit. But now that we’ve seen how the worst consequences can be averted, I believe we’re a lot more prepared for action if another wave were to come.”

A group of experts and first-responders has been formed to coordinate efforts against the virus and prepare for future waves.

Nar Bahadur Thapa Magar
Ramechhap Municipality 

Managing quarantine centers for people coming from Kathmandu and other parts of the country was one of the biggest challenges Mayor Nar Bahadur Thapa Magar and his team faced during the second wave of Covid-19. In addition, conducting PCR tests and contact tracing were also difficult due to the shortage of test kits.

Ramechhap Municipality established an Emergency and Disaster Management Fund and designated a committee of experts to run it. Committee members included representatives of the municipality, head of police, CDO, civil society representatives and hospital officials. The committee set up isolation centers in different parts of the city and made provisions for antigen tests to isolate people infected with Covid-19.

When the city faced an oxygen shortage, Magar worked closely with the district hospital to secure supplies. 

Nirsal Sah
Malangwa Municipality 

When the second wave of Covid-19 infections emerged in Malangawa, the city was faced with an acute shortage of oxygen. 

It was then that Mayor Nirsal Sah understood the importance of setting up an oxygen plant at the municipality. The city has now awarded the contract to do so. 

“The oxygen plant that is being installed will come into operation soon,” says Sah, who is disappointed with the federal government for not supporting local officials to manage the Covid-19 crisis. 

But that hasn’t stopped Sah from proactively trying to save lives. Despite the challenges, the city has arranged oxygen and ventilators for the ill. It also has plans to build an isolation center by collaborating with neighboring municipalities. Plus, the mayor has plans to rope in more doctors, experts, and medical personnel to work in his area.

Sah is happy with the help and support from civil society, citizens, NGOs, and donors. “They come to the meeting with suggestions and innovative ideas,” he says.

Rita Kumari Mishra
Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City

When the government enforced a lockdown last year to contain the spread of Covid-19, Deputy Mayor of Janakpurdham Rita Kumari Mishra and her team organized a campaign to make people aware of the effects of the disease and to encourage them to stay home. 

“In addition to running TV ads and radio programs, we opened isolation wards for the sick as soon as positive cases started coming in,” says Mishra.

When the case-load started growing, the municipality encouraged people to isolate themselves. In emergency cases, they were provided with oxygen cylinders and other necessities rather than having their family members going around searching for them.

Officials of Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City inspecting a local isolation center

“When someone tested positive, we shared medical experts and doctor’s phone numbers with them so that they could call them for guidance or information on their symptoms,” Mishra continues. “This quelled their paranoia and also created space in hospitals for patients who actually needed critical care.”

The local government has created a community to battle the virus. The community is divided into five teams, each visiting different wards and collecting information on which families have been infected, how many need assistance, what medical equipment they need and if they need to be shifted to isolation wards.

The second lockdown, however, hasn’t been as effective as the first one. “Daily wage earners are struggling to stay still as they have families to feed,” she shares. Most frontline and daily wage workers are using precautions to stay safe, so the municipality isn’t arguing with them, she adds.

Vaccine dissemination hasn’t been that good either. Frontline workers and a few older citizens have received the first dose but other than that, the majority is still at risk. The municipality is working to get more vaccines into the region so they can reopen again.

Vijay Kumar Sarawagi
Birgunj Metropolitan City

Birgunj is one of the biggest industrial and economic hubs of the country. This status became a curse for the city during the pandemic as it is home to the biggest border crossing between Nepal and India, the epicenter of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Mayor Sarawagi and his team had learned their lesson during the first wave. Lack of testing at the border had allowed infection to spread like wildfire in the city. This time, the city was determined to do something about it.

“We established help desks and health desks at all entry points,” Sarawagi says. The city conducted antigen tests on returnees mobilizing its own resources.

Neither the central government nor provincial authorities helped Birgunj Metropolitan City directly, Sarawagi complains. The government only assisted hospitals and the district administration office. 

But Sarawagi is satisfied with the help the city got from the civil society, district administration, police, doctors, and everyone involved. The mayor is now lobbying with the government to provide vaccines to his citizens.

“The only way to save lives is to vaccinate people,” he concludes.

Birth: 1967, Patan
Death: 5 June 2021, Pulchowk

Raj Kumar Shakya’s family had been into traditional artwork ever since the latter days of the Malla dynasty (13th-18th century). 

The eldest son in the family, Shakya was already into the family profession by the time he was seven. Despite starting so early, Shakya was comfortable working with older artists and taking on large-scale projects. They taught him valuable lessons on perseverance and patience, which in turn would serve him well throughout his career.

By the time he was in his early 20s, Shakya, who embraced repousse (metalwork that involves hammering into relief from the reverse side), had begun working on independent projects. He improved on traditional techniques with the help of modern and scientific methods.  

Shakya was one of only a handful of Nepali sculptors to follow this dying technique, which requires precision and patience to accomplish grand-scale projects. He would eventually be known, not just in Nepal, but around the world for his grand repousse works. Some even compare him to Arniko, the artist who introduced Nepali architecture in China.

Shakya was best known for the 155 ft tall repousse statue of Guru Padhmasambhava, revered by the Bhutanese as the ‘Second Buddha’, who spread the teachings of the Buddha all over the country.  He was commissioned in 2010. The masterpiece fusion work of contemporary and traditional art took almost two years just to sketch. Made of 70,000 kg of copper weighing about 300 tons, Bhutan revealed the repousse statue to the world in 2014.

Shakya also played an instrumental role in showcasing Nepali repousse work on the global stage. His works include the 12 ft tall mask of Shwet Bhairav, 76 feet tall Swayambhu Stupa for the World Expo in Germany 2000, 40 ft tall Tibetan Stupa at Kapan Monastery, 100 ft towering Swayambhu for the Nepal Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo 2010, and a 50 ft tall Little Buddha at Lumbini.

Shakya had recently been working on a 72-ft tall Bhairav mask. Unfortunately, the masterpiece has been orphaned as he passed away from covid-related complications at the age of 54. He is survived by a wife and two sons.

Between May 11-15, Nepal reported 43,910 Covid positive cases and 997 deaths. Most people died because of lack of access to health facilities such as oxygen, beds, ICUs, and ventilators. 

Despite this, authorities claim the country has enough beds and other medical infrastructure, and that the situation is fully under control.

But when renowned private hospitals stopped admitting new patients due to acute shortage of oxygen and other medical infrastructure, the government started panicking.

On May 13, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) issued a circular to private hospitals across the country ordering them to prepare 100 beds each for Covid-19 patients and build their own oxygen plant within 15 days. The ministry said the government would help hospitals procure necessary materials.

During the meeting of Covid Crisis Management Center (CCMC) on May 16, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli looked calmer and more composed than usual. It was a surprise for everyone to see him realize his mistakes. Oli confessed he hadn’t thought coronavirus would affect the country so much—contradicting his previous claims that Nepalis had a strong immune system and could fight the virus.

Soon after the release of the ministry circular, the Association of Private Health Institution Nepal (APHIN) published a press note stating that it was impossible to install an oxygen plant at any private hospital within 15 days. Even though the Cabinet had decided to waive custom duties on materials required to install oxygen plants, private hospitals flatly rejected the offer.

Basant Chaudhary, president of APHIN says, “Neither is there an easy access to the international market nor do the hospitals have enough budget for oxygen plants in this crisis. It is not possible [to install oxygen plants in 15 days].”

According to the MoHP, of the 185 private hospitals with over 100 beds, only 26 have oxygen plants. Among the 26, half of the plants don’t work, and the remaining half only works partially. 

Nepal has received empty cylinders from abroad but getting oxygen to fill those cylinders remains a challenge. Almost every big government hospital has an oxygen plant but only a few of them work properly. 

Oxygen factories on their own cannot fulfill the daily needs of all hospitals. As of now, there are eight oxygen factories in Kathmandu with the overall capacity of refilling almost 7,000 standard cylinders per day—which meets only half of the demand. Oxygen cylinders come in various sizes but seven-cubic-meters is the standard one.

“I heard the ministry withdrew the circular and redirected that the process of installing an oxygen plant start within 15 days,” says an official of Sumeru Hospital. Yet, the ministry has not officially said as much. He added that installing an oxygen plant requires electricity management, skilled human resources, enough space, and many other resources. “Even for check clearance, the bank takes almost a week, so a 15 day-period is impractical.”

The ministry has not clarified the capacity of the oxygen plant it wants in the hospitals. In this matter, the official atSumeru Hospital says, “We also don’t know.” He guesses that the MoHP may have directed the building of plants according to the needs of respective hospitals. Sumeru Hospital consumes around 150 standard oxygen cylinders every 24 hours.

There seemed to be much confusion between hospitals and the ministry regarding the capacity of oxygen plants. (ApEx tried to contact ministry officials but neither the spokesperson nor the joint spokesperson was available.)

On May 15, Nepal Korea Friendship Municipality Hospital at Bhaktapur, the community hospital affiliated with Madhyapur Thimi municipality, successfully installed an oxygen plant. Chairperson of the hospital management committee and Mayor Madan Sundar Shrestha says, “After a restless six months, we started the air-based oxygen plant today.” It cost almost seven million rupees.

In the past one decade Nepal has significantly progressed in the internet and communication sector. While 10.21 million Nepalis have access to the internet, almost a million use e-banking facilities.

But Nepalis are yet to realize the internet’s full potential. Be it gamers, students or any other professionals, they have at some point in time come across content that they desperately need, but is behind a paywall. Nepali banks, until now, didn’t issue cards that could be used to make international online payments.   

During the Covid-19 lockdown, most people had no other option but to do their work online, and this required subscription-based services. But it was not possible to pay for those services with a card issued by your own bank. 

The problem has now been resolved, at least to an extent. Nepal Rastra Bank has now made it possible for Nepali banks to provide prepaid dollar cards to customers for online transactions.

The central bank now allows ‘A’ class commercial and ‘B’ class development banks to provide the service. 

“Although we received a lot of inquiries, the second wave of Covid-19 has affected card-issuance,” says Binay Regmi, deputy head of Digital Banking at Machhapuchchhre Bank. 

NRB has limited the use of the dollar card to buy goods and services worth a maximum of $500 annually. Any individual or firm can easily get a dollar card if they have a PAN and an up-to-date KYC at the respective bank. 

“It can only be used for international online transactions whereas cash advances and manual retail transactions are restricted,” says Bisal Subedi, associate at Standard Chartered Bank.

Different banks have branded their cards with different names. For instance, Sunrise calls its card E-card, Siddhartha eCom Card, Prabhu 500 Card, Nabil iCard and Kumari $eCom Card. 

“The application process is similar to what you have to do while applying for an ATM card,” says 20-year-old Ashwin Rimal, who is happy to use the card to pay his university fees. 

Krishna Subedi, corporate communications head at Nabil Bank, clarifies that banks don’t charge extra for the prepaid dollar cards. “There are no extra fees. It’s a regular card cost of around Rs. 1,000 for a four-year period.”

The new service has  benefitted e-commerce and IT companies. Manish Khadka, who works as an accountant for a private company, shares, “Dollar cards have made it easier for me to buy domain and software.” He now wants banks to allow customers to load the card using e-banking.

Subedi of Standard Chartered informs that people can now purchase subscriptions of global OTT platforms such as Netflix and Spotify with a click. “This service will increase the reach of Nepalis to online markets such as Alibaba and Amazon.”

Pawan Lama from Gokarneshwor, Kathmandu, is a retail businessman who uses a dollar card to advertise his business on social media. He says, “Something is better than nothing. But I think NRB should have set the ceiling a bit higher.”.

The central bank has issued some regulations for the management of dollar cards. The banks have to provide details of monthly transactions to the Foreign Exchange Management Department. They also have to provide card and transaction details to respective customers, when asked. Those using two or more dollar cards will be punished under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (2019). 

On May 10, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli claimed from the rostrum of the House of Representatives, “Out of 27,000 hospital beds in Nepal, 16,000 belongs to the government hospitals. And only 8,000 beds in government-run hospitals are occupied.”

On the same day, the Ministry of Health and Population, in its daily briefing, disclosed that 139 people had died of Covid-19 while 9,127 tested positive for the disease in the past 24 hours, contradicting the prime minister.

The Covid-19 contagion in Nepal is going from bad to worse. In this situation, many people have taken up commendable personal initiatives, largely in order to fill the vacuum left by the government’s inaction. ApEx talked to four such enterprising youths.

Anamika Nehuray

A resident of Bhaktapur, Nehuray is an MBA in finance who runs a startup that imports various merchandise and sells them local markets.

Nehuray, 25 says she loves people’s company. “I get inspired by those around me,” she says.

During the first lockdown in Kathmandu valley, Nehuray one day received a call, asking whether she would like to volunteer with Covid Connect Nepal. A couple of her friends had initiated the digital platform to connect healthcare seekers and providers. She jumped at the opportunity. “I like helping people,” she says.

During the first wave of Covid-19 in Nepal, everyone learnt of the limited government capacity to deal with the crisis. At that time, she had wanted to help people in distress, but because she didn’t have a team to work with, she couldn’t do much on her own. 

Nehuray is now the co-lead of the data team at Covid Connect. Her team of almost 55 members prepares the list of hospitals (province-wise) and the services they provide. The dataset is updated every three hours.

“We often get requests for oxygen and other necessities from hospitals and stores,” Nehuray says, adding that the condition has worsened to an extent that those who were earlier offering help now need help themselves.

Nehuray says she feels proud to be a member of a hardworking and service-oriented team. But given the scale of the crisis, their effort is still not enough. She hence appeals to every Nepali citizen to come out and together fight this common enemy.

Dibyesh Giri

The 39-year-old owner of an IT company has a master’s degree from Pune University. These days, he is busy coordinating with a team of volunteers from Samartha Nepal—a non-profitable organization that conducts free medical checkup camps.

Giri completed high school in his hometown Janakpur and like others, grew up with the dream of becoming a doctor or an engineer.

Right after his graduation, the government and Maoist insurgents signed the Comprehensive Peace. Giri soon returned to Nepal, leaving his job with a multinational company in India.

His team started Plasma Connect back in late 2020 to verify and compile information on convalescent plasma, which is used to tread gravely ill Covid-19 patients, in one place. “Being an IT enthusiast, I tried to match and connect donors and receivers via our website,” Giri says, adding that his initiation has helped more than 300 people so far.

Besides Plasma Connect, he is working on another platform, Nepal Covid Support, which manages every kind of Covid-19 logistics in one place, where “our dedicated volunteers collect and verify data before providing it to the public.”

“In this period of crisis, Covid-19 related resources should be well verified, updated, and filtered—and fast—to save precious time,” Giri says. “Every second counts.” 

Sudikshya Ghimire

“Wherever I do, I need to do it to the best of my ability,” says a 21-year-old BA second year student Sudikshya Ghimire who hails from Tansen, Palpa.

She has recently been working as a frontline worker in Covid Connect Nepal. Every help request or offer passes through her as the team has designated her private number as a hotline. Patients or relatives directly connect with her and she verifies, locates, and filters the first layer of the database. “Their pain and problems are my own,” Ghimire says.

At this point, all her callers sound helpless and neither she nor her team can help them enough, however hard they work. There have been challenges: “Some patients have died while their relatives were asking me over the phone to arrange medical logistics.”

Ghimire expresses frustration at the government’s clumsiness. “They are not doing a thing and because of that, people are dying for want of basic health assistance.”

Saurav Thapa Shrestha

After working at a youth empowerment organization, Saurav Thapa Shrestha, 24, had learned how to effectively work in a team. The graphic designer now looks after the social media and design part of Plasma Connect. 

Shrestha had been following clinical trials and research on plasma therapy abroad. After finding that plasma therapy was also being used in Nepal to treat Covid patients, he joined forces with his friends to form an alliance to connect people in need of convalescent plasma with those willing to donate it. These days, he is busy collecting verified contact details of ambulances so that people do not have to waste valuable time looking for them.

Shrestha says he was interested in volunteering since his childhood. “In class 10, I had proposed and initiated a social club in my school,” Shrestha explains. The club collected funds to support needy students in his school. 

Birth: 6 June 1938, Sindhupalchok
Death: 6 May 2021, Kathmandu 

A Nepali singer gets an invitation from the organizers of the Filmfare Awards in India. He performs a couple of Hindi and Nepali songs and is greeted with resounding applause. The jury members are so mesmerized that they give him the title ‘The Golden Voice of Nepal’.

That title would remain with legendary singer and musician Prem Dhoj Pradhan, one of the most popular performers in Nepali and Nepal Bhasa music in the past five decades. 

Born to a mother who had recorded a couple of songs on Radio Nepal, Pradhan was drawn to music from an early age. Although his parents were separated, and he lived with his father, he regularly visited his mother. There, he used to learn to sing as well as play instruments such as tabla and harmonium. Pradhan got more time to hone his skills after completing his SLC, as he moved in with his mother.

Soon, he would emulate his mother in recording a song at Radio Nepal. In 1955, he recorded ‘Yo Nepali Sir Uchali’—his first-ever. Mother and son would talk about music all the time, and it was this conversation that led Pradhan to toy with the idea of a song that would go on to define his entire musical career. “A guy is being followed by an unknown girl every day near the turning of the road…” his mother had narrated to him. Pradhan then came up with the words ‘Ghumtima Na Aau Hai’.

A single child born to Ratna Dhoj Pradhan and Pran Devi Tamrakar, Pradhan and his family had to face emotional turbulence due to divisions within the Newa community. While the Pradhans were considered members of the high caste, the Tamrakars were looked down upon. His father was forced to tie the knot a second time when Pradhan was just six months old. But that didn’t stop Pradhan from following his destiny. 

In 1966, famed Bollywood composer Jaidev came to Nepal to arrange music for the Nepali movie Maitighar. It was then that Jaidev was enchanted by Pradhan’s voice. The voice of this aspiring Nepali singer needed some fine-tuning and Jaidev wanted to help the young singer do that in Bombay. Pradhan went to Bombay and lived there for a month to learn music. Again, in 1970, Pradhan traveled alone to India and stayed there for a year to learn about arrangement.

Apart from Jaidev, Ustad Ganesh Lal Shrestha also played an instrumental role in his musical career. Shrestha agreed to train him for 15 months. In 1954, he had a dream in which he was singing with the ustad. Pradhan later approached him to accept him as a disciple. 

In 1965, a group of American artists performed at Tudikhel and, for the first time, he saw an artist play guitar and sing at the same time. And the rest is history. Pradhan started various trends in the Nepali music industry; his guitar and vocals would become the most iconic of them all.

He was also the first musician to organize a solo concert—he did so to build a house for his mother. For three consecutive nights, Pradhan, aided by singers such as Tara Devi and Nati Kaji, entertained the guests. 

Swar Samrat Narayan Gopal and Pradhan were friends from a young age and were together almost for a decade between 1950 and 1960. The two used to go to the cinema together—at that time the only way to listen to new songs and memorize them was to watch movies.

In his decades-long career, Pradhan gifted his fans dozens of hits like ‘Para laijau phool haru’, ‘Namana laaj yesari’, ‘Goreto tyo gaun ko’ and ‘Rajamati kumani’.

A few days ago, he was admitted to the hospital after reporting fever and chest pain. He was said to be ‘out of danger’, but a heart attack on May 6 took his life at the age of 83. Pradhan is survived by a wife and two sons—Prasanna and Kabir.