Latest from Aarya Chand
As AI-generated covers spread, Nepali musicians fight to reclaim their voices
By Aarya Chand & Rishika Dhakal Artists say their songs are being recreated with cloned voices and sold on digital platforms without permission, even as the technology quietly becomes the soundtrack of everyday life.
New rules outlaw forced haircuts at schools, but schools aren’t convinced
By Aarya Chand A student-led campaign changed the law, but has reignited debate over personal freedom, school discipline, and how far the state should regulate schools.
RSP’s women leaders on what it took to reach a majority
By Aarya Chand Fifty-one of 99 elected seats now held by women — but the party's own leaders say the harder battle is for power at the top, not just numbers.
Proposed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ law may spare boys, but what about girls?
By Aarya Chand The proposed close-in-age exemption may protect boys from rape charges over consensual relationships. Critics say it leaves untouched social conditions that make girls vulnerable.
Nepal’s first transgender lawmaker is just getting started
By Aarya Chand & Anwesha Wagle Bhumika Shrestha was bullied out of school and once struggled to find words for her identity. Now she sits in Nepal’s federal Parliament, carrying decades of activism into the country's highest legislative body.
Schools are posting kids’ photos online. Parents say they didn’t consent
By Aarya Chand & Baala Shakya Despite regulations requiring parental consent, Nepali schools continue to have publicly accessible social media accounts filled with student photographs.
Women are often at the centre of Nepali films. Why are men still telling most of their stories?
By Aarya Chand A debate over an all-male film pitch panel has reopened deeper questions about power, representation and who gets to shape women’s narratives.
How Nepal’s ‘gender responsive’ budget fails the women it claims to serve
By Aarya Chand Nepal’s gender budgeting system has become a paper exercise—reporting perfect compliance while failing to track whether programmes actually improve women’s lives.
Government doubles child nutrition allowance, widens social security spending
By Prakriti Dahal & Aarya Chand Ministry receives Rs2.27 billion as budget expands support for Dalit children, persons with disabilities and marginalised groups amid implementation concerns.
What Nepal’s ministry rename means for the queer community—and what it doesn’t
By Aarya Chand & Aarati Baral By renaming a federal ministry to include ‘gender and sexual minorities,’ Nepal has made a historic symbolic shift. But citizenship, marriage and discrimination hurdles persist.
Who is Nepal’s egg donation ban actually protecting?
By Aarya Chand Nepal's Supreme Court banned egg extraction to stop the exploitation of young donors. The same order has left women like Padma—a cancer survivor whose ovaries were destroyed by chemotherapy—without options.
Two-day weekend followed supply crunch from Iran war. If it will fuel productivity in Nepal is the concern
By Aarya Chand Nepal has tried the two-day weekend before—in 1990, in 1999, in 2022 and again now. Each time, it arrived as a crisis measure and left when the crisis faded.
In Kathmandu’s squatter eviction drive, animals are collateral damage
By Aarya Chand As the Valley's riverbank settlement demolition displaced hundreds of families, the animals fell through every crack in the government's plan.
The rights Nepal promised its transgender citizens are quietly slipping away
By Aarya Chand Nearly two decades after a landmark Supreme Court ruling made Nepal a global symbol of transgender rights, the home ministry has effectively suspended gender recognition for those seeking binary status.
As Nepal announces schools for autistic children across all provinces, here’s what to heed
By Aarya Chand & Tara Prakash For fifteen years, a handful of schools have supported children with autism with little government help.