For Krishna Bahadur Manandhar, a resident of ward 4 in Madimuhan in Khadadevi Rural Municipality, employment no longer lies in his village or even the distant towns. After receiving motorcycle repair training, his own village has become his workplace, income source and future.

Manandhar took a 72-day motorcycle repair training organised through Community Development Society. After completing the course, the organisation supported him with essential tools, enabling him to open a motorcycle workshop in his village.

“Before gaining skills, I worked as a labourer at brick kilns, in hotels, or stayed unemployed at home. The biggest thing I realised was that skills matter. Now I earn by repairing motorcycles in the village,” said elated Manandhar. With tools provided by the organisation and some additional tools that he managed by the borrowed money, he started the workshop. “I can now repair up to half-engine,” he said. “For a rural area, the income is decent. Even on slow days, four or five motorcycles come for repair.”

As motorcycle use has increased in villages, demand for repair services has grown. Seeing this opportunity, Lapsang Tamang of Bhirkot in Sunapati Rural Municipality also chose to stay back. After completing the same 72-day training, he opened a workshop near the rural municipality office. “A few years ago, I worked in house construction in the village,” Tamang said. “The income was too low to support my family. Motorcycle repair skills have changed that.”

Tamang has also employed one additional worker. “After covering expenses, I manage to save up to Rs20,000 a month. I was preparing to go abroad, but now that I can earn here, I have dropped that plan,” he said. His experience, he says, proves that skills, labour and opportunity can generate income locally.

A similar story is unfolding in ward 7 of Khadadevi Rural Municipality in the district, where Dilip Magar runs his own motorcycle workshop. Dependent on farming and daily wage labour, Magar was struggling to make ends meet and considering foreign employment. After learning about the training, he enrolled and later opened Khadadevi Dilip Motorcycle Workshop with a small loan. “Before this, I did farming, construction and sawmill work,” he said. “Now this workshop provides enough to support my family.”

According to Magar, he now saves around Rs20,000 a month and plans to reinvest to expand his business. Their journeys reflect how skill-based local enterprises can reduce reliance on foreign employment and check migration towards towns and cities.