her history. The political revolution of 1950, for instance, eliminated the century long scrupulous Rana oligarchy and established the multi-party system. During this political transformation, Nepalese people as well as the political workers had assumed that the problems inherent in Nepalese societies would disappear once the democratic system was established. The ‘democratic’ governments established after the political change of 1950, however, did not pay attention to the inequalities present in Nepalese societies. In 1960, late King Mahendra abolished the newly established multi-party system to implement his own model of governance called the Panchayat. The autocratic Panchayat system was primarily designed to allow the King to rule the country according to his will, and to alienate the ordinary people from political processes. This system, too, came to an end after the people’s resistance movement in 1990 giving way, once again, to the multi-party system.

In spite of the changes in the system of governance, the problems inherent in Nepalese societies largely remain unchanged. Even after the re-establishment of multi-party ‘democracy’ in 1991 the traditional structures of poverty and deprivation continue to affect everyday lives of the majority of Nepalese. The low-caste groups, women, ethnic populations, etc. continue to suffer from the traditional system of hierarchy which deprives such groups from social and economic opportunities. In this sense, it seems justified to argue that there are wide gaps between political processes and the states of Nepalese societies. The democratic system of governance does not seem to have paved a way for diminishing the traditional methods of discriminations which affect almost all spheres of social lives of the people of Nepal. Changes in the macro political structures, thus, have no significant consequences for the social and economic lives of the people.

If democracy is to be considered an environment which allows people to participate in the process of social and economic transformation for social progress and prosperity, it can be said that Nepalese people are yet to experience this environment. The political parties of Nepal as well as the governments seem to be less serious about involving people in political processes. Political parties have a tendency to equate politics with the election and power with the government. Even after the re-establishment of democratic system, no political party has spent serious efforts in listening to the people about their desires, choices and priorities. The governments, too, seem to have alienated people from the system of governance by not providing them with enough information. People are, thus, ignored by almost all political institutions including the governments and the political parties. As a result, majority of the population seems to be highly reluctant about the activities of both governments and political parties creating for them a serious crisis of legitimacy.

In these circumstances, we argue, Bhaktapur Municipality (BM) is different. The BM presents a unique case in which democratic system of governance is actuated by the active participation of people in the process of social and economic transformation. Unlike many other parts of Nepal, the local government of BM stands on the basis of the choices, aspirations, and priorities of its real beneficiaries, i.e. people. Bhaktapur is perhaps the only municipality of Nepal where its leaders are the mediators, and the people make most of the decisions about what course should their society take and how. As a result, the BM has achieved significant developments in a number of areas including the living conditions of its inhabitants.

This study attempts to explain a story of partnerships, communities, political leadership, and management practices to show how with a political will good governance is possible even in a polity that is undergoing significant governability crises and an erosion of political institutions. By studying the transformation of the traditional city of Bhaktapur, we seek to complicate and problematise the discourse on democracy so that we can look beyond the subtle rhetoric of democracy and draw different conclusions.

For this purpose, we have chosen to situate the history as well as current dynamics involved in the management of fohor (dirt/waste/garbage) in the centre of our analysis, which will lead us to progressively contextualize the role of the local government in the social, cultural and economic transformation of Bhaktapur and her inhabitants.

This study is based mainly on our own observations of the Bhaktapur city across time. Similarly, we interviewed some key persons such as the local political leaders including the Chairperson of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party; some prominent scholars from Bhaktapur; and some local residents of different ages and backgrounds. In addition to this, we have also utilized a range of relevant literatures.

Bhaktapur: An Image Under Transformation

In spite of being situated hardly 13 kilometres far from the main hubbub of the capital city, the image of Bhaktapur persists in the minds of most Nepalese as a traditional Newar city lying in the far corner of the Kathmandu Valley. Old pantheons and monuments situated in the narrow streets and exotic jatras (celebration of festivity after the worship of local gods and goddesses) predominantly constitute the prima facie image of the Bhaktapur. There has long been a tendency among the people of Kathmandu to perceive that people of Bhaktapur live their traditional lives in isolation having little interaction with the rest of the world. To most Nepalese Bhaktapur exhibits no capacity to stand the pace of recent changes which are taking place, for instance, in Kathmandu and other big cities of Nepal.

This passive ontological essence of Bhaktapur does not truly reflect the changing lives of the city and its inhabitants. The transactions of commodities ranging from French deodorant to Scotch whisky in the local market suggest that the people of Bhaktapur have already become part of the global capitalist market. The local people’s consumption patterns; use of modern technology in agriculture; and an overwhelming development in the fields of transportation and communication, suggest that the people of Bhaktapur are no longer an isolated community.

Scholarly studies on Bhaktapur also tend to glorify Bhaktapur as a ‘bounded’ and ‘unchanging’ territory. For instance, anthropological studies on Bhaktapur describe and analyse either the rigid caste-based hierarchy or the exotic cultural practices. These scholarly works often describe Bhaktapur as an integrated, homogenous, and territorially bounded community. Bhaktapur, as some of these studies seem to suggest, is conditioned by pre-industrial forms of production. In addition to this, anthropological studies on Bhaktapur show a tendency to deal with the downtrodden such as sweepers, farmers, craftsmen, potters, musicians, and so on. Thus, Bhaktapur exists in many scholarly books and articles as an isolated community in which people are comfortable more with traditional culture than with changes. Not to surprise, the view that Bhaktapur is not ‘modern’ compared with the nearby cities such as Kathmandu and Patan is held by the locals of Bhaktapur themselves.

The general as well as academic discourses which describe and analyse the people of Bhaktapur as ‘yet to be modern’ category seems largely misleading if we consider Bhaktapur’s significant advancements in different fields such as education; health and hygiene; trade and commerce; development of infrastructure such as roads, telecommunication, electricity, etc. Some scholars agree with the view that Bhaktapur is unaffected by the modern changes. A native political scientist Dr. Krishna Hachhethu, for instance disagrees with the view that Bhaktapur is a timeless and unchanging city. Grieve’s study of the recent changes in Bhaktapur suggests that the romantic image of Bhaktapur as a traditional city seems misleading when we observe significant changes in the economic and social relationships of the local people. In our first field visit to the downtown Bhaktapur, we asked Mr. Hada, a local bookseller, about what had actually changed in his place over the years. He said, ‘Bhaktapur is no longer fohor now. I think this is the biggest change’.

Fohor and the Politics of Identity

     During the end of my first year’s study, I was thinking over the possible topics for my project work. Still in dilemma, I      met Dr. Bimala Shrestha who is from Kathmandu to discuss on my project work. Upon hearing that I was from      Bhaktapur, Dr Shrestha promptly said, ‘Why don’t you write something on the effects of dirty and filthy surroundings      on the health of people? You can do your field study in your own city as the people there have been affected by their      dirty environment.’ I felt very bad to hear her impression about Bhaktapur. I told her that Bhaktapur is now cleaner      than any other city of Nepal.

                         -Ramila Silpakar, who stood first among girls in the SLC Examination Board held in 2002, talking with us                           about her recent experience at Bharatpur Medical College.

Among all images, which are traditionally attached to the identity of Bhaktapur and her people, fohor (dirt) is probably the most significant. Until recently there was a deep-rooted tendency among Nepalese in general and the people from Kathmandu in particular to recognize Bhaktapur as a fohor sahar (dirty city). As people from other parts of the country commonly perceive, the people of Bhaktapur looked dirty and had no knowledge about how to manage their waste. Therefore, according to the general perception, the people of Bhaktapur disposed their private wastes such as faeces, garbage, animal blood, etc. on the public places such as streets, squares, meeting places, etc.

However, in addition to a number of changes which we mentioned above, today’s Bhaktapur does not fit within the conventional image of a fohor sahar. These days Bhaktapur has a well-functioning system of garbage collection and waste management which seem to have been successful in transforming the meaning of dirt/garbage from public burden to private responsibility. This can easily be substantiated by walking in the streets of Bhaktapur city which are no longer ‘filthy’ and stinking as many would consider.

The new reputation of being a safa sahar (clean city) has a significant place in the new identity of Bhaktapur. People who have recently visited the city or heard about its recent changes often describe it as the cleanest among all big cities of Nepal. Not only the outsiders, the inhabitants of Bhaktapur themselves describe the recent safai (cleanliness) of the city as their biggest achievement so far. We observed a deep interest among the people of Bhaktapur to distinguish their city from other cities almost invariably on the basis of its safai. A statement by an influential communist leader of Bhaktapur namely Narayanman Bijukchhe well reflects this interest:

     We need to work more actively towards making Bhaktapur the first clean, transparent and free-from-corruption      municipality of the country.
                         -Comrade Narayan Man Bijukchhe in his speech given on the occasion of the general assembly of his                          municipal level political workers.

In addition to constructing a new and elevated image, the transformation of Bhaktapur as a safa sahar has yet another most important function. The idea of safai and the activities involved in the process of cleaning the city have provided a means for the people of Bhaktapur to dissociate themselves from their past; to communicate with outsiders with an increased capacity; and to carve an image of their future.

Thus, fohor (dirt) and safai (cleanliness) seem to have historically occupied the central position in the construction and reconstruction of identity of Bhaktapur and her people. The idea that Bhaktapur is now a safa sahar affects the ways in which the inhabitants of Bhaktapur city introduce themselves and distinguish from others.

The efficient management of waste and the mass mobilization towards cleanliness are deeply embedded in the political and economic processes of Bhaktapur. Therefore, a careful examination of the transformation of political and economic processes may lead us to understand the story of transformation of Bhaktapur from a fohor sahar into a safa sahar. This story, we assume, can reflect the role of political will in the good governance of Bhaktapur.


Political Processes and Safai Abhiyan

The mass consciousness towards ‘privatising’ the garbage started in Bhaktapur out of the political interest of a few communist youths. In 1962 comrade Narayan Man Bijukchhe, who is now the chairperson of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP), was elected as the member in Bhaktapur Municipality in the local level election conducted under the erstwhile Panchayat system. An ardent supporter of the communist system of governance, comrade Bijukchhe was a member of the Youth League, a youth wing of then Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), instrumental in popularising the values of communism among the masses. Comrade Bijukchhe saw this victory in the local level election as his opportunity to make people ‘aware of their real constraints and possibilities’. Moreover, that was an opportunity to ‘reach the people and to organise them.’ Bijukchhe and his fellow comrades were prompted to participate in the local level election by the noble idea of Lenin: ‘serve the people by utilising reactionaries state functionaries’.

However, the task was difficult and risky. The autocratic Panchayat System had banned all political parties and their activities. The government was not tolerant of any political campaigns in which people directly or indirectly debated on and/or criticized the Panchayat system, and anyone involved in such activities could be imprisoned or lose even her/his life. Moreover, the administration was well aware that comrade Bijukchhe was a ‘communist’ activist in spite of being a member of the Panchayati municipal council.

Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary hassles from the central government, comrade Bijukchhe involved himself in the safai abhiyan (cleanliness campaigns) and development activities in his ward. These included the construction and renovation of roads, sewers, and irrigation canals; educating children and elderly people; opening of health posts; and cleaning of the neighbourhood. The efforts of comrade Bijukchhe and other members of the Youth League were directed towards receiving strong support and participation from among the local people to such programs. To meet this objective, comrade Bijukchhe and the members of the Youth League also organised frequent meetings of the local people mostly during nights. The local people also showed interest in participating in such programs and gathered to discuss the development activities undergoing in their community.

For comrade Bijukchhe and his staunch supporters, the regularly held meetings and working together for development works were significant in two important ways. Firstly, this was an opportunity to spread the communist ideology to the masses in a more comfortable and effective manner. The political issues and ideologies could now be communicated and discussed while people were collectively involved in public meetings to clean neighbourhoods, maintain sewers, etc. Secondly, the danger from the administration had now been reduced to the minimum. The local administration could not intervene in such meetings and activities as they had to be considered the ‘people’s participation in the local development’. Such policy of the communist party members seems to have developed a new kind of public sphere in Bhaktapur where people could analyse, discuss and debate the issues concerning various spheres of their lives.

Among these issues, safai was considered the most prominent. The communist party workers developed and popularised the idea that Bhaktapur needs to be clean, and it needs to be clean by the efforts Bhaktapurian themselves. In the political scenario of the time, this idea had great political relevance for the communist party workers. On the one hand, people’s voluntary participation in safai of their own tol (neighbourhood) could be a message to all that the existing government was not responsive to people’s needs. On the other hand, it was a powerful method of organising people towards constructing a distinct identity of Bhaktapur. Com. Bijukchhe argues that the construction of this new identity of Bhaktapur was possible mainly because of the changes in the livelihood of poor farmers after the land reform movement in 1960s and 70s.


Bhumisudhar Andolan and Changes in People’s Livelihood Conditions

The Land Reform Movement (Bhumisudhar Andolan) needs to be considered as vehicle for the most significant economic transformation which has changed the whole system of social relationships of the people of Bhaktapur. The Land Reform Act implemented by the erstwhile Panchayat government in 1964 had little consequences for the traditional pattern of land distribution in the country. Although the Act was said to be designed to empower the real cultivators by providing them with cultivating right (mohiyani hak) as well as the agricultural land, it fell short in achieving its objectives. In Bhaktapur, however, the effects of the Act were immensely positive for the livelihood conditions of the local people. The political processes initiated by the communist party workers of Bhaktapur, we argue, have played crucial role in this regard.

Unlike other communist factions in the country who criticized the Act it being ‘Royal Land Reform’, promulgated as a hoax ‘to strengthen the autocratic regime’, Com Bijukchhe and his group in Bhaktapur welcomed the Act and decided to utilise the opportunity in favour of marginal farmers, Jyapus in particular. They participated in bhumisudhar andolan by persuading the local farmers demanding formal registration of the mohiyani hak (tenants’ right) to the mohis (tenant farmers) who had been traditionally suffering from exploitation due to the absence of such rights.

The local people’s increasing participation in safai abhiyan as well as local development activities had already constructed and developed a strong public sphere which could effectively be utilised for the process of social and economic transformation. In this scenario, the Land Reform Act announced in 1964 provided the people of Bhaktapur with an opportunity to ameliorate their livelihood conditions. This opportunity was actualised, thanks to the leadership provided by the communist party members. A great number of Jyapus (low-caste Newars most of whom are farmers) most of whom were landless and often exploited by the local high-caste landowners obtained the cultivating right as well as land.

Some elderly Jyapus still describe with great agility the peasants’ movement after the declaration of the Land Reform Act in 1964. Their eventful stories include descriptions of how the peasants captured agricultural produces from the landowners with force; how they obliged the landowners to register the names of the tenants while measuring and formally registering the land; and how the peasants forced the landowners to provide them with the receipt of the share of crops received by the latter. These stories suggest that the social movement had had significant consequences for Bhaktapur’s social and economic scenario. To borrow comrade Narayan Man Bijukchhe’s expression, the peasants’ movement was unique in the history of Bhaktapur as it had great positive consequences for the economic status of the underprivileged Jyapu community.

Hachhethu argues that, “The Land Reform Act 1964 was a benchmark in bringing a substantial improvement in the economic conditions of Bhaktapurians, the Jyapus in particular.” He further observes, “Since 95 percent of farming households were tenants, the impact of the Land Reform Act in improving the conditions of masses of Bhaktapur city is quite obvious”. Krishna Bahadur (60), a local farmer from Jela tol of BM thus recalls his own experiences about the Bhumi Sudhar Andolan:


A Story Told by Krishna Bahadur

I can still remember that after the Land Reform of mid 1960s, the local peasants started renovating the roof of their houses, frequently appeared in new clothes, and many started wearing shoes, enrolment in schools increased, new shops in the neighbourhood were being opened and so on. Likewise, farmers started buying improved seeds, chemical fertilisers, and harvested increased production. This eventually increased the purchasing capacity of the ordinary farmers. I think, if communists of Bhaktapur had not launched a peasants’ movement at that time, we could not have come out of that harsh living conditions, instead would have continued the life of das (serfs) like earlier. I myself was a participant of the peasants’ movements of that time. By 2025/26 BS (1968 AD) Jyapus of my neighbourhood started organising meetings at nights, which later resulted in a series of movements like Bharpai aandolan (asking for receipt of land tax from landowners), mohiyani hak (tenants rights), reduction of kut (land tax to be paid to landowners), saadhe dhapaune andolan (chase away the bulls) and so on. The results of all these movements were that we could acquire tenancy rights as provisioned by the Land Reform Act 1964. Earlier we were just halis, kind of ‘bonded agricultural labour’. Later we could retain the larger share of the production. For example, previously we used to submit two third of paddy and half of wheat production to the landowner; in addition to that, farmers had to offer ‘free but compulsory’ labour to landowners. Later, we just started submitting 23 pathis per ropani, (i.e. approximately one-eighth of the total production in two crops), no other productions and no ‘free but compulsory’ labour to the landlords. If we wanted to discontinue tilling the landowners land, we could claim our share up to 50 percent of the land we had been tilling. My living condition which you see today would never have been possible if there was no Bhumi Sudhar.

The success of the bhumi sudhar andolan in Bhaktapur was consequential not only for the social and economic lives of the local people but also for the political will of the communist party members who wanted to spread and strengthen their ideology among the masses, as elsewhere. It was mostly through this decade long andolan that the communist party members of Bhaktapur came into close affinity with the local people. As the andolan vis-à-vis the active participation of the communist party workers were seen positively by the Jyapu community who are a majority in Bhaktapur, the communist party members were successful in carving their niche in the local politics and establishing themselves as the gurus of social transformation of Bhaktapur.


Bhaktapur Development Project: Myths and Realities

Bhaktapur Development Project (BDP), locally known as the ‘German Project’ started in 1974 with the broad and ambitious objectives such as ‘improve the living standards of the local people’ and ‘preserve and renovate the historic city and its religious architecture’. Following these objectives, the BDP worked in Bhaktapur for almost 20 years. During that period it renovated nearly two hundred ancient temples; paved many kilometres of city road with bricks; built sewers inside the city; and constructed more than twenty public toilets. Seventy percent of its development budget was allocated for conservation and cleanliness of the city. Even the individual households of inner city received NRs. 1,500 under BDP project to build the private toilets. Besides, the project helped in improving the lives of city dwellers, of Jyapus in particular, by providing temporary jobs to many labour based manual workers; and providing training for construction, the skills thus learned could be used for income generation in the future. Some local people as well as the scholar studying Bhaktapur claim that the BDP’s contribution in changing the physical appearance of the city and introducing social and economic changes of Bhaktapur was quite significant. Hence, BDP gained a wider recognition and popularity, outside the Bhaktapur in particular.

For many of Bhaktapurians, popularity of BDP was a constructed reality, a ‘myth’. Most of the development activities of the BDP were marred with disbelief and resistance from the local people. The comment that the BDP did not consult any local ‘experts’ while planning and implementing development activities and renovation programs is often put forward as an evidence to show that it was not participatory, people friendly, and, culturally oriented therefore not serious about preserving the history and tradition of Bhaktapur. The BDP’s decision to pave the roads with the bricks instead of stone slabs, for example, is considered to be an evidence of the thoughtless and ‘stupid’ work. Many elderly people of Bhaktapur believe that the BDP was involved in secretly smuggling precious ancient monuments to German museums. These critical remarks about the works of BDP are also shared by the political leaders and activists of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP). They also like to believe in the ‘rumour’ that thus smuggled idols; statues are in Berlin Museum. Thus, it is a common belief among leaders as well as ordinary citizens of Bhaktapur that BDP took away important cultural objects from Bhaktapur to Germany. However, there are some locals who do not agree on such arguments rather opine that NWPP spread such rumour to discredit BDP and to take all the credit for themselves.

Com. Bijukchhe, based on his own observations argues that BDP failed in three of its core objectives. First, it failed in providing jobs to the targeted population. Those who were in privileged jobs earned their salary by cheating the projects, and most of them were belonged to ‘high caste’ Newars. Second, though BDP launched a campaign for private toilets, people were not aware enough to use toilets instead of using open space like khele and malain, the open defecating space for male and female respectively. Thirdly, BDP renovated the traditional drainage system but ignored the ‘traditional knowledge’ system. Soon after the drainage was brought under the use, they started bursting. Thus, according to Bijukchhe, BDP virtually failed in all aspects.

In his recent study of Bhaktapur, Grieve argues that ‘the consequences of using a romantic understanding of Bhaktapur to justify the silencing of local voices can be seen in the Bhaktapur Development Project’s historical conservation’. The BDP’s whole efforts were concentrated in legitimizing its ownership of Bhaktapur by romanticizing historicist ‘myths’ of the city (Ibid). Following Grieve, it can also be argued that in its massive efforts to change the fohor and avyavasthit (unmanaged) sahar, the BDP had not been able to win any significant cooperation from the local people.

This leads us to argue the political processes rather than the state or non-governmental organizations such as the BDP have played effective roles in constructing an image of ‘new Bhaktapur’ which grew and developed over time. Bhaktapur, as it seems today, is not the one the BDP was ostensibly successful in constructing. The making of ‘new Bhaktapur’ is the result of arduous efforts spent by the elected leaders of Bhaktapur Municipality (BM) over the last twenty years. In the following paragraphs, we seek to illustrate the picture of the initiatives taken by the BM in changing the physical appearance of Bhaktapur and social and economic lives of her inhabitants.


The Twenty Years That Changed the Image of Bhaktapur

The transformed image of Bhaktapur, we argue, has a long historical process evolved along with the emergence and strengthening of communist politics led by NWPP. Now, we try to present the changes that took place in the last 20 years which eventually gave a transformed image to Bhaktapur. When we interviewed a number of local people in Bhaktapur about what are the major changes they have observed in the last twenty-five years: a generation, they categorically told us that changes have taken place in the spheres of politics, and consequently, in garbage management, health and sanitation, education and awareness, living condition, and so on.

A native scholar and a prominent political scientist Dr. Hachhethu argues, “The modernization in social and economic spheres of Bhaktapur has a cumulative effect in bringing change to politics in the city. The 1982 local election, held under the partyless Panchayat regime, is a benchmark for transformation of the leadership of the BM into the Jyapu community”.


Transformation of Leadership: Shifting of Power Relations

The NWPP continued its domination in BM for 20 years, a ‘striking feature’; nonetheless people have a common feeling that now they have their own people as representatives in the municipality and other local bodies. Prior to NWPP’s participation in the local election under partlyless Panchayat system, such authorities used to be high-caste Newars and non-Newars. Those who introduced the communist politics in Bhaktapur some half century ago also belonged to the upper-caste Newars. Hence, domination of upper-caste Newars continued until the local election of 1982. A sudden and apparent shift in the leadership from the upper-castes to the local Jyapus, the peasants which was apparently a non-political entity was a break-through in Bhaktapurian politics.

After the popular movement of 1990 and the restoration of democracy, the participation and representation of Jyapus in Bhaktapur Municipality increased significantly. The underlying reasons of this can be found in the political processes of Bhaktapur in which NWPP was actively involved in protecting the rights of the poor and landless Jyapus during the bhumisudhar andolan of 1960s and 70s. This had given a sharp increase in the participation of Jyapu farmers in the political activities of NWPP. Therefore, it is quite natural that when NWPP participated and achieved success in the local level election after 1982, most of its elected representatives belonged to the Jyapu community. The Jyapus comprised of 68.42 per cent of the total local level representatives of BM formed after the local level election of 1982, which continued to increase in subsequent local level elections to reach 78.94 per cent in the election of 1999, when candidates of NWPP won 15 out of 17 ward chairpersons; Mayor and Deputy Mayor of BM.

The change in the leadership have affected many spheres of social and economic life of the people of Bhaktapur most of which are highly appreciated by the local people. BM which has been represented mostly by the Jyapus for the last 20 years seems to have been successful in acting as the agent to bring about those positive changes. Such changes are well manifested in the lives of jyapus and overall development of the BM. The paragraphs to follow will highlight some of such changes which can be regarded as the result of political will of the leading political party and its distinct policy for the development of the BM. BM has championed in maintaining democratic practices in its everyday functioning. Transparency International has awarded BM with recognition of “Island of Integrity’ for its decade long anti-corruption standing and transparency.


Safa Bhaktapur

Clean Bhaktapur has been the agenda as well as outcome of efforts of BM. As there is a longstanding history of safai movement in Bhaktapur, the aim has been changed. If the safai movement was used in the past to organize people and disseminate the ‘communist’ ideology to the masses, the emphasis on safai is concerned today with public health and attracting more tourists. However, in both of these cases, people’s participation has remained a key issue. Safai now has turned out to be a measuring rod of the performance of municipality.

To manage the dirt of the municipality area the BM has employed 196 staffs who are traditionally called ‘sweepers’. Among these sweepers, 64 belong to the traditional sweeper castes known as podes, who are supposed to be the untouchables. The rest 132 belong to the Jyapu and non-Jyapu Newars whose caste ranks are comparatively higher than the podes. For the Newars living outside Kathmandu, this might seem strange. The Newars consider it a taboo for anyone except the podes to be involved in the collection of garbage. The involvement of the Newars other than podes in garbage collection in Bhaktapur is an outcome also of a political event of the past. After the NWPP swept virtually all the elected posts in the local level election of 1982, the traditional pode sweepers of the BM held a strike. These podes who were supporters of other than NWPP had put forward their demands which were difficult to be fulfilled. To solve the immediate problem, the BM decided to replace the traditional pode sweepers by the local non-pode Newars.

The new occupation of the non-podes as the garbage collectors was, however, a strong move which could be considered a revolt against the traditional norms of the Newars. The non-pode employees of the BM, therefore, had to bear heavy criticisms and sometimes social boycott because of their involvement in garbage collection. At this difficult juncture, the BM tried to portray garbage collection as the ‘pure’ task and also tried its best to dissociate garbage collection with the traditional caste status of the untouchable podes. To fulfil this objective, the BM, drawing events associated with the lives of Mao and Gandhi, encouraged and even glorified the task of garbage collection as a significant social service. The BM even published the photographs of the garbage collectors in its monthly magazine titled Bhaktapur vis-à-vis the pictures of great political leaders, writers, and other important personalities. Similarly, the BM made it an obligatory provision for the chairman of all Wards and encouraged the high-caste people including Brahmins and reputed citizens such as doctors, engineers, etc. to sweep the roads occasionally. According to BM statistics, now 72 percent of the HH in the city has well managed toilet.