Nepal Army Inc.

A mad rush for money has eroded the legacy and legitimacy of the institution.

The national defence force, it seems, is interested in everything but matters military. After selling petroleum products, building roads, operating emulsion plants, running schools and medical colleges—and peddling bottled water—it now wants to venture into clothes-making. In the process, it has chosen to bat aside any criticism it has faced over the years over its growing commercial interests. Senior army officials now are in favour of reviving sick industries and helping with the country’s industrialisation. What’s more, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is understood to have taken the army’s proposal positively, in the hope that the revival will boost the economy.