ABSTRACT
Nepal has been trying to overcome the problem of poverty through economic development and modernization. At the time of independence from the Ranas in 1951, Nepal possessed no significant infrastructure for modernization. Nepal's long-term economic-development prospects depend on democratic state building, political stability, agricultural development, modernization, and the cooperation of its neighbors. Nepal adopted mixed development policies in the mid-1950s with the initiation of five-year plans. It has also built several higher educational institutions to develop technically skilled human resources and has improved its health-care facilities. Nepal has received economic and development aid from its two giant neighbors, India and the People's Republic of China, which compete to woo the Himalayan kingdom. The immediate challenge in Nepal is to complete a new constitution in a form and manner that is acceptable to the widest possible section of the people.
