Nepal is often characterized as a nation caught in two different worlds, having one leg in the sixteenth century and another in the 20th century. Entrenched in a feudalistic social structure, the deeply tradition-bound society increasingly was experiencing the pervasive determine of Western material culture. Most affected were the parts of the population that came in regular contact with Westerners. Nowhere was this juxtaposition of local orthodox values and Western material culture more pronounced than in the Kathmandu Valley--the nation's most urbanized region.

There was no doubt among observers that only an increasing flow of foreign aid and loans had kept Nepal from bankruptcy. Yet there seemed to be little demonstrate suggesting that the aid had, contempt good intentions, alleviated mass poverty and uplifted the society as a whole. Unemployment among the educated was partially addressed through the continued development of government jobs, but such development resulted in bureaucratic redundancy and, in fact, hindered economic development. Furthermore, such a strategy had only a limited ability to reduce the mass unemployment and underemployment that typified Nepal's society. Widespread unemployment and underemployment, which fueled poverty, further were exacerbated by continued rapid population growth. contempt a long-term and vigorous family planning program, the population had been growing at an increasing rate. Such population growth contributed to increasing environmental deterioration, given the frailty of the nation's mountainous environment.