Nepal, March 31 -- Arjun Bhattarai has been elected as the president of the NGO Federation Nepal. His election comes as civil society organisations (CSOs) suffer due to the cutting of funds from USAID. Similarly, his new term commenced as monarchists were intensifying their protests to overturn the secular republic, achieved after long protests with the federation at the forefront. The Post's Binod Ghimire talked to Bhattarai on these issues. Excerpts:

A large number of CSOs have been implementing different programmes with USAID funds. What has been the impact of the funds being cut?

Of total funding in the development sector, one-third comes from the US. It has agreed to release $695 million for five years in Nepal, which is a huge amo...