Udayapur, Dec. 4 -- Panmaya Magar, aged 58, of Dhungre settlement in ward 4 of Udayapurgadhi Rural Municipality finishes cooking before darkness falls. She has to complete major household chores during daylight as there is no electricity in the settlement. Panmaya and her 63-year-old husband Burjaman Magar are both speech-impaired. Due to their financial constraints, they cannot afford to install solar panels at home.

Forty-eight-year-old Ludri Magar is in the same situation, with no access to solar power either. When they need to move around at night, they rely on burning pine wood, bamboo torches and oil lamps for light. Like Panmaya and Ludri, 55 households in Dhungre are still living in darkness.

"If only I could see our village glo...