Women reaching high positions in the civil service was considered a great success at that time. In addition, becoming the Chief District Officer (CDO) and running a district was considered unusual. Especially becoming the CDO of the capital Kathmandu was not an uncommon thing. Because, even now, the CDO of Kathmandu is considered a 'competent character' compared to other districts.

Almost 29 years ago, being a female CDO was not easy, and running Kathmandu was challenging. Usha Nepal had the courage to face that challenge. The government made her the CDO of Kathmandu in 2054.

Now, the issue of women becoming the CDO of a district is considered secondary. In the current situation, when the ministry itself is being run by a woman secretary, becoming a CDO is considered a common issue in the civil service. However, nearly four decades ago, it was considered socially strange for women to pursue higher education and pass the civil service and reach the position of joint secretary in the civil service.

How did Usha become the chief district officer in the civil service and the social environment three decades ago? Many wondered how she reached the level of joint secretary.

From the predominantly male civil service, she was first appointed as the chief district officer of Bhaktapur by Home Minister Yog Prasad Upadhyay of the Krishna Prasad Bhattarai-led government formed in 2047. She then got the opportunity to become the chief district officer of Banke, Lalitpur, Solukhumbu, Mustang, and Parsa.

When Surya Bahadur Thapa became the Prime Minister in 2054, during the tenure of the then Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka, she was asked to choose between becoming the chief district officer of Kathmandu or staying in the ministry. She was kept in the additional group for a long time until then. She said that the country had played with the investment made in her by placing her in the additional group. ‘Even as a first-class officer, I had to be without a chair or table for nine months. Let alone work, I had to sit on the ground during that time,’ she expressed her anger.

She passed her matriculation (now SEE) only after marriage. Her home was a night college in Biratnagar. There was no women's hostel in Kathmandu. It was not easy to send her daughter-in-law to a night college in Biratnagar. Since she had a great desire to study, she passed her graduation from Hindu University in India by forcing her family.

She graduated from psychology and got the Colombo Plan. However, the family could not accept it. Because, after studying under the Colombo Plan and returning, the government sent her to wherever the family sent her. Her family and friends pressured her not to go to the plan and pressured her to quit her studies. Her family and relatives said that going to the government-assigned places would ruin her family's honor. However, she did not agree and went to study.

After returning from her studies, she opened a nursery school in Biratnagar and started teaching. After teaching for about two years, her friends told her, "If you stay in Biratnagar, you will only become a cook and a Brahmin." At the same time as her friends advised her, Tri-Chandra College invited those who had returned from studying under the Colombo Plan to come and teach.

Despite her family's disagreement, she came to Kathmandu and started teaching at Tri-Chandra and Ratna Rajya Colleges. After she felt a desire to engage in development work while teaching, she started working as the head of the Women's Training Center in Dhankuta. According to her, women learned to make allo, tweed coats and colorful dhakas at that time. They brought the woven materials to Kathmandu and started selling them.

After she became the Deputy Secretary, the political changes of 2046 took place. After that, the belief that women should also be promoted developed. The interim Home Minister Yog Prasad made her the Chief District Officer. There was also an accusation that Usha was made the Chief District Officer because she was his niece. Usha had explained this and said, ‘The Home Minister’s niece is not related even to ten generations.’

After becoming the Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, she told Kantipur, ‘I became the Chief District Officer based on my own qualifications and administrative skills.’ She narrated the incident of many women coming to her with problems when she was the Chief District Officer in various districts. She especially narrated the incident of women coming to her with problems like being accused of witchcraft, being neglected by their husbands, and having their husbands marry someone else.

‘Maybe because they were women, they kept their problems safe and expected justice,’ she recalled. However, experiencing the lack of concrete laws for justice in the country, she said at the time, ‘The first priority should be to solve the practical problems faced by society rather than giving a share to daughters. Educated feminists should be involved in the issue of rights,’ she used to say.

Recounting the experience of educated women in Nepal being dependent on others, she said that even working women have not been forced to ask their husbands if they have to go elsewhere for work. She added that this trend is an obstacle to women’s equality when women cannot make their own decisions and must ask their husbands. Two women became Prajayas after her.

The news prepared by journalist Rama Parajuli based on a conversation with Usha, not only about the incident of becoming the first female DCA in the civil service, but also about the first female DCA in Kathmandu, was published by Kantipur Daily on 21 Poush 2054 under the title ‘First female DCA says, I became a DCA with my own qualifications and skills’. The news not only exposed the state of representation of female employees in the civil service in Nepal three decades ago, the injustice done to them, but also gave the message that women can also run for the position of DCA.