Stakeholders have said that the manifestos released by political parties for the upcoming House of Representatives elections do not include women's rights issues. They say that the issues of proportional representation of women in every field and gender equality are still not a priority for the parties.

On the other hand, stakeholders have also said that although some parties have included the issue of women's empowerment, they have not made it clear how it will be implemented.

The Nepali Congress has made public its manifesto linking women's empowerment to health, education, employment and leadership. The Congress has committed to ensuring at least 40 percent women's employment in the government and private sectors, implementing equal wages for equal work and increasing women's participation in all three levels of political structures.

The UML's manifesto, made public with the slogan 'Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali', includes some women-centric programs. The manifesto mentions the distribution of free sanitary pads to adolescent girls, midday meals to students up to grade 10, an increase in the allowance of women's health volunteers, a maternity nutrition allowance and free loans of up to Rs 2 million to women entrepreneurs.

The RPP has mentioned ending social evils such as violence against women, dowry, dowry and child marriage. Although it says that women's empowerment will be prioritized, the manifesto is unclear on how women's presence will be ensured in political leadership and decision-making levels. The Progressive Democratic Party's manifesto claims to place women's rights, health, justice and political participation at the center. The party has stated that 50 percent participation of women in parliament will be ensured. 

According to the NCP manifesto, a 'Fast Track Women's Justice Unit' will be established at every local level, complaints related to violence against women will be heard quickly, immediate relief and compensation will be provided to the victims, and strict punishment will be provided to the guilty. The party has pledged to implement a special protection-oriented policy for women from poor and marginalized communities, and to ensure the mandatory and meaningful participation of women at all levels of policy and program formulation. 

The manifesto claims to give priority to single women in employment, strictly implement equal pay for equal work, provide six months of maternity leave for up to two children, and provide free treatment for diseases such as breast cancer, uterine prolapse, and fistula in women. The manifesto mentions the provision of emergency air rescue and immediate treatment in complicated maternity cases for women in remote areas. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has not included any program, plan or agenda in its manifesto by mentioning the word women.

According to constitutional scholar and administration expert Kashiraj Dahal, most political party manifestos are limited to paper documents that repeat the language of the constitution on women's issues. The constitution clearly mentions women's rights, proportional representation, a violence-free society, and women's participation in state governance, but he argues that the manifesto fails to show a concrete path for how these provisions will be put into practice.

'There are general commitments such as priority will be given to women, women will be empowered, there is no clear plan on what percentage of women's representation will be achieved in parliament, how women's participation will be ensured while selecting candidates, and how much the number of women will be increased in the party's central committee and decision-making levels,' he said. Dahal said that if parties were committed to equal participation of women, then the manifesto itself should mention clear criteria such as how to prioritize female candidates when determining constituencies, what place women will be given in proportional lists, and what the minimum percentage of women will be at the leadership level. 

According to him, it is positive that the manifesto mentions ending violence against women, providing employment to women, or economically empowering women. But Dahal believes that the manifesto should necessarily mention a time frame, responsible body and monitoring mechanism to make those commitments implementable.

‘It is said that cases of violence against women will be resolved through a fast track, but it is not clear how many days, months or what kind of structure the fast track will take,’ he said. Dahal commented that the parties have not paid attention to the fact that women’s problems are not uniform. Stating that the problems of geographical, Dalit, disabled, single, indigenous and Madhesi women are different, he argued that the manifestos are not based on geography and social background.

Although the constitution clearly ensures women’s rights, equal participation and inclusive representation, rights activist Renu Adhikari said that the manifestos of the parties do not have a clear framework and time frame on how those provisions will be implemented. She said that although the manifestos appear to be women-friendly, they are limited to relief and allowances rather than a long-term strategy to end structural inequality.

According to the official, although the constitution ensures proportional representation of women in the House of Representatives and state structures, the parties have not made public a clear action plan to put it into practice. ‘There is a provision in the constitution, but the presence of women in the internal structures of the parties is low, and there is no concrete plan in the manifesto on how to ensure women's representation,’ she said. She said that the lack of priority in the manifesto for basic issues such as a violence-free society, policy-making and meaningful participation of women in decision-making is a matter of concern. 

According to Jamuna Shiwakoti, head of the Department of Gender Studies under Tribhuvan University, most manifestos depict women only as a group that needs protection. She said, ‘The parties have not clearly accepted the basic belief that women can be leaders and policymakers. Relief and allowance-oriented programs may have an immediate impact, but they are not enough to end structural inequality.’