Asheem Man Singh Basnyat is contesting House of Representatives election from Kathmandu constituency-1. Basnyat is a Nepali entrepreneur, business leader, and governance advocate known for his contributions to technology-driven economic growth and institutional development in Nepal. With extensive experience in entrepreneurship, industry, and policy engagement, he represents a new generation of leadership focused on innovation, accountability, and sustainable economic progress. A management graduate from Beijing International Studies University, Basnyat also holds a Master of Arts degree from Tribhuvan University. His academic background, combined with practical leadership experience, has shaped his strategic approach to business and governance. He currently serves as the Managing Director of Pathao Nepal. Under his leadership, Pathao has expanded across multiple sectors, providing employment to 250000 people across the country. The Himalayan Times caught up with him to discuss what agenda he wants to pursue and how he wants to woo his voters. Excerpts: Why did you decide to contest the HoR election as an independent candidate from Kathmandu constituency- 1? I decided to contest as an independent candidate mainly because I want to raise people's voice prominently in the House of Representatives. Lawmakers associated with a political candidate does not get time to speak in the house as time is sometimes allotted on the basis of how many parties we have in the House. Each time independent candidates, however, get, time to speak even if they only have two minutes to put forth their views on a particular issue. I have only a few agenda but those are the key agenda to change the country and as I want the people of the country to know those agenda, I decided to run as an independent candidate. How are you trying to woo voters of Kathmandu constituency-1? My main focus is to raise the issue of employment, good governance and easy and hassle- free environment for small and medium enterprises. I have pledged with my voters that, if elected, I will help create two million job opportunities in my constituency. Through Pathao service, I have already provided jobs to 250,000 people and I think it won't be difficult for me to create another 175,000 Jobs in the country. How do you plan to create another 175,000 jobs? I think it is possible to create at least one entrepreneur at every household because we have people in every household who have some skills. If we can remove restrictions for doing small business then I think we can create at least one entrepreneur in each family. I would like to share one Nepali girl's story. There was an interaction programme organised by Policy Research Institute. The 23- year girl told me that she had started selling her canvass paintings on Instagram when she was 17 -years- old and since then she had been earning enough that she didn't have to ask her parents to fund for her education through college. She said she only had to invest Rs12,000-13,000. If she has to invest millions of rupees and hire a lawyer and auditor to do the paper work for her work, she cannot do her job. Here the message that I want to drive home is that if we can create an environment conducive for small business that can be done without investing much money then we are not only creating jobs within the country but also retaining people within the country who would otherwise will have to leave for foreign countries in search of employment. We have seen the success story of women who started selling pickles and whose entrepreneurship later growing into a company of millions of rupees. If such women have to face cumbersome tax policies, then they cannot grow. I know that some people take loan to pay taxes and there should be an end to such compulsion. If an ordinary tax payer makes a mistake in the tax forms, then he/she should not be imposed fine, rather he/she should be sent to training centres to help him/her learn how to fill the tax form properly. At present people are made to pay fines when they make mistakes in the tax documents. In order to promote skills of families and to promote entrepreneurship, registration of small companies should be free so that ordinary people who want to support their families through their entrepreneurship won't have to pay heavy fees to lawyers and auditors who charge big amount for doing paper work on their behalf. The government can help promote entrepreneurship in the country if it makes provision of not charging any tax for five years for new small businesses. If we can do all this, then there will be entrepreneurs in every single household. How can the government promote local entrepreneurship? We see many people who grow different kinds of vegetables in their farmland do not get market to sell their produce. If wards start providing market for produce and better service to those who want to engage in entrepreneurship, then there will be industries in every locality. What I want to say here is that if there is conducive environment, then women and family members can start entrepreneurship which will greatly contribute to national economy. Not only that, it will also aid women empowerment. The current requirement of capital investment for certain of business should be removed in order to promote local entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, our business policies and very old that do not address current reality. You have been championing the cause of good governance and transparency. What are your views regarding these issues? I have been raising the issue of transparency, accountability and good governance for last few years. One way to control corruption is to stop lateral entry in the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, high courts and the Supreme Court. I would prefer the Public Service Commission selecting office bearers in the CIAA. Once that happens everybody who has committed corruption will be prosecuted by the CIAA. How can the government control corruption effectively? Corruption is so deep rooted that these days society mocks the honest public servant for not receiving bribes. We need to teach lessons of morality to everybody since childhood so that our children would value honesty and stay away from corrupt practices in later life. Knowledge exchange between the old and young generation should be a continuous process. In my constituency there are a lot of people who retired after reaching the top posts in the government organs they serve and if they can interact regularly with the young generation, the latter would also immensely benefit. The Rastriya Swatantra Party has made it a poll slogan that the assets of all who have held public post after 1990 should be probed. What is your view about this? It's a populist slogan but the reality is that those who are raising this demand, should be posed a question as to how they get expensive iPhone or else they should say how much taxes they have paid to the government before making this comment. And policy corruption should also end. How can lawmakers perform better in the Parliament? I have been saying that there should be no political parties' whip to lawmakers who are elected under the first-past-the-post election system. FPTP winners are accountable only to their electorates and parties should not control such lawmakers. Sometimes I wonder why the public does not know fully well who all lawmakers voted for or against any important bills, proposals or agreement. Our parliament passed the MCC bill but we do not know who voted in favour of this bill who did not. Lawmakers should tell their voters what they did for them every month. Voters should be also made aware about what they can expect from federal lawmakers, provincial lawmakers and local governments.