CESLAM Kathmandu Migration Conference 2026

CESLAM Kathmandu Migration Conference, organised by the Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility (CESLAM) at Social Science Baha, was held online on 16-17 February 2026.

Schedule

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Panel 1: Cross-Border Mobilities in the Past and Present

10:05–11:45 am

Chair and Discussant

Ambika Rai, Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University, India

From Tibet to Terai: Seasonal Migration of Bhotiya Communities through Long Distance Medicinal Plant Trade in Northeast Nepal
Arjun Chapagain
Innovative Research and Studies Center, Nepal
Jun Wang
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Building the Queen of Hills: Nepali Labourer in Colonial Darjeeling, Their Invisiblization and Reassertion
Arunita Sanyal
PhD Scholar, Jadavpur University, India
Medical Mobility across Empire: Medical-Based Migration between Nepal and British Ceylon (Sri Lanka), c. 1850-1947
U.N.K. Rathnayake
PhD Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Lunch Break

11:45 am –12:30 pm

Panel 2: Precarity and Health

12:30–2:10 pm

Chair and Discussant

Sadikshya Bhattarai, PhD Scholar, Aarhus University, Denmark

Marginalised Labour and Reproductive Health: Unpacking Sexual and Reproductive Health Inequities among Transnational Female Migrant Bharias in Darjeeling Hills, India
Ambika Rai
Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University, India
Gendered Precarity and Agency: A Sociological Study of Nepali Women Migrants in GCC Countries
Nusrat Azeema
Hohai University, China
Sita Chaudhary
Hohai University, China
Anmol Dhimal
Hohai University, China
Between Open Borders and Precarious Work: Labor Mobility in India–Nepal Migration
Khushi Titoria
PhD Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Break

2:10–2:40 pm

Panel 3: Remittances and Household Economy

2:40–4:20 pm

Chair and Discussant

Arjun Kharel, Research Fellow, CESLAM

How Remittances Reallocate Resources: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Nepal
Aayushma Manandhar
University of Oxford, UK
International Labour Migration, Remittance and Its Use in Health Care Expenditures in Selected Municipalities of Koshi Province
Susmita Nepal
Assistant Professor, Om Health Campus, Nepal
Examining the Livelihood Outcomes of Foreign Labour Migrants’ Households in Pokhara, Nepal, Using DFID Sustainable Livelihood Framework
Yuba Raj Tripathi
Assistant Professor, Pokhara University, Nepal

Panel 1: Cross-Border Mobilities in the Past and Present

10:05–11:45 am

Chair and Discussant

Ambika Rai, Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University, India

From Tibet to Terai: Seasonal Migration of Bhotiya Communities through Long Distance Medicinal Plant Trade in Northeast Nepal
Arjun Chapagain
Innovative Research and Studies Center, Nepal
Jun Wang
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Building the Queen of Hills: Nepali Labourer in Colonial Darjeeling, Their Invisiblization and Reassertion
Arunita Sanyal
PhD Scholar, Jadavpur University, India
Medical Mobility across Empire: Medical-Based Migration between Nepal and British Ceylon (Sri Lanka), c. 1850-1947
U.N.K. Rathnayake
PhD Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Lunch Break

11:45 am –12:30 pm

Panel 2: Precarity and Health

12:30–2:10 pm

Chair and Discussant

Sadikshya Bhattarai, PhD Scholar, Aarhus University, Denmark

Marginalised Labour and Reproductive Health: Unpacking Sexual and Reproductive Health Inequities among Transnational Female Migrant Bharias in Darjeeling Hills, India
Ambika Rai
Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University, India
Gendered Precarity and Agency: A Sociological Study of Nepali Women Migrants in GCC Countries
Nusrat Azeema
Hohai University, China
Sita Chaudhary
Hohai University, China
Anmol Dhimal
Hohai University, China
Between Open Borders and Precarious Work: Labor Mobility in India–Nepal Migration
Khushi Titoria
PhD Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Break

2:10–2:40 pm

Panel 3: Remittances and Household Economy

2:40–4:20 pm

Chair and Discussant

Arjun Kharel, Research Fellow, CESLAM

How Remittances Reallocate Resources: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Nepal
Aayushma Manandhar
University of Oxford, UK
International Labour Migration, Remittance and Its Use in Health Care Expenditures in Selected Municipalities of Koshi Province
Susmita Nepal
Assistant Professor, Om Health Campus, Nepal
Examining the Livelihood Outcomes of Foreign Labour Migrants’ Households in Pokhara, Nepal, Using DFID Sustainable Livelihood Framework
Yuba Raj Tripathi
Assistant Professor, Pokhara University, Nepal

Panel 1: Drivers and Aspirations

10:00 am–12:00 pm

Chair and Discussant

Arpita Giri Singh, Assistant Professor, Gurugram University, India

Across Hills and Borders: How Migration Reshapes Work, Aspirations and Rural Life in Nepal and Assam
Biswajyoty Roy
PhD Scholar, Mangalayatan University, India
Migration as Adaptation or Distress? A Qualitative Study of Climate Impacts in Nepal’s Hilly and Terai Regions
Dipin Subedi
Centre for Social Change, Nepal
Internal Migration, Informal Settlements and Construction Safety Challenges in Kathmandu
Nusrat Azeema
Hohai University, China
Sita Chaudhary
Hohai University, China
Anmol Dhimal
Hohai University, China
Muhammad Akbar
China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), China
Indian Migration to Nepal: Pattern, Drivers and Socio-Economic Implication under an Open Border Regime
Rekha Rani
Research Scholar, Guru Nanak Dev University, India
Swati Mehta
Research Scholar, Guru Nanak Dev University, India

Lunch Break

12:00–1:00 pm

Panel 2: Conceptual Exploration

1:00–2:40 pm

Chair and Discussant

Sanjay Sharma, Postdoctoral Fellow, Aarhus University, Denmark

Of Borders, Borderlands, and Bordering: Reading Nepali School Textbooks Along the Indo-Nepal Borderland
Kritika Chhetri
PhD Scholar, South Asian University, India
The Play of ‘Duality’ in the Conceptual ‘Homeland’: An Analysis of the Feeling of Disenchantment and Disorientation Upon Homecoming
Ujina Rana
PhD Scholar
Labour in Motion, Capital in Command: A Marxian Reading of Nepal’s Migrant Labour Regime
Suchismita Ghoshal
Independent Researcher, India

Closing Remarks

2:40 pm

Panel 1: Drivers and Aspirations

10:00 am–12:00 pm

Chair and Discussant

Arpita Giri Singh, Assistant Professor, Gurugram University, India

Across Hills and Borders: How Migration Reshapes Work, Aspirations and Rural Life in Nepal and Assam
Biswajyoty Roy
PhD Scholar, Mangalayatan University, India
Migration as Adaptation or Distress? A Qualitative Study of Climate Impacts in Nepal’s Hilly and Terai Regions
Dipin Subedi
Centre for Social Change, Nepal
Internal Migration, Informal Settlements and Construction Safety Challenges in Kathmandu
Nusrat Azeema
Hohai University, China
Sita Chaudhary
Hohai University, China
Anmol Dhimal
Hohai University, China
Muhammad Akbar
China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), China
Indian Migration to Nepal: Pattern, Drivers and Socio-Economic Implication under an Open Border Regime
Rekha Rani
Research Scholar, Guru Nanak Dev University, India
Swati Mehta
Research Scholar, Guru Nanak Dev University, India

Lunch Break

12:00–1:00 pm

Panel 2: Conceptual Exploration

1:00–2:40 pm

Chair and Discussant

Sanjay Sharma, Postdoctoral Fellow, Aarhus University, Denmark

Of Borders, Borderlands, and Bordering: Reading Nepali School Textbooks Along the Indo-Nepal Borderland
Kritika Chhetri
PhD Scholar, South Asian University, India
The Play of ‘Duality’ in the Conceptual ‘Homeland’: An Analysis of the Feeling of Disenchantment and Disorientation Upon Homecoming
Ujina Rana
PhD Scholar
Labour in Motion, Capital in Command: A Marxian Reading of Nepal’s Migrant Labour Regime
Suchismita Ghoshal
Independent Researcher, India

Closing Remarks

2:40 pm

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