Dhanusha, Aug. 24 -- On a scorching afternoon at Birendra Bazar in ward 3 of Ganeshman Charnath Municipality in Dhanusha, a modest mud house with a tiled roof stands quietly in the heat. Inside its two small rooms, 28-year-old Archana Kumari Mahara, a mother of two, steps into her kitchen. She sets a pan on her shiny new induction stove, plugs it in, and the aroma of sizzling potato snacks fills the air within minutes.

"Here you go. I can cook in a few minutes nowadays," Mahara says with a smile, handing over the plate.

For her, the stove is more than just an appliance. It is liberation.

She no longer has to kneel in front of a smoky mud stove, coughing through clouds of fumes while arranging firewood. For years, like millions of Nepal...