Located on the floodplains fed by the waters from Eastern Himalayas, bordering the Darjeeling District, home to a diverse culture and rich biodiversity, Jhapa District is the abode to Readers Jhapa, a non profit organization with voluntary membership and no vertical hierarchy,  established about 17 years ago, has been promoting the culture of reading, critically analyzing and raising awareness of the issues that matter the society. For this, Readers Jhapa have been organizing weekly presentations and reflections on pressing issues and vivid themes of the society. Additionally, scholars, experts and key stakeholders from diverse fields are also invited in our forums to share their findings in the mass and conduct workshops for the transfer of skills to the local youths.  

Apart from the above mentioned activities, a major event organised by Readers Jhapa- anticipated nationally-  has been the Readers Art and Literature Festival, the first edition of which was held in 2013. Four editions of the Festival – one in every two years- have been organized so far before the Covid crisis struck the world in 2020. In a country where the centre for exchange of ideas had always been the  Capital, it was the first instance when an Art and Literature Festival was held outside the Capital Valley. For the first time, scholars, policy makers, artists, social workers, authors and poets across the country gathered outside the valley and shared their insights to the masses in the Festival. The programs were covered by national and local Print and Digital media.

The discussions and the sharings invoked thoughts among the common masses nationally. It became a launchpad for budding artists and activists from this region – many of whom rose into prominence nationally after the festival . More importantly, the issues raised in the Festival led to reform in policies locally and nationally.

Similarly, the last three editions have also been able to live up to the hype created by the inaugural edition.

After the 4^th  Art and Literature Festival the subsequent editions were halted due to the aftermath of the Covid 19 after 2020. With lives coming back on track, it was decided to resume the Festival series, this time on a theme of the pressing issue affecting the globe rapidly: The Climate Change, the effect of which has been visible more than before in recent years. To lay a groundwork to this Readers Jhapa started a series dedicated to the issue of Climate Change from April 2024 where the members of Readers Jhapa made presentations  analyzing the articles ranging from the history of Climate Change to the modern day adaptation plans to tackle its effects. This series has helped us to think of the adaptation plans which can be implemented locally to tackle the difficulties faced due to Climate Change in our region. Writers, scholars and ground workers working in this field were also invited in this series to present their works and findings to the audiences of our area. The 5^th Edition of the Art and Literature Festival is proposed to be the culmination of the Environment Series where, like in the past, the writers, the scholars, the ground workers, the policy makers, the artists, the educationists,the  entrepreneurs, the agriculturalists and the other stakeholders from Nepal and India in the field of Environment will gather to share their findings, their sufferings and their proposed plan to mitigate and adapt to the looming threat of the Climate Change.