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KATHMANDU: High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) operated under Indian assistance in Nepal have over a period of 20 years brought in waves of change in lives across the country.
Commemorating two decades of its successful implementation, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Tuesday formally handed over Mangaladevi Birthing (Maternity) Centre at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu to hospital representatives.
The project was jointly handed over by Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Anita Devi and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava.
Moreover, the agreements for three more High Impact Community Development Projects being undertaken in Nepal under Indian grant assistance at a total estimated cost of Rs 130 million in the Baitadi and Mustang districts were also signed on the occasion.
Taking to X, the Indian Embassy in Nepal stated, "20 years of #HICDPs mark an important milestone in over years of 's Development Cooperation with #Nepal. projects in Districts have significantly added infrastructure to enhance life quality at the grassroots for people in #Nepal."
TU Teaching Hospital is one of the most prestigious medical institutions in Nepal. Mangaladevi Birthing Centre at the hospital has been built with the Indian government's financial assistance of Rs 44.04 million as a HICDP under the Nepal-India Development Cooperation framework.
In addition, two sets of 40 KVA diesel-powered generators, five buses and two ambulances have been provided to different departments, including during the Covid 19 pandemic, for this hospital in which one ambulance is fully equipped with Advance Life Support.
The Teaching Hospital representatives informed that this birthing centre is being managed by nurses and could function as the model birthing centre for implementation in other regions across Nepal, which could result in reduced maternal mortality rates.
HICDPs, earlier known as Small Development Projects, were launched on November 7, 2023, through a bilateral agreement between the governments of Nepal and India. These projects are an innovative and important segment of the Development Partnership with Nepal and are being implemented in the priority sectors of the Government of Nepal to create infrastructure to enhance the quality of life at the grassroots level for the people of Nepal.
Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Srivastava highlighted that this journey of implementation of HICDP projects over the past 20 years has been very successful. He expressed satisfaction that since 2003, nearly 550 projects have been taken up under this framework in various sectors including education, health, roads, bridges, river training, drinking water, electrification, irrigation, culture, social welfare etc, which have impacted people's lives directly.
Of these, 480 projects have been completed and the remaining are ongoing. This success translates into over 27 projects every year or simply more than one new project being implemented every fortnight in Nepal under the Nepal-India Development Cooperation over the last 20 years.
Ambassador Srivastava thanked the Nepal government for its support in this regard and committed to further enhancing and strengthening the implementation of HICDPs in future. These HICDPs have been diverse in sector and geographical spread. It covers all the provinces of Nepal.
Apart from 107 projects that spread in more than one province, 84 projects have been undertaken in Koshi Province, 81 projects in Madhesh Province, 105 projects in Bagmati Province, 61 in Gandaki, 60 projects in Lumbini, 14 in Karnali and 41 in Sudurpashchim.
Finance Minister Mahat thanked India for its continuous support in the creation of development infrastructure in Nepal. He highlighted that HICDP projects are the cornerstone of the development partnership between Nepal and India. He assured the Nepal government’s full support in the implementation of such projects which impact the livelihood of common Nepali people.
Minister Devi highlighted that the key aspects of such projects are their quick gestation period and the role that they play in economic development at the local level. She thanked the Indian government for its support. She said HICDPs, despite being small in size, create a big impact in the lives of the common Nepali people and therefore have been appropriately described as highly impactful in bringing changes in the community.
Further, the Indian government has every year gifted ambulances and school buses to various institutions working in the health and education sectors in Nepal on the occasion of Independence Day and Republic Day of India.
So far, 974 ambulances and 234 school buses have been gifted to beneficiaries in different parts of Nepal which translates into one ambulance being gifted every week and one school bus every month. These services are placed to be part of the first line of treatment and contribute significantly to the health care and education sector. This initiative is connecting with grassroots people even in the remotest parts of Nepal.
