New Delhi: India has extended development assistance to Nepal’s western Sudurpaschim Province, with a new college building inaugurated in Doti district and the foundation stone laid for a school building in Kanchanpur. This was materialized under the Indian government’s High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) programme.
The building of Kedar Surya Multiple Campus in Badikedar rural municipality, Doti, was jointly inaugurated by Basist Nandan, first secretary at the embassy of India in Kathmandu, and Bhairav Bahadur Saud, chairperson of Badikedar rural municipality, the Indian embassy said.
The campus, earlier known as Shree Kedar Jyotipunja Multiple Campus, was renamed Kedar Surya Multiple Campus ahead of the inauguration, according to media reports. The double-storey facility has seven rooms on each floor along with allied infrastructure.
Affiliated with Tribhuvan University, the campus offers Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) programmes, according to media reports.
In Kanchanpur district, the foundation stone for a new building at Shree Maheshwar Secondary School in Bhimdatt municipality was laid on Saturday. Nandan and Nilam Lekhak Joshi, deputy chief of Bhimdatt municipality, jointly performed the foundation-laying ceremony.
The school building will be constructed with around NPR 19 million in Indian government assistance under the HICDP programme. The project will be implemented through Bhimdatt municipality.
The project is the 11th HICDP being undertaken in Kanchanpur district. Local representatives and stakeholders welcomed the assistance, with Joshi highlighting the expected improvement in the learning environment for students and teachers.
The HICDP programme forms a key part of India-Nepal development cooperation and supports projects in areas including education, healthcare, community infrastructure and capacity building. The programme was launched in 2003 as the small development projects initiative and was later renamed HICDP.
Under the programme, small-scale infrastructure and community projects are implemented through local authorities based on priority areas identified by the Nepal government. These include education, healthcare, drinking water, sanitation, rural electrification, hydropower and river training.
Nearly 600 HICDP projects have been undertaken across all seven provinces and 74 districts of Nepal since the programme began.
India has also provided 78 ambulances and 40 school buses to institutions in the health and education sectors of Sudurpaschim Province. This includes nine ambulances and three school buses for institutions in Doti district.
Indian ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava said in a post on X that the development projects reflect the continuing India-Nepal partnership and support Nepal’s efforts to improve infrastructure and socio-economic development in priority sectors.