India Funds School Construction in Nepal's Jhapa District

Hikmat Kumar Karki, Chief Minister of Koshi Province; Gitanjali Brandon, Counsellor at the Embassy of India in Kathmandu; and Chhatrapati Subedi, Mayor of Gauradaha Municipality, jointly laid the foundation stone for the construction of a new building at Shree Janata Secondary School on Thursday, the Indian Embassy said in a press release.

The school infrastructure is being built with the financial assistance of approximately NPR 58 million from the Government of India. The project falls under the High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) framework and will be implemented through Gauradaha Municipality in Jhapa, according to the embassy.

Chief Minister Karki and other stakeholders appreciated India's continued developmental support to Nepal. They expressed confidence that the new infrastructure would significantly improve the learning environment for both students and teachers in the municipality.

"India and Nepal, as close neighbours, continue to maintain broad-based cooperation across multiple sectors," the embassy said.

It added that the implementation of such community development projects underscores India's ongoing support to Nepal's development efforts, particularly in enhancing infrastructure in priority sectors such as education.

The HICDP programme has emerged as a key pillar of the India-Nepal development partnership, with funding under this scheme supporting grassroots development in Nepal.

Launched in 2003, the HICDPs were previously known as Small Development Projects. The initiative supports small-scale infrastructure and community projects across Nepal through local authorities.

The programme focuses on priority sectors identified by the Government of Nepal, including health, education, drinking water, sanitation and drainage, rural electrification, hydropower and river training works.

In a significant boost to the initiative, a new agreement reached in January 2024 paved the way for an increase in the ceiling of Indian financial assistance to NPR 20 million per project, up from NPR 5 million.

- IANS