Amar BK–Ward Chairperson
Gaumul Rural Municipality, Bajura
Gaumul Rural Municipality’s progress amidst difficulty: Significant improvement in infrastructure and service expansion, demand for reconsideration in budget distribution
Santoshi Rawal, Nepal News Bank
Kathmandu. Gaumul Rural Municipality, which is ranked 77th in the Human Development Index of Bajura district, has made remarkable progress in infrastructure, social development and service delivery despite geographical remoteness, low population and budget crunch.
In an exclusive conversation with Nepal News Bank, Gaumul Rural Municipality-4 Chairman Amar BK said that after the federal structure, the local governments are able to solve the problems of the people on their own and big projects are being implemented through the state and federal governments. According to ward chair BK, although a remote district like Bajura needs to get more budget than other districts, the federal and provincial governments have not been able to allocate budget as expected due to geographical remoteness and low population.
He stressed that the budget should be distributed on the basis of real needs and costs of remote areas.
He informed that the rural municipality has reached all the five wards except Ward No. 1 and the target is to expand the road up to Ward No. 1 within the current fiscal year. He added, “More than
90 percent of the drinking water projects have been completed, all settlements have electricity and the hospital of Dasiya, which has not been connected to the national grid due to low capacity, is being connected to the national grid this year after completing the contract process and the poles are being erected.” According to BK, telephone towers are being constructed for the expansion of telecommunication services in the rural municipality and telephone service is becoming accessible in most areas. According to him, the construction of basic buildings of schools and health institutions has been completed. He, however, said that there is still a challenge to operate smooth transportation throughout the year due to lack of motorable bridges over big rivers and rivers.
According to him, although the provincial and federal governments are implementing various development projects, the provincial government has been sending more projects that are outside the priorities of the rural municipalities.
He said, “It is necessary for the state government to prioritise the projects prioritized by the rural municipalities and provide direct benefits to the people.” “
BK said that the judicial and administrative works in the rural municipality are being conducted in a transparent and dispute-free manner. According to him, committees have been formed in the rural municipality and all wards for disaster management, necessary arrangements have been made for preparedness, training, equipment management and coordination by designating contact persons up to the locality.
According to him, financial administration and development works have been delayed due to the lack of regular accountants and the reluctance of the Chief Administrative Officer to come to remote areas.
Stating that programmes related to women empowerment, reduction of domestic violence, alcohol management and children-targeted programmes were being carried out continuously in the rural municipality, he said positive changes have been seen in the social sector as well.
“The campaign of demolishing chhaugoths has become effective, caste-based discrimination has decreased and positive thinking is being developed in the new generation,” he said. “
BK said that the administrative building of the rural municipality and the fun park under construction in Ward No. 4 have reached the final stage. The construction of the hospital building has been completed and it is ready to operate. He said that the next priority would be expansion of motorable roads to all ward offices, construction of motorable bridges to be operated throughout the year and easy access to basic services in remote settlements ।
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