India lays foundation stone for community development projects in Nepal

India's Deputy Chief of Mission in Nepal, Prasanna Shirivastava along with Nepal's Minister of Parliament, Narayan Khadka laid the foundation stone for the construction of the school building of Shree Janata Belaka Secondary School in Baleka Municipality of Udayapur district in Nepal, said the Indian Embassy in Nepal in an official press release.

As per the embassy, the school is being built with Government of India's financial assistance at a tendered cost of NRs 3.79 crore (286k USD) under 'Nepal-India Development Cooperation'.

During the event, public representatives, government officials, social workers, representatives of school management, teachers, parents and students were also present on this occasion.

The release read further: "The Government of India grant under 'Nepal-India Development Cooperation' will be utilised for the construction of a triple-story school building with the required class rooms and other infrastructure facilities for this school. The project is being undertaken as a High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP), earlier known as Small Development Projects, under an agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Nepal. This project is being implemented through the Belaka Municipality, Udayapur."

While addressing the event, Narayan Khadka appreciated the continued developmental support of the Government of India in upliftment of the people of Nepal in its priority sectors.

Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Kathmandu, Prasanna Shrivastava, highlighted that the project is an important part of the very robust development partnership between India and Nepal, which has made significant progress in recent years, spanning various priority sectors of the Government of Nepal and its people.

He expressed the continued commitment of the Government of India to bolstering this development partnership as per the priorities of Government of Nepal, for the mutual benefit of the peoples of both countries. He also highlighted the successful completion of 20 years of HICDPs implementation in Nepal last month.

According to the release, once the construction of this school building is completed, this new infrastructure will help to provide better education facilities for the students of Shree Janata Belaka Secondary School and will contribute to the development of education in this area.

The release read, "Since 2003, India has taken up over 550 HICDPs in Nepal in various sectors and has completed 488 projects. Amongst these, 84 projects are in Koshi Province which includes 11 projects in Udayapur. In addition to these, Government of India has gifted 974 ambulances and 234 school buses to various hospitals, health posts and educational institutions in Nepal on the occasion of Independence Day and Republic Day of India. Amongst these, 141 Ambulances and 35 School Buses have been gifted in Koshi Province, which includes 12 Ambulances and 1 School Bus provided in Udayapur District."

As close neighbours, India and Nepal share wide-ranging and multi-sectoral cooperation. The implementation of the HICDPs reflects the continued support of the Government of India in bolstering the efforts of the Government of Nepal in upliftment of its people, augmenting infrastructure in priority sectors, especially in the education sector, in Nepal, the embassy said.