Lumbini govt plans to build intl birthing centre

Investment Board clueless about the project

 

Kathmandu, Nov. 28

The provincial government in Lumbini has said that it will implement International Birthing Centre project in Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha and a world heritage site.

The facility is being developed targeting people who want to give birth to their babies at Lumbini, where Lord Buddha – proponent of Buddhism – was born. According to Lumbini Development Trust (LDT), tourists and people from various countries had expressed their wish to give birth to their babies in Lumbini.

Many people, mostly Buddhists from across the world, have expressed their desire to give birth to their babies in Lumbini wishing that they would be born with some of the qualities of Lord Buddha.

Santosh Kumar Pandeya, Minister for Internal Affairs of Lumbini Province, said that the provincial government had given high priority to the project and sought support from the federal government and the National Planning Commission (NPC).

"This is the provincial pride project which can transform the development and economy of Lumbini by attracting tourists as well as expecting mothers from all around the world who wish to give birth to their children in this sacred land," he had said while speaking at an interaction programme organised by the NPC in Lumbini earlier this month.

The provincial government of Lumbini had announced to implement the IBC project in Lumbini through its budget of the Fiscal Year 2021/22.

However, the concept of the Birthing Centre in Lumbini was in the talks since 2015 after the Public Health Ministry of Thailand showed its interest in establishing such a facility. In response to the Thai government's intent, then local bodies – Masina and Ekala village development committees – had initiated a process to find land to build the hospital. Currently, Masina is in Lumbini Cultural Municipality-18 and Ekala in Ward 10.

Initially, seven bigahas of land in Masina and eight  bigahas in Ekala was proposed to be provided to the hospital while the locals had also expressed their readiness to provide additional private land if needed.

The project that is proposed by the Lumbini government will be a 30-bed maternity hospital which is likely to be operated by the provincial government with the support from the LDT, said Dhundi Raj Bhattarai, Treasurer of the Trust.

According to him, the modality of operation is yet to be finalised. "The provincial government is ready to welcome foreign investment or other support to develop the project. Countries like Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea could be potential source for the support," said Bhattarai.

 

IBN completes pre-feasibility

But the provincial government is implementing the project without consulting the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) which has recently completed the pre-feasibility study of a similar project – Gautam Buddha International Maternity Hospital Project.

"The facility will be a 200-bed state of art health care facility that offers affordable, holistic and patient-centric healthcare promoting medical tourism specifically through maternity and related services by capturing the essences of giving birth at the pious birth place of Gautam Buddha," reads the project document published by the IBN.

The hospital will be developed in about 10 acres of land at Tarkulaha in Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality of Rupandehi district. It will have features like obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatric, IVF (Invitro Fertilisation), cardiology, neurology, pulmonology, orthopedics, urology, pathology, renal sciences, physiotherapy, nutrition and dietetics, and emergency and trauma centre.

There will be antenatal and neonatal care unit, Mayadevi wellness and meditation centre, supporting medical infrastructure and services, guest house and apartment.

The total cost of the hospital project which will be developed in the Public-Private Partnership modality is estimated at US$ 39 million (NPR 5.1 billion). It will be constructed in five years.

 

Missing coordination

Joint Secreatry of the IBN, Amrit Lamsal, said that there was no communication between the Lumbini provincial government and the IBN. The IBN had begun  to work on the project recently and concluded the pre-feasibility study just a couple of months ago.

However, the provincial government has not presented the operational modality of the hospital. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health and Population of the province couldn't provide the details of the project.

Meanwhile, federal Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sudan Kirati, urged the Buddhists from across the world to support in establishing 'Mayadevi Maternity Home' in Lumbini.

Speaking with the local stakeholders in Lumbini on Tuesday, he said that the hospital would be a tribute to Mayadevi who died while giving birth to Lord Buddha. 

Published in The Rising Nepal on 29 November 2023.