Province 2 receiving less aid than it would deserve

Kathmandu, Jan. 19:

Province 2 is not on the priority of the international development partners even as it lags behind other provinces in terms of social, economic and human development, according to the Development Cooperation Report (DCR) 2017/18 published by the Ministry of Finance.

A massive chunk of foreign aid – bilateral and multilateral – went to areas with high Human Development Index (HDI) and Per Capita Income (PCI) while Province 2, where the Multi-Dimensional Poverty (MPI) is high and PCI and HDI are the lowest, received a scanty amount of development support.

Province 2, the second largest population size among the seven provinces and is at the bottom in terms of human development, has the second worst multi-dimensional poverty and third lowest PCI. But this province has received US$ 11.3 per capita of foreign aid disbursement, which is the lowest in terms of province-wise support.

Of the total aid support of US$ 1.39 billion that Nepal received in the last Fiscal Year 2017/18, about 57 per cent was disbursed through national level projects and about 43 per cent (US$699.6 million) was allocated for projects associated with specific districts of provinces.

National level projects include those which are multi-district in scope, including those addressing policy or capacity issues at the central level and those that cannot be assigned to any specific district.

Province 3 received the highest disbursement with US$ 60.1 per capita due to several high-disbursing projects for post-quake reconstruction in the districts in the province. But, Gandaki, which has the second highest HDI and the lowest MPI, got US$ 25.1 per capita foreign aid disbursement.

Although Province 2 borders with India, it has a large share of fertile land and access to education, health and other facilities, it lags in most of the social aspects such as education, health and sanitation, gender equality and child rights.

The DCR maintained that data on aid collection and disbursement by geographic region can inform decisions that can have a direct impact on the degree to which aid is effective, including with regard to whether or not it is optimally distributed for achieving intended results, as well as from the perspective of reaching those most in need. However, it is silent on the geographical imbalance in aid supply.

Province-wise aid disbursement, poverty and HDI

Province	Disbursement ($) FY 2017/18	Population	Per Capita Disbursement	PCI ($)	MPI	HDI
Province 1	58,314,720	4,534,943	12.9	1,024	19.7	0.504
Province 2	61,118,873	5,404,145	11.3	799	47.9	0.421
Province 3	332,477,768	5,529,452	60.1	1,534	12.2	0.543
Gandaki	60,620,403	2,413,907	25.1	1,021	14.2	0.513
Province 5	61,319,307	4,891,025	12.5	868	29.2	0.468
Karnali	61,305,717	1,168,515	52.5	677	51.2	0.427
Sudur Paschim	64,425,617	2,552,517	25.2	660	33.6	0.431

Source: DCR 20171/18, CBS, NRB and HDI Report 2014.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 20 January 2019.