Karnali Province Police Training Center Relocation Stalls Despite Years of Planning

Surkhet. Nearly a decade after the country adopted a federal structure, Karnali has yet to secure several essential institutions that should be based within the province.

The Karnali Province Police Training Center, along with other branches, remains stationed in Nepalgunj. Despite long-standing preparations to relocate the center to Karnali, the process remains incomplete.

There was significant discussion regarding the legal procedures to move the Karnali Province Police Training Center, currently located in Nepalgunj, Banke, within Lumbini Province, to its own province.

A police training center requires 15 to 20 bighas of land. With such space unavailable in the provincial capital, Birendranagar, initial plans were made to establish the center at Dulalthai Mauridanda Community Forest in Panchapuri-8.

Although the site is forest land, it contains 22.5 bighas of plotted land. While it was considered an ideal location, plans were briefly diverted to Chaurjahari in Rukum West.

During Rajkumar Sharma's tenure as Chief Minister of Karnali, the provincial government included the relocation to Chaurjahari in its policy and programs, but the matter subsequently lost momentum.

On Wednesday, Member of Parliament Ramesh Kumar Sapkota, elected from Surkhet-2, conducted an inspection at Dulalthai. According to him, preparations are now underway to relocate the Karnali Province Police Training Center to Dulalthai.

'Yes, there was discussion about Rukum West previously, but now preparations are finalized to build it here,' MP Sapkota told Ratopati. 'I visited the site today for an inspection.'

He stated that the goal is to complete the land acquisition process and begin construction within the next month.

Since the Dulalthai site is forest land, the Ministry of Home Affairs must submit a request to the Ministry of Forests for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.

The land at Dulalthai was surveyed for the training center three years ago; however, subsequent provincial police chiefs, ministers, and political leaders neglected the project.

When Hridayaram Thani was an MP, he raised the issue in Parliament. The training center was established in 2023 BS as the Far-Western Regional Police Training Center to provide essential knowledge and skills to produce capable and efficient police personnel.

Following the administrative regional restructuring in 038 BS, it was renamed the Mid-Western Regional Police Training Center.

After the promulgation of the 072 Constitution and the subsequent restructuring of the state, the center was placed under the jurisdiction of Karnali Province. Currently, it operates in Karkando, Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City-18, on 15 bighas and 2.5 dhurs of land, where the physical infrastructure is in a dilapidated state.