Province Government to Build Concrete Houses for Displaced Families in Madi

Makwanpur. Asmita Praja of Chitwan, Madi-7, has just turned 24. She can read and write a little and is also the mother of 3 children. Living in a small mud house on the banks of the Parevi River in Madi-7, she has a 7-month-old infant in her lap. Amidst poverty, she is struggling to raise her 5-year-old eldest son, a 3-year-old daughter, and the infant in her lap.

Asmita's husband works as a mason. They were displaced from Kusum River in Madi when the Chitwan National Park evicted their settlement, and they came there. They have no house to live in, nor land for farming. Their livelihood depends on a house built with a fence made from the riverbank and a hut built on reclaimed land.

More than 50 families live on the banks of the Parevi River, like Asmita. Most of them are from the Chepang community, with a small number from the Magar and Tamang communities.

All those families displaced by the park from Kusum River have been provided with a place to live on the reclaimed land of the Parevi River by the Madi Municipality, but they do not have a livable house. The Bagmati Province Government will build concrete houses for them, as they are living in makeshift houses thatched with reeds and straw.

They do not have enough farmland to sustain them for 12 months, and they somehow manage their livelihood by working as daily wage laborers. The provincial government, which provides grants for the construction of safe housing for the marginalized, poor, and economically disadvantaged, will build houses for 39 families in Madi under the integrated settlement development program.

The provincial government is preparing to complete the construction of 39 houses in an integrated settlement concept for the scattered Chepang community in Madi, Chitwan, within this financial year, said Bhupendra Yadav, Chief of the Urban Development and Building Office, Makwanpur. He stated that the provincial government is preparing to build houses for them, who have been living with leaky roofs during the monsoon and makeshift fences.

Yadav said that the province is working on housing construction under two programs for the Janata Awas and Chepang Vankariya, Majhi, Bote communities in the Chitwan and Makwanpur districts of the province.

The provincial government has been constructing housing for the marginalized Chepang, Vankariya, Majhi, Bote, and single women. According to Yadav, the housing development program has been implemented to bring them into the mainstream of the state, as their awareness level regarding education and health is still weak, and they are trapped in child marriage, bad customs, and superstitions.

Yadav informed that the provincial government moves forward with the process of constructing housing based on the recommendation and selection of the local government. The provincial government has already spent 384.3 million rupees and provides 400,000 rupees per house, and the beneficiaries also contribute labor for ownership of the house.

According to Yadav, in the financial year 2079/080, the provincial government completed and handed over 279 houses in Makwanpur and 224 houses in Chitwan. The provincial government spent 201.2 million rupees for this, and 94 houses are under construction in the current financial year. He stated that the target is to complete an additional 105 houses. He mentioned that a total of 384.3 million rupees has been spent on housing construction so far.

Tara Kumari Kaji Mahato, Mayor of Madi Municipality, said that the goal is to develop the Chepang community as an integrated settlement with the belief that if their economic, social, and educational development is achieved, the entire community will move towards national development.

Mayor Mahato stated that the Madi Municipality has been conducting various programs for the development and upliftment of the Chepang community. She said that the municipality has been operating employment-oriented skills and programs to help the Chepang community, who are going through difficulties, move forward in education, health, and income generation. According to her, the municipality has played a role in enabling them to live a life like ordinary citizens after being removed from the forest. She added that the municipality has already provided basic facilities such as water and electricity at the location where the integrated settlement for the Chepangs is being built.

According to Dr. Dineshchandra Devkota, Minister of Physical Infrastructure Development of the Province, the Janata Awas program was transferred from the federal government to the provincial government after the financial year 2075/076. He stated that even after the transfer from the federal government to the province, 707 housing units have been completed, and contracts have been signed with 909 families for house construction, which are in the implementation phase. Among them, 884 families have received the first and second installments, and 870 families have received the third installment and are moving forward with the work.

Minister Devkota said, 'We need to shift from the traditional and unproductive development model and focus on integrated settlement development. Instead of spending budget on scattered and small projects, increasing investment in strategically important areas is the current need.'

He stated that development should be pursued with a new model based on geography and needs. He emphasized the need to create projects that integrate agriculture, tourism, and the environment by constructing integrated development projects and clarified that development work should be focused on the needs of the citizens.