Achham 

Achham's Vital Statistics

Nepal Electricity Authority A micro hydro-electricity (400kw) project in Kailash Khola is under operation and the power is being supplied to 4 VDCs. Consumption has not been optimised as yet. Telecommunications Telephone lines-101; post offices-52

Participatory Planning & Monitoring

• The participatory planning and monitoring process has been fully institutionalised in the district. The District Management Committee (DMC) produced a planning and review calendar and the dates and activities were announced to the public in order to enhance participation.

• The District Development Plan endorsed by District Council after it had been prioritised through the DDC’s annual participatory planning and monitoring cycle-the pre-planning workshop, VDC Council, Ilaka Planning Workshops, sectoral planning committee meeting, DDC Co-ordination meeting, DDC meeting-was submitted to NPC for inclusion in the FY2056/57 plans and budget. The planning cycle for FY2057/58 has already been initiated and the District Council will be held soon.

• An anlaysis of the FY56/57 DDP has shown that of the total proposed budget of Rs. 228,152,600,
  Rs. 153,513,000 (67.3%) was approved by NPC and included in the Red Book.

• District Council in session

  A 5-day district-level participatory strategic planning process workshop was held in the DDC Council Hall from 19-23 September with the purpose of preparing background information for a 20-year district strategic plan. The workshop jointly organised by the DDC, PDDP and ADDCN was participated by 60 representatives from the DDC body, VDCs, line agencies, donor agencies and NGOs. At the end of the workshop, an 11-member task force was formed to carry out long-term planning operations in the district.

• An office has been established in each ilaka for the ilaka member, thus institutionalising the ilaka workshop as an important step in the participatory planning process.

• District Information Unit is functional and fully equipped with GIS maps and database, as well as two computers, photocopier, fax and email facilities.

• Updating of data collected in 1995/96 is being carried out. 68 of the 75 VDCs have already submitted the completed survey questionnaire forms, and data entry has been completed in 18 VDCs.

• District profile and sectoral information have been published and disseminated.

• The DDC has been publishing its newsletter, the Jilla Bikas Sandesh on a quarterly basis.

Institutional Strengthening

• The DDC has reformed its structure to integrate the Programme Sections, including the internalisation of the Programme Officers (POs) and a Computer Assistant. The DDCO has started delegating administrative and financial authority to the POs in the absence of the LDO in the district. Currently there are 2 POs in the DDC.

• As per the decision of the DDC, an HRD Unit has been established under the Social Development Section. The DDC had allocated Rs. 60,000 in FY 2056/57 for the establishment of the HRD Unit.

• Male CO during its regular meeting

  A 5-member NGO coordination committee has been formed in the DDC to coordinate the activities of the NGOs in the district.

• There is a functioning Local Initiative Forum (LIF) among the UN projects working in the district.

• There is a functioning Forum of International Agencies in Achham (FIAA) among donor projects working in the district.

• The Sectoral Committee meetings of the DDC has been regularised.

• A revolving Public Service Fund has been established to assist communities to initiate activities related to health and education sectors. A total of Rs. 137,000 was provided for 8 projects (5 in health and 3 in education) for undertaking public service activities.

• VDP is being implemented in Jalpadevi, Baijanath, Lungra, Chafamandu, Dhamali VDCs and, with the mobilisation of NORAD funds into LTFB Achham, has recently been expanded to Bardadevi, Malatikot, Siddheswar, Toli and Toshi VDCs. Besides, the DDC through its own resources, has also been implementing VDP in Kalagaon.

• Handasain CO members are growing vegetables through credit capital support

  In the five VDCs, VDP has covered 90% (96% in the original two VDCs and 88% in the second phase VDCs) of the households through the formation of 96 COs. There are 3326 CO members (2286 (69%) male and 1040 (31%) female) in 29 male, 15 female and 52 mixed COs.

• These COs have saved nearly Rs. 0 .9 million and utilised 173% of the internal savings on loan amongst CO members. The CO members have utilised 45.8% of the loans for livestock development, 26.9% for household consumption, 15.9% for agricultural purposes ad 11.4% for establishing trades.

• 74 COs have utilised Rs. 1.95 million credit capital which they had invested mainly in livestock (72.5%) trade (23%) and farming (4.5%). The credit capital has been utilised by 40.6% of ‘poor’ members, 40.8% of the ‘medium’ income members and 18.6% by the ‘rich’ members.

• 153 male members and 27 female members have received general orientations (skill development training on accounting, group management) and 221 people have received training to become village specialists on animal health, silage making, mat preparation, community forestry management, sewing cutting, nursery management, vegetable production, bee-keeping, audit, etc.

• 10 Seed Grant Fund projects have been completed. The total cost of these projects is Rs. 0.74 million of which the LTF contributed 58.5%, VDCs 6.4% and the COs 35.1%. Five of these projects are drinking water projects and 2 projects under irrigation and 3 projects under community forestry. 7 drinking water, 1 micro-hydro and 2 community nursery projects are currently under implementation.

• Bio gas demonstration unit

  The Programme has demonstrated the use of equipment like sprayer, thresher and burdizo castrator, introduced cardamom and fruit plantations, as well as held demonstrations on silage making and bio-gas under technology transfer activities.

• The COs in the five VDCs on their own accord have dug 21.2 km village trail, 50m drainage, repaired 2590m irrigation channel & 4 temples, constructed 791 pit latrines and planted 1365 fruit and 8000 other trees.

What I think of District Development

Since we Nepalis got a new Constitution after the people’s uprising of 2046, we have been learning to practice and uphold the democratic norms and duties the Constitution bestowed on us. Since then many acts including the Civil Act, and old laws have been refined and amended. Through the collective efforts of the local elected representatives, the ADDCN, Nepal Municipality Association, Federation of VDCs, various political parties, Members of Parliament, intellectuals and experts on local governance, the Local Self-Governance Act was passed by the 15th Session of Parliament. These are initiatives that help to provide a vision for national development. It is by preserving our achievements and filling in the lacunas that we can move forward towards our goal.

Even after the attainment of democracy the government has been making constant efforts on how to streamline the development process; how to identify the proper channels of development; how to identify the special requirements of various areas, districts and regions.

Looking at the experiences gained by PDDP,LGP and Decentralisation Support Project before that, I feel it is necessary to tackle the following issues for a holistic development of our districts.

First of all it is essential to have Long-term Planning. These 20-25-year plans should reflect people’s vision.

It is also essential to undertake Strategic Planning with the participation of the local elected representatives, the backward and oppressed class, women, sectoral line agencies. Strategic planning is essential so that the elected authorities have a clear vision of where they are supposed to reach in at least their five year term, what they have to do in order to be closer to their objectives and goals.

A Long-term Strategic Planning should be undertaken through annual budgeting, programming and implementation of projects based on solid statistics and resources so that the long term goals can be achieved.

There should be collective responsibility for district development and the DDC should make sure that there is proper coordination between the NGOs, various donor agencies and other development agencies in the district. Special attention must be paid towards people’s participation to oversee an effective use of available resources.

The by-laws prepared under the various acts and regulations should be updated through exchange of information with the experts, NGOs and donor agencies.

The results of the participatory planning, implementation and monitoring exercises at the district level should be linked with national data. A reliable mechanism should be formed to conduct mid-term reviews of achievements and failures, and new channels must be found and be successfully implemented from the lessons learnt.

 Achham, where PDDP is being implemented, has scarce resources, is barely touched by roadway, lags far behind in education and stands lowest in Human Development Index Ranking among the districts. The first elected DDC had begun some participatory work and the second elected DDC, right from the 6th District Council, has shown a determination to strictly follow the participatory planning process. Accordingly, with assistance from Helvetas, we have laid down the foundations of the district’s Road Master Plan. Similarly, in coordination with CARE/Nepal, Helvetas/Nepal, PDDP and ADDCN we are making preparations for formulating our district’s strategic plan. We will be holding workshops at the district and village level and then present the plan at the District Council for necessary endorsement.

We have already formulated and implemented rules for the formation of the NGO Coordination Committee. The committee meets every three months, the copies of the decisions are sent to the DDC and the activities are implemented only after the investment areas are properly identified and analysed. We have also decided that INGOs will not be allowed to invest in easily accessible places. They have to respect the district’s policy of first reaching out to the remote and hardship areas as well. In Achham the political parties too have unanimously decided to reach a point of agreement for development instead of getting embroiled in arguments. The transparency that we have maintained in the 6th and 7th District Councils for example, have helped to allay suspicions and misconceptions.

By basing our programs and activities on available resources and targeted towards our overall development vision, we hope to tag along with the national goal of poverty alleviation. In the next five years we will aim to raise the living standard of the poor including the illiterate females and the deprived, oppressed class. Only a transparent planning process with the full participation of people and the concerted efforts of the government and NGOs will enable the people to utilise the democratic rights and duties and to help fight poverty and help them face the challenges of the 21st century.

Thus, if we base our efforts on situational analyses and aim for sustainable development, I am fully confident that the living standard of the poor people will definitly rise up.

My Experiences & Observations in Achham

Achham is a very large hilly district, and very remote. Although there is one road that leads to it, and although there is one airstrip, one still has to walk for a day to reach the district headquarters Mangalsen. There is still no other alternative to walking to reach most of the VDCs in the district.

It is difficult to calculate the time it takes to travel from Kathmandu to Achham. The only flights from Nepalgunj to Sanfe Bagar are very unreliable, so driving it up is the only resort. That translates to roughly 950 km of road travel, portions of which are still ungravelled and thus mean a slow and bumpy ride. Depending upon the time of year and the weather, the trip from the capital city can take anywhere from 3 to 6 days!

Geographical remoteness makes life difficult in Mangalsen. Even upto now, the town doesn’t have a single lodge with boarding and fooding facility. It is extremely rare to find houses with bathrooms, and none of the government offices here have lodging quarters for the staff. It is no wonder, then, that most of the civil employees here look upon their posting as a sentence in a detention camp! No wonder, also, that there are no takers for many posts in the district offices here, and that most who do turn up have a "when-do-I-get-transferred-from-here?" frame of mind. The impact of such attitudes on the overall development of the district is something that needs serious evaluation.

Achham lags behind in terms of social, economic and education sectors. Superstition, social evils have dug their roots here. Boys and girls aged 10-15 are still getting tied down in matrimonial bonds. Young girls, on the threshold of puberty are becoming mothers, giving birth to a couple of kids before they are two decades old. Tradition prohibits these lactating mothers from eating any nutritious foods. It is extremely rare to see plump and healthy women in the area. The people here do not sell milk or milk products, and neither do they give milk to the "lower caste" people, for fear for God’s wrath.

The women here have an extra burden due to seasonal migration of the men folk. As most of the young men work in Mumbai, India, most of the farming activities fall on the shoulders of the women. The women face a lot of physical and mental hardship during their menstrual cycle (chhau) when they have to spend the four days in a special shed away from the house called chhaupadi. If there is no chhaupadi in the house then a woman will have to go to a neighbour’s chhaupadi, and if that is not available then she will have to make do in a cave. Many women have lost their lives due to the unhygienic and unsafe conditions in which she has to spend her chhau days. This practice had posed a problem for female development workers and employees too. As these "broad-minded" and "modern" women do not believe in spending time in the chhaupadi during their menstrual cycle, they are often refused housing facility. Many have had to leave their jobs due to lack of accommodation.

The average literacy rate in the district is a low 24.8 percent. While the literacy rate of the males is 41 percent, that of the women is a dismal 8 percent. Folks here still do not seem convinced that it is important for girls to study. And boys, once they become matriculate seem in a hurry to rush to the plains of India, with or without parental consent, to earn some money. Education does not seem to hold charm to them.

On the economic front, the people here do not grow enough food to sustain them throughout the year. As there are no alternative sources of income, the men here are forced to go out of the districts in search of work and money. I have seen many youngsters who return home after a long stay in India. They often carry huge audio cassette players along with them... ones that consume a lot of batteries. The volume is turned on full blast as they traverse the mountains and head for home. They arrive with a fanfare of loud music... thus announcing to the entire community that they are back.

As long as these folks stay in the village, they walk around with a bunch of hangers-on. They spend their hard-earned money reveling and in the end, with empty pockets they sell their cassette player for a paltry sum to the village moneylender and head down for the plains once more. Those who do not have travel expenses often borrow from these moneylenders. Often they come back after a year and pay back as much in Indian currency as they borrowed in Nepali currency. Many have started migrating to the plains to escape the hardship of the hills.

Awareness about sanitation is very poor. People relieve themselves on the roadside and in public places, lending credence to the adage, "If there’s shit there must be a village nearby.. and if there’s a village, there must be shit."

Political awareness in the district seems to be very high. During elections, there are many who return home from India and present themselves as candidates. As even those who win the elections go back to their work in India, there is often a void in local leadership.

As far as drinking and alcoholism go, Achham has been able to prove itself as an exemplary dry area for 12 years, prompting other districts in the region also to ban the sale of alcohol.

Achham toiled itself through development labour pains, far away from the notice of donors and aid agencies, until PDDP was implemented in the district five years ago. Since then the Programme has been able to influence the local authorities and the people in the settlement about its goals of self reliance, self-empowerment and self-governance for poverty alleviation.

Although PDDP’s Village Development Programme (VDP) has been working in the grassroots, it is being recognised all over as an ideal vehicle for poverty alleviation. VDP encourages internal resource mobilisation, skill enhancement for self-employment besides offering opportunities for constructing small infrastructural projects to enhance productivity, and providing credit facility for small income generating enterprises.

Many youths now find staying in the village and investing in small enterprises lucrative enough not to go to India looking for work. There is increased awareness about sending both boys and girls to school. Community members are repairing trails, schools and drinking spouts, constructing community buildings, initiating sanitation campaigns, and the like, thus impressing upon the youths that it is possible to stay in the village and make it prosperous and developed.

Besides this, with the increase in the management capacity of the DDC and the institutionalisation of a decentralised planning and monitoring system backed up by GIS maps and database, a conducive environment has been created in the districts for those interested in investing in the district. There has been a surge of interest from the donors since last year. There is a lot to be done in Achham. The people here feel that if the enthusiasm and momentum established by PDDP from the grassroots to the DDC for participatory development is given sustenance, the future of Achham looks bright.

No more women falling off the cliffs Khadga Bahadur Bista Social Mobilliser, Dhamali VDC Widning the trail in Dhamali This writeup is about the situation in Dhamali VDC before VDP was implemented. The residents of ward #1 of the village had to walk for two hours to Raniban VDC to fetch fuel wood and fodder. They had to ply on the narrow path just a foot wide. It was difficult for a person to walk safely, let alone two-way traffic. Once when two women from the village were walking back home with fodder for their beasts, the doko (basket) that one of them was carrying on her back hit the mountainside and sent the woman hurtling to her death 100 feet below the path. There was another woman who also lost her life on the slopes, when the rock that she stepped on while she was cutting grass, gave way under her. When VDP was implemented in Dhamali, three COs were formed in ward # 1. One of the organisations was the Sitaram CO, whose manager is a teacher by profession. During their regular meetings the CO conducted their savings and investment activities, and also discussed on how they could improve their lives and make their village better. The proposal to build a wide path to Raniban was unanimously approved by the CO members. On the agreed day and time all the members got together at one place. The Brahmins and Chhetris brought along their construction tools like shovels, hammer, spade, ghaiti etc., and the ‘lower caste,’ the Daas and Damais came with their traditional musical instruments like Damaha, Sanai, Narsingha. They wanted to let the whole of Dhamali also know what they were up to, so they started their work with a lot of music. Two days of intense and enthusiastic work by all the CO members, with musical accompaniment, and the path was ready. The safe and convenient pathway through the jungle and hillside, has become the talk of praise and appreciation amongst the residents of Dhamali. Currently the members of Sitaram CO have been using the path regularly can also be seen repairing and maintaining the path they built whenever and wherever necessary.

What Others have said about women's plight in Accham

"Achham district in general is deprived of green vegetables. Even of what is available, the women are forbidden from eating vegetables during their menstruation and after delivering a child for fear of diety’s wrath. At such times the women are only given salt and water.

The workload of the women, however, is very severe. Women do all the menial work inside and outside the homes, other than ploughing of filed, which is carried out by the men. Brahmin men are free of that labour too.

One example of women’s extra burden specifically in Achham is the custom of daily milling of paddy on a stone pounder. It is said that rice pounded the day before is not tasty.

On Chhaupadi:
Menstruating women and new mothers are secluded in a tiny cell/shed outside the main house called "chhaupadi goth". The shed for livestock is also called a goth, but this by comparison is larger than the chhaupadi goth for these women. The chhaupadi goth is not more than 2 cubic metres, unventilated, without light and with a door not more than a metre high. Oftentimes 4-6 women and their nursing babies are crammed up inside such a goth with nothing more than a thin layer of straw on the cold floor. When it rains, the roofs of the goths leaks. Oftentimes, women die due to snakebites.

The people believe very strongly that if they touch men or plants, the gods will get angry and send a curse in the form of illness in the family, wild animals devouring goats, drought, famine and the like. During thunderstorm, these women have to run out of the chhaupadi goth so that lighting does not strike the houses!

Although the women do not speak of this fact openly, these women are often raped by the dhaamis (traditional healers). Anything that goes wrong is blamed on the women for not having adhered to chhau. The situation of new mothers is even worse, for no one is allowed to touch the woman or the child as they spend days in the cold environment, without proper nutritional intake.

Every morning these women have to take baths along with their babies in a separate chhaupadi tap with substandard water quality. The districts’ drinking water projects are also affected by the chhaupadi system with its requirements for separate taps. The communities, however, are unwilling to pay maintenance cost for such taps, and the women cannot afford their own taps.

"The Programme has succeeded in mobilising local communities to donate land and contribute for the construction of chhaupadi house. These are proper sized houses with wooded beds, racks, stoves for warmth and massaging and bathrooms. These houses should hopefully also act as women’s forums for NFE classes and contribute to their gaining solidarity.

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