Dadeldhura's Vital Statistics

General
Location:	Mahakali Zone28°59' to 29°26' North latitude; 80°12' to 80°47' East Longitude
Boundary:	East-Doti; West-Uttar Pradesh (India); North-Baitadi; South-Kanchanpur & Kailali
Headquarters:	Khalanga
Elevation:	432m-2639 m asl
Major rivers:	Mahakali; Seti;
Total area:	151708 ha
Political division:	1constituency; 9 ilakas; 20 VDCs; 1 Municipality
Average rainfall:	1343.6 mm/year
Land use:	agricultural land: 12.70%; forest-75.80%; Settlement-2789 ha others-14651 ha
Total households:	19467
Settlements:	767
Average HH size:	6.12
Total population:	119,941 (male-51.3%; female-48.7%)
Pop. growth rate:	1.9% (3% as per DDC’s database)
Eco. active pop.:	50.87%
Ethnicity:	Brahmin, Chhetri, Thakuri, & others
Occupation:	Agriculture-90.24%;
Important locations:	Religious: Ugratara, Bhagember, Ghatalthan & Parshuram Temples; Historical sites: Amar Singh Fort, Ajayameru Fort; Lake: Alital
Donor Presence
UNDP:	PDDP-entire district & VDP in 5 VDCs
	REDP-5 VDCs
	HIV/AIDs-entire district

UNICEF:	DPCP in VDP VDCs

ADB:	BPEP- entire district through DOE

Helvetas:	BBLL

WFP:	RCIW (food for work) in 18 VDCs and 1 Municipality

CIDA/CECI:	CBED in 15 VDCs and 1 Municipality

Synopsis of Activities being undertaken under PDDP
(as of November 1999)
Participatory Planning & Monitoring

Ddeldhura is a beautiful hilly district situated amidst the Chure, inner terai and Mahabharat ranges in the Far Western Development Region. While it shares its southern, eastern and northern boundaries with Kanchanpur, Doti and Baitadi districts respectively, Dadeldhura’s western boundary is the Mahakali river beyond which lies India. There are dense green forests, places of religious and historical significance, and gushing rivers and streams that divide tall mountains. There are beautiful valleys, lowlands and the scintillating view of the lovely Himalaya to the north. Dadeldhura, with its diverse topography and unique culture, definitely has an identity of its own.

It also has its own development problems. Dadeldhura lags behind most districts in human development. Lack of education and the slow pace of development means that superstition and old customs rule sway over the land. The status of women under such circumstances is quite dismal. Loaded with housework, weighed down by large families, and highly under-nourished, even women in their 30s wrinkle up like old women. Even at childbirth, they are fed just dry bread and rice, and are segregated as untouchables.

Most of the youths, leave their educational quest incomplete and head for the Indian plains in search of jobs. Despite the continued efforts of the governmental and non-governmental organisations to speeden development efforts in the district, it does not seem to lessen the tide of people migrating from the hills to the plains of Kailali and Kanchanpur.

If on the one hand there are complaints that development is slow in the district, it is also true that there are many examples of funds allocated for various development initiatives having to be returned unutilised. We can find many huge buildings, drinking water projects and reservoirs, built at huge costs, now in shambles. The ADB and UNICEF have implemented many drinking water projects through the Drinking Water Supply Office, but the problem of drinking water shortage in the district hasn’t been mitigated.

The buildings under the Mahakali Irrigation Project have not been handed over as yet, and are slowly falling apart, with no one to take repair and maintain them. The life of the people of Dadeldhura is quite miserable.

They do not seem too motivated towards getting involved in income generating activities and every day more and more people are sliding below the poverty line.

It is apparent that just plowing in the limited resources and manpower of the government and the I/NGOs for Dadeldhura’s development is not enough to develop the district. First of all they have to be urged to participate in developmental activities by raising their awareness. They have to realise that development is for, of and by the people, and thus they have to cast aside their differences in religion, gender, caste, political beliefs and come together to work in improving their lives. So it is important to mobilise the masses first.

Development plans should be need-based and prioritised. The beneficiaries should be included in every step of the planning, implementing and monitoring processes, and the responsibility of repair and maintenance of the projects should also be handed over to the users’ groups such that they can function independently.

For all this to happen it is of utmost importance to undertake social mobilisation on a massive scale. That is why I think it is imperative to expand the programmes and policies of PDDP throughout the district.

Nepal is a poor developing nation lagging with very poor physical infrastructure facilities, and very low per capita income. The income level of the people is also very low. The Far-Western Development Region of Nepal fares the worst in terms of development initiatives compared to the other development regions of the country. And among the hills of this region lies Dadeldhura.

The responsibility given to the DDC for district development has recently been extended with more rights and responsibilities by the Local Self-Governance Act. It is the DDC’s duty thus, to main good linkages with the various sectoral line agencies present in the district to help the DDC, as well as with the NGOs that are involved in the district development process. But due to limited manpower and administrative and financial workload the DDC had been unable to maintain a strong balance with these developmental organisations.

After the implementation of PDDP there has been an improvement in the organizational structure of the DDC. Four programme sections have been established and institutionalised within the DDC. The programme officers working in these sections are very active and help lessen the workload of the DDC and also help to maintain a strong balance between various organisations.

In order to undertake a proper planning exercise anywhere, it is first essential to make a contextual, sectoral and situational analysis of the place. However, none of these information can be found easily at one place in any district-based agency.

But after the implementation of PDDP, an information center has been set up in Dadeldhura DDC, where one can now find information collected from the settlements, the district’s situational analyses as well as GIS maps based on these information.

The data and pictures have proved extremely useful to the local elected representatives, for the sectoral line agencies and NGOs for district development planning. Furthermore the DDC has received support for updating these data. The data collected in a participatory manner through PDDP’s support contain information from settlements, and thus will be relevant and useful even if ward, VDC and DDC boundaries change.

I think PDDP’s main achievement is the support it has provided to strengthen and institutionalise the base of participatory planning and monitoring process in the district. The Programme has built on the achievements of the Decentralisation Support Project and has promoted decentralised district development by involving people in every step of planning process, and helping prioritise plans that are need-based instead of resource-based like earlier. I truly believe plans developed in this way will indeed bring long term development to the district.

Dadeldhura is a beautiful hilly district in the Far West, with many villages dotting the hillside. A lot of development effort has been poured into the district in the past, but everywhere one goes, ones comes face to face with poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy and superstition.

Just as in the other districts of Nepal, a lot of emphasis has been paid earlier to developing physical infrastructure. But Dadeldhura’s current state of development stands testament to the fact that development efforts limited to building physical infrastructure translates to half-baked development.

Before any development input is introduced in a district, it is first important to build up social capital. There are always so many factors at play in society. Communities are made up of various people with their own beliefs and attitudes, their political alliances, their religious inclinations, with various levels of literacy and economic conditions. It is not an easy job trying to build social capital amongst such diverse groups.. let alone introducing development works without first building the foundations of social capital. Social capital must be built up before human and physical capitals.

In order to develop social capital it is first essential for the entire community to be mobilised into community organisations. The community organisation members, when they meet, should rise above their religious & political beliefs as well as their ethnic, educational and economic inequities, and think in terms of the development of the entire community. Each and every member should be thinking in terms of "we" and "ours" instead of "me" and "my." These members should compulsorily meet regularly and discuss on issues of taking their community forward, or developing their village. They should show concern and do something for the future generations.

When communities get together like this to plan for something that is beneficial for the entire community, surely mobilising resources for such plans will not be a problem. But since it is not possible for HMG to finance and implement all such plans in one year, it is necessary for the communities to prioritise their plans, such that they can be implemented in a phase-wise manner. It is equally important for people to participate at every step of project implementation and maintenance. Only then can the projects be sustainable.

It was to mobilise the communitites to be involved in the holistic development of their villages that PDDP and its Village Development Programme was implemented in Dadeldhura too. In our district, the communities in five VDCs have been mobilised and they have organised themselves into 149 community organisations. During their meetings the groups, besides undertaking savings and credit activities, discuss about the development challenges and opportunities in their villages. They have formulated their own rules and abide by them. They have begun to take care of the most needy in their community ... the poor, the oppressed and the women. They have initiated income-generating activities, and have developed expertise in the village such that they do not have to depend upon outsiders for their day to day problems. They have prioritised their development needs and are having them fulfilled one at a time. Surely, the people in these villages are set on the path of self-reliance, self-empowerment and self-governance. It is a big helping hand for HMG’s poverty alleviation goals!

Manakali in front of her ‘hotel’ in Gaira Bazar
Manakali Devi Khatri of Gangkhet VDC, who once used to be steeped in debt, now lends money to the needy! She built up a savings raising chicken in a region where a chicken sells at the price of a goat! She invested that amount in a ‘hotel’ (eatery) in Gaira Bazar on the highway that serves lunch for passengers on at least 4-5 buses plying on the highway, besides the other wayfarers!

Donor Presence