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After 12 years of the arrival of health equipment, the NICU service has finally come into operation at the Provincial Hospital Bhadrapur. With the start of the NICU service, the poor and needy families who came to the hospital to deliver their babies have also been forced to go to private hospitals.

Before the operation of the four-bed NICU service, the acting medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Sanjay Kumar Gupta, performed a special prayer on Monday morning. After that, the chairman of the Hospital Operation and Management Committee, Bishwanath Baral, and the mayor of Bhadrapur Municipality, Ganesh Pokharel, jointly inaugurated the NICU service room.

The Ministry of Health and Population had provided health equipment to the hospital in two phases in 2013 with the aim of facilitating the treatment of newborns. However, the NICU service could not be put into operation due to lack of manpower. Acting Medical Superintendent Dr Sanjay Kumar Gupta said that the NICU service was brought into operation after the Ministry of Health of the Koshi Province Government provided manpower.

The NICU requires four pediatricians, nine nursing staff, four office assistants and four security guards. Stating that the NICU room has now been brought into operation near the children’s ward of the old building with the addition of that manpower, Dr Gupta said, “Now complex maternity services are possible and when there was no NICU, such patients had to be referred elsewhere.”

“My first goal after taking charge of the hospital was to resume services from the new building and to the NICU equipment stored in the hospital's warehouse into use and resuming services which has been achieved”, he said.

He added that other services are being gradually added to the hospital in recent times so that they are not deprived of services and do not have to go elsewhere. The monthly cost of operating this service is Rs 9-100,000. Since they are kept on trial for three weeks, the service for patients with social security is free. He said that the service fee will be fixed as per the decision of the management committee.

A large number of temporary migrant workers from India are entering Jhapa with their families to work in chimney brick industries, but local authorities lack verified data on their arrival. The absence of reliable records has raised concerns that Bangladeshi and Rohingya nationals could also enter Nepal through the same channels.

The Armed Police Force (APF) has increased surveillance along border points in the district, citing the possibility of Bangladeshi and Rohingya citizens illegally crossing into Nepal from West Bengal. However, security officials say the lack of proper documentation and identity checks for Indian workers entering through Bhadrapur and Kakarbhitta has created operational challenges. Many workers reportedly arrive by reserved buses and proceed directly to brick kilns without undergoing verification.

APF SP Tul Bahadur Bhandari, chief of Battalion Headquarters-2 in Jhapa, said the authorities have begun collecting details of Indian migrant workers and their families employed in brick factories.

A recent district security meeting also discussed the possibility that brick kilns could be the first destination for individuals entering illegally. SP Bhandari said coordination is underway with the Jhapa Brick Industries Association to address this risk.

According to officials, Bangladeshi and Rohingya individuals in India often possess Indian Aadhaar, PAN, or voter ID cards, making identification more difficult. “Those working in brick factories may also hold Indian documents, but without accurate data on how many workers have arrived, verification becomes challenging,” SP Bhandari said.

Nepal Police is also assisting in the data collection process.

Jhapa Brick Industries Association secretary Bishnu Prasad Ghimire said 24 chimney brick industries are currently operating in the district. Most workers come from Cooch Behar and Mathabhanga areas of West Bengal, he said, adding that his factory maintains updated identity records of Indian workers, though he was unsure about practices at other factories. Each kiln employs between 50 and 200 workers, and the total number increases when children accompanying families are counted. Most of these workers, who are Bengali-speaking and predominantly Muslim, arrive between mid-November and late March.

Indian authorities have recently launched a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in West Bengal and 12 other states. Following the start of the SIR, many Bangladeshi and Rohingya nationals who had been living secretly in West Bengal—some with illegally obtained Aadhaar, PAN, or voter ID cards—have reportedly begun leaving India out of fear of being unable to present valid documents during verification.