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A government team recently conducted a field survey of Seti River in Sudurpaschim Province for the proposed Seti Hydropower Project.

The 750MW project has remained on the drawing board for the past 40 years. Most people in and around the proposed project area doubt the plan will ever come to pass. For them, it is just an agenda that politicians bring up whenever elections are close.

Bishnu Chand, a resident of Dhungad village in Baitadi, says Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has not prioritized the power plant even though his home district of Dadeldhura is also part of the project area.

“This is the fifth time Deuba has become prime minister. West Seti Hydropower Project is always in his election agenda, but soon he is elected, the plan goes on the backburner,” he says. “It is the same for other leaders from this region who run for office.”

The proposed project site and its transmission lines span the districts of Bajhang, Baitadi, Doti, Dadeldhura, Kailali and Kanchanpur.

Over the years, three foreign companies–Sogreah of France, Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation of Australia and China Three Gorges International Corporation of China–have conducted preliminary studies and field works, but actual work never started.

Successive governments have taken up the project and failed to deliver.

“The project remains in limbo owing to the uncertainty concerning investment, energy market and potential low returns,” says Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal, spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation.

Five years ago, the Nepali Congress government had announced a plan to develop the project with domestic investment. But the plan was shelved when the communist government came to power.

“The government of KP Sharma Oli seemed uninterested. There was also the issue of finding the market. Our energy market is India but the Indian government considers only the projects it invests in,” says NP Saud, a Nepali Congress leader.

Gokarna Bista, a former energy minister, blames the government for not prioritizing the project.

“The West Seti power development plan became a government priority during my tenure as energy minister. That was 11 years ago and successive governments have failed to develop the project, which is vital for the development of Sudurpaschim Province,” he says.

The government recently roped in the Investment Board Nepal to take the project forward. The 47th board meeting has formed a committee to study the project.

“We will soon come up with a development modality,” says Sushil Bhatta, executive director of the board. “We are also finalizing our survey report to be submitted to the government by March 12.”

Locals say they have heard the plans for West Seti from many prime ministers and ministers and such promises now ring hollow.

“I am 40 now and I’ve been hearing about the West Seti project all my life, but there has been no progress,” says Chand of Dhungad village of Baitadi.

Members of the Rana Tharu community have raised concerns after their language was not included on the list of languages for official use in Sudurpaschim Province.

The federal government had earlier recognized the Rana Tharu language by including it on the list of official languages published in the government’s gazette. But the Language Commission, in its recent report, didn’t list the Rana Tharu as a language for official use in Sudurpaschim, where the community mostly lives.

The Oli government on 18 May 2020 had listed the Rana Tharu language as a national language by adding it to the list of official languages at the federal level. However, they have been agitated after the commission left the language out of the provincial list.

“The commission lists five languages for the province. However, only Doteli and Tharu have been recognized as the language for official use. The language Rana Tharus use is different from that of the Tharus,” says Kripa Rana, president of Rana Tharu Society. “We represent 10 percent of the province's population. But our language was still excluded.”

“Just a few days ago, we were told that Doteli, Tharu and Rana-Tharu languages will be included in the list. But our language was removed when it was finalized,” says Rana. “The community feels that the government wants to do away with the identity of indigenous Rana Tharus,” he adds. 

According to the 2001 census, around 2.5 million people live in Sudurpaschim. The census, which counted Rana Tharus and Chaudhary Tharus as one group, found the population of Tharus in the region to be 1.73 million.

“There were a total of 12 indicators for the selection of official languages for provinces,” says Kamal Singh Rana, vice-president of the society. “Languages whose speakers make up at least one percent of the population should be included in the list”.

A total of 27 schools teach the language in Kailali and Kanchanpur. “The language’s history, grammar, dictionary, and other standards have already been developed. It is a surprise that the language was still left out of the list,” says Bhalmansa Bhajji Rana, a resident of Dhangadhi.

Members of the community have declared protests to press the government to enlist their language. They have also demanded that various bills such as the one on the recruitment of provincial civil servants and police personnel include quotas for members of the Rana Tharu community.

The development expenditure of the Sudurpaschim (far-western) provincial government, which was not able to exceed 70 percent in the last two fiscal years, has been low this year as well. Only 20 percent of the development budget has been spent till February of the current fiscal year, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General's Office, Kailali.

“Only 20.73 percent of the budget has been spent on the capital side and 22.85 percent on the current side,” informs Basudev Joshi, province comptroller. “Although there has been some improvement on budget spending compared to last year, it has not been as expected.”

Joshi also informs that as of mid-February last fiscal year, the development budget was 17.26 percent, but this year it reached 20 percent around the same time. “It cannot be said that it has improved much, but it has increased on a percentage basis,” Joshi says. Two ministries in the province have been vacant for two months after the dispute in the ruling communist party over the dissolution of the House of Representatives.

Chief Minister Trilochan Bhatta had dismissed the Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development Pathan Singh Bohara claiming that he was in favor of Prime Minister KP Oli. Shortly afterwards, the state's economic affairs and planning minister, Jhapat Bohara, resigned. Bohara is also a central member of the Oli faction.

“The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development is responsible to spend the major part of the capital budget. It has no minister right now,” complains Ran Bahadur Rawal, parliamentary party leader of Nepali Congress. “The chief minister has not been able to appoint a new minister, nor has he been able to run it himself or regulate how the development budget is implemented.”

Rawal further accuses the provincial government of not having a vision for development. “The provincial government has employees and subordinate bases, but why only 20 percent of the expenditure? This government is a failure. It has no mission or vision,” Rawal says.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, which is allotted the largest budget, has achieved 25 percent financial progress by mid-February. In the development budget of Rs 11 billion, the ministry has been able to spend only Rs 2.82 billion.

Other large-budget ministries too have not been able to make financial progress in the province. The Ministry of Social Development has a capital budget of Rs 2 billion. But it has been able to spend only Rs 360 million by mid-February, which is only 17 percent of the allotted budget. The Ministry of Social Development covers health, education, women's development, and sports.

“Now the problem is, 83 percent of the budget cannot be spent within the next four months. There is a tendency in Nepal to remain silent for ten months and rush to do everything in June and July, the last two months of the fiscal,” says economist Shivahari Mudbhari. “It seems this trend of budget spending will not change.”

Total 450 million in capital budget has been allotted to the office of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers alone. Of that, only Rs 18 million—a mere 3.98 percent—has been spent till February.

Pancha Kumar DC, 27, holds his wife Rajanpura Rokaya’s hand as they queue at the Gauriphanta border point in Kailali district in far-western Nepal. The couple, who hail from Sani Triveni Rural Municipality-2 of Karnali province, is on its way to Bengaluru, India. They are in search of jobs.

“We are neighbors to our Province Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi. But what difference does that make?” DC asks. “He seems to have forgotten all his electoral vows.”

DC had voted in the 2017 elections. “The leader I voted for won and his party is in the government,” he says. “But even the two-third majority federal government failed to meet our expectations. Now they have dissolved an elected House and are fighting among themselves. We are distraught.” The DC couple prefers living in their own village but with no jobs or stable income, they had no option but to leave to make their ends meet.

The brother duo of Padam Koli, 27, and Niraj Koli, 23, of Dasharathchanda Municipality-5, Baitadi, also voted in the last elections. “We had high hopes that this time the government would create local jobs and people would no longer have to go to India," Padam says. "But now, we are bitterly disappointed to see them fight among themselves.”

Federal elections have been announced for April-end after the dissolution of the House of Representatives. Niraj, who works as a security guard in India, says he has no intention of coming home to vote this time. “Our votes seemingly do no more than add to the prosperity of our leaders and their families.”

The Koli brothers live with their elderly parents back home. Padam is married. Both says they will earn enough money in India to finance the education of their little brother, the youngest of the three. “But we’re still not sure what he’ll here after his studies. As things stand, he too will ending up searching for a job in India,” Niraj says.

A faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party has hit the streets after the dissolution of the federal House of Representatives. Opposition parties are also on the streets. They need people to support their respective movements. Many local leaders are already knocking on the doors, asking people to join their agitation.

“Some leaders came to our house and told us to join their protests,” says Bam Bahadur Bam of Gauriganga-9, Kailali, who was previously employed as a security guard in Pune, Maharashtra. “We refused to go but they kept coming. One reason I am going to India now is to avoid them.”

“Nepalis headed for India seem disgusted with the political situation in the country,” says Prakash Madai, program manager at Nepal Institute of Development Studies Nepal, an NGO working in the field of immigration. “People had been hoping for the creation of new employment and entrepreneurship opportunities after the formation of a strong government. That hope now appears dead.”

Dhangadi : Bhim Bahadur Saud, the mayor of Parshuram municipality in the district of Dadeldhura, always talks to his staff and makes decisions based on consensus. “So far, there hasn’t been any tussle between the bureaucrats and elected representatives. I don’t discriminate against anyone or break rules. Nor does the chief administrative officer, the main bureaucrat in the municipality. So there’s no question of a tussle,” says Saud.

Dadeldhura is the home district of former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. The municipality is named after Lord Parshuram, who is said to have meditated there. There are 12 wards in the municipality. Only Basauti in ward 2 is still unconnected by a road. “The road to link Basauti is being constructed at a rapid pace. All other wards are all connected,” says Saud.

The municipality is also building a business complex at Laldhunga with an investment of Rs 60 million. “All sorts of things, including commercial fertilizers, will be available there. It’ll be the first complex of its kind in the far-western hills,” claims Saud. “Development doesn’t take long if there’s a cordial relationship between the bureaucrats and elected representatives. I don’t put any bureaucrat under any pressure. But I do emphasize the importance of obeying laws and rules,” says Saud.

In many places, the disputes between locally elected representatives and bureaucrats have come to the fore. But Parshuram municipality has been a model of good coordination between the two. As a result, there is better spending on infrastructure. And it's not just the budget allocated to the municipality that's being properly utilized. Even the Department of Urban Development is building pilgrim rest houses with an investment of Rs 200 million. A covered hall is being built at a cost of Rs50 million. As many as 500 projects selected this year are being implemented.

Tikapur municipality in the district of Kailali offers another example of good coordination between bureaucrats and elected representatives. “If the bureaucrats work with dedication, they don’t have to face pressure from elected representatives. How can disputes arise in such a situation?”

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