UK pledges Rs 5b for Rural Access Programme 3

KATHMANDU, MAR 12 -

The UK ’s Department for International Development (DFID) on Monday pledged a grant assistance of pounds sterling 36.5 million (Rs 5.11 billion) to implement Rural Access Programme (RAP) III.

The RAP is designed to promote road transport infrastructure as a means of improving the livelihoods and economic development of the poorest districts in Nepal. The new programme will last until March 2017 which is expected to relieve over 20,000 people from poverty within the next four years.

Finance secretary Shanta Raj Subedi and head of DFID Dominic O’Neill signed the agreement at the Finance Ministry on Monday. The programme has two interventions — providing short-term employment opportunities for women and the most vulnerable people through rural road maintenance programmes and enhancing sustainable private sector-led economic development in the programme areas.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the programme will construct and upgrade 2,400 km of road network and provide employment opportunities of 7.5 million working days. Similarly, it will train 500 government officials and 200 maintenance committees during the period.

The programme has identified upgrading road network, bridges and other infrastructure, government employment programme support, technical assistance and support for result, evaluation and policy support as the key components for the targeted development.

Speaking at a programme on Monday, finance secretary Subedi said the grant would help promote inclusive and broad economic growth through infrastructure development and social safety nets for poor and disadvantaged communities, reduce poverty and vulnerability and minimise food deficiency.

Source: The Kathmandu Post