Deukhuri The Lumbini state government is going to conduct a child marriage free state campaign in the coming financial year. The government, which has started a campaign to declare an organic state in the budget of the current financial year, is going to start a campaign to create a child marriage-free state in the coming year.
On the proposal of the Ministry of Social Development, the government is going to provide a budget of 10 lakhs per municipality as a direct subsidy to all 109 local levels of the province. For that, the government has allocated a budget of 100.9 million rupees.
Out of 12 districts of Lumbini province, 6 districts of Terai still have high number of child marriages. In the same way, child marriage also happens in Pyuthan, Arghakhanchi Rolpa in the hills. Social Development Minister Janmjay Timilsina said that he has managed the budget for the coming year by conducting a campaign in collaboration with the local level to reduce it. “In some districts, it has been observed that the number of students in schools is decreasing or students are dropping out due to child marriage,” he said.
Rights for Children in Lumbini (JRCN) is also running a child marriage free campaign in the state. Lumbini State President of JRCN, Chandra Bahadur Chaudhary, said that this step of the state government has boosted the enthusiasm of the social organizations that have been working against child marriage. “We have understood this as a positive initiative to protect children’s rights,” he said.
The former Chief Minister of Lumbini province, Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, also issued a statement and said that this step of the provincial government is very positive and successful. He said that child marriage, which is a remnant of corruption in Nepal itself, is a social and legal crime and the state has also explained the rampant child marriage as a legal crime in Nepali society. “According to the government statistics, Lumbini province has the highest number of child marriages in the country,” he said.
Similarly, the budget has also addressed the youth who are trying to establish, operate and create jobs in industries. Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning of the province, Dhanendra Karki, while announcing the budget for the coming year, said that the entrepreneurial Lumbini campaign will be implemented with high priority to create self-employment and employment opportunities in the province.
“For this purpose, we have prioritized the expansion of enterprise development fund to encourage women, Dalit youth, and others interested in doing business in the country in startup, innovation and entrepreneurship programs,” he said.
Similarly, the government is also preparing to implement the digital Lumbini campaign with priority to create self-employment for the youth who are attracted to information technology through the knowledge and skills of artificial intelligence.
Relief and insurance programs will be conducted to increase the income of rural communities and reduce human-wildlife conflict. In order to reduce migration, the model settlement development program, the new settlement development project in the Madhyapahari highway sector has also been prioritized by the government. The government has put forward a plan to open a waste processing center in Rapti Rural Municipality with an investment of 11 million rupees for the waste management of the provincial capital region.
Government Spokesperson and Health Minister Ramji Ghimire said that the government has prioritized in the budget to address the problems of ordinary citizens, create jobs and create a digital Lumbini for transparency. “The government has announced the budget to address the needs of good governance, employment and grassroots,” he said, “We have also ensured the resources of the budget accordingly.” He claimed that when the budget for the coming year is implemented, Lumbini will be identified as a province with economic development and employment.