Resource Mapping and Indexing of Federal Provinces of Nepal: An Analysis

Abstract

Nepal has entered into a federal political structure with 7 provincial governments and 753 local municipalities (rural and urban). There is a paucity of evidence on the status of resources available in the seven provincial governments without which, estimation of resource gap and potentials of these provincial governments for appropriate policy interventions remains elusive. In this paper, we have prepared a resource map of the provincial governments and developed a resource index so that we can rank the provinces using the index. The resource index includes the dimensions of human resource (population), natural resource (arable land, forest coverage and water resources) and financial resources (tax revenue generated per person and GDP per capita). Our findings suggest that there is a high disparity of resource availability in seven different provinces. Provinces 6 and 7 located in the mid and far western regions are found developmentally challenged with low revenue collection and high poverty rate and migration. Provinces 2 and 5 have high levels of resources, wastage and inefficiency. Province 4 is found to be outstanding in terms of efficient resource use and knowledge, and if supported with more resources possesses high chance of becoming the role model province in Nepal.

Trends in national and subnational wealth related inequalities in use of maternal health care services in Nepal: an analysis using demographic and health surveys (2001–2016)

“…So, available evidence supports our finding that the progress in addressing the level of inequality is sluggish in Karnali Province and Province two. Bagmati Province, Lumbini Province and Sudurpaschim Province have made comparatively better progress towards reducing inequality, which is as expected because these are comparatively better off regions in terms of socio-economic development and geographical positioning [56,57]. There was no significant improvement in the level of inequality between 2001 and 2006, even at the national level.…”

“…It is also argued that since the health facilities in these Provinces have to be accessed only with hours (in some cases days) of walking on foot due to lack of transport facilities, the opportunity cost associated with this plays a crucial part in reducing the demand [55]. Though Province two is plain, this province is one of the poorest with respect to the overall socio-economic status [56,57]. So, available evidence supports our finding that the progress in addressing the level of inequality is sluggish in Karnali Province and Province two.…”

Health facility readiness to provide integrated Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health (FPMCH) services in Nepal: Evidence from the comprehensive health facility survey

“…socio-economic status compared to the Province 3 as well as with other provinces [33,34]. General underdeveloped nature of the Province 2 compared to Province 3 might have reflected in the lower readiness score among the facilities within the province.…”