According to a report unveiled by the Household Survey Section (HSC) of CBI in Nepalgunj, percentages of people living below the poverty line in each district of the far-western and the mid-western regions, barring Dang, are higher than the national average.
Nationally, 25.16 per cent of people are below the poverty line. Only in Dang, just 25.1 per cent of people are living in poverty. In all other districts, percentages of poor are far higher than the national average -- as high as 60 per cent in some remote districts.
Unlike the general perception that Karnali is the poorest zone of the country, Bajura, which is not in Karnali, has emerged as the district with the maximum number of people living below the poverty line. Not only in the far-western and the mid-western region, Bajura is the poorest district with 64 per cent of its people below the poverty line in the entire country.
"As many as 64 per cent of people in Bajura cannot afford to spend Rs 19,361 even in a year," said Dilli Raj Joshi, HSC director at the CBS. The CBS considers one who cannot afford to spend Rs 13,261 for food and clothes in a year as living below the poverty line.
Joshi said the level of education has its direct correlation with poverty. "As most of people in the far-western and the mid-western region are uneducated, they are also living in poverty," said Joshi.
CBI officials say the local people of the far-western region and the mid-western region toil hard on their lands but they are still struggling to rise above the poverty line due to the lack of other means of income generation.
According to the report, 57.9 per cent of people are below the poverty line in Kalikot, followed by 56.0 per cent in Humla, 49 per cent in Jumla, 47.1 per cent in Mugu and 42.8 per cent in Dolpa of the mid-western region.
Similarly, 56.8 per cent of people are below the poverty line in Bajhang, followed by 53 per cent in Darchula, 48.9 per cent in Doti, 47.2 per cent in Achham, 45.7 per cent in Baitadi and 43.3 per cent in Dadeldhura of the far-western region.
Percentages of poor people in the plain districts of the far western and the mid-western region are relatively better, although not in line with the national average.
CBS officials say high percentages of poor people in the far-western and the mid-western region raise questions over the outcomes of several poverty alleviation programs being run by the government and NGOs/INGOs in the region.
Related story
Bajura is Nepal’s poorest district while Mustang is the richest...
