Birthing Center Building Under Construction in Kachan Left Incomplete for Four Years

April 26, Saptari – The construction of a birthing center in Kachan village, Ward No. 8, Bodebarsain Municipality, Saptari, intended to ensure safe childbirth, has been stalled for the past four years. The construction work has come to a halt due to budget constraints. This birthing center project was initiated under the Federal Election Development Area Program but was left unfinished after the program was discontinued.

At that time, the then Member of the House of Representatives and Minister for Youth and Sports, Tej Lal Chaudhary, had allocated funds for the building’s construction. However, recently, the municipality has not allocated any budget for the birthing center either.

As there is no nearby maternity building, local women are compelled to travel outside for health checkups and maternity care. From fiscal years 2076/077 to 2077/078 (mid-2019 to mid-2021), the municipality formed a consumer committee and spent NPR 60,000; however, due to the municipality’s lack of ownership of the project recently, the investment made by the Nepal Government is going to waste. Locals have expressed ambiguity about the municipality’s responsibility to provide health services.

Baijnath Chaudhary, Chairperson of Ward No. 8, Bodebarsain Municipality, stated that despite four years having passed since the election, the incomplete birthing center’s construction has yet to be finished. He also noted that no proposal has been presented in the municipality’s executive meetings so far regarding this matter.

According to Gajendranath Sharma, the municipality’s Chief Administrative Officer, the incomplete building still requires the installation of partitions, windows and doors, painting, and construction of the compound wall. He added that with budget allocation starting from the upcoming municipal assembly session, the birthing center’s construction will be completed.

Arun Chaudhary, Chairperson of the Kachan Birthing Center Construction Consumer Committee, emphasized the need for the local government to allocate a budget and take initiatives to operate the birthing center even after the termination of the Election Development Area Program. Local resident Bilat Das accused the municipality of showing no interest in allocating funds to operate the birthing center.

Similarly, the birthing center building at Simraha, Ward No. 9, Bodebarsain Municipality, is also under construction and remains incomplete, lacking plaster, windows, doors, paint, and a compound wall. Meanwhile, the building at Khadakpur in Ward No. 10 has been constructed, but the municipality has yet to begin its operation.