KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was emotional while remembering about his first visit to Kathmandu from the remote western hilly hometown, Dadeldhura.
At the 11th General Assembly of the Far Western Concern Forum, he recalled his first visit to Kathmandu.
He recalled that he came to study in Kathmandu for the first time after passing School Leaving Certificate (SLC) from Uchakot of Doti. “I reached Dhangadhi on foot, then Dhangadhi to Lucknow by Indian train, again Lucknow to Raxaul by train. I came to Kathmandu by bus from Raxaul.”
“There is no such situation to come to Kathmandu now,” he said, “The all-weather road access is available now, bridges have been completed in east-west highway and roads have connected to different districts of far west Nepal.”
However, Prime Minister Deuba said that the Far West was still lagging behind in terms of development. “Poverty has remained one of the challenging one,” he said. “Our youth still go to New Delhi, Mumbai, Madras, and other Indian cities and town for earning. Their economic and educational situation is far worse than other places.”
He noted that the economic situation in the Far West Nepal has not improved as expected.
However he acknowledged that there was still room for improvement in the Far West. According to him, the Far West can be rich if the Mahakali and Seti rivers are developed.