According to the plan of the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led government to expand basic health services to the local level, the foundation stone for basic hospitals was laid in 396 local levels across the country on 15 Mangsir 2077 BS (November/December 2020).

At that time, the foundation stone for communicable disease hospitals was laid simultaneously in all seven provinces. With the aim of providing quality health services, hospitals with 5, 10, and 15 beds of the same design were initiated depending on the location. The government’s goal was to construct hospitals under a single concept according to the population and needs of each local level and bring all hospitals into operation within two years.

At that time, the foundation stone for 51 basic hospitals was laid in Bagmati Province, among which the construction of hospitals was also announced in four local levels of Ramechhap: Umakunda, Sunapati, Likhu Tamakoshi, and Doramba Shailung rural municipalities.

However, with only a few months left to complete six years, basic hospitals have not been built in Ramechhap as per the government’s target. Of the four, basic hospitals in Umakunda and Sunapati rural municipalities have been completed and are providing services. But the hospitals in Likhu Tamakoshi and Doramba Shailung are still under construction. Due to the long delay in construction, the expectation of local residents to receive accessible and quality health services from their own municipality has yet to be fulfilled.

Likhu Tamakoshi Basic Hospital under the shadow of complaints

The construction work of the 15-bed basic hospital under construction in Likhu Tamakoshi rural municipality has been stalled for the past year. As a result, local residents have been deprived of the expectation of receiving basic health services in their own village.

According to Kishori Prasad Sah, coordinator of the health branch of the rural municipality, construction work was halted after a dispute regarding the hospital’s construction reached the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. “The work was not stopped because the contractor did not work or due to a lack of budget,” he said, “the construction-related dispute reached the Commission, so the work could not move forward.”

According to him, after a complaint was filed regarding the hospital, which was contracted to be built at a cost of about 145 million rupees, work has not progressed for the past year. As the dispute remains unresolved, the under-construction structure has been left in limbo, and it appears there will be further delays in bringing the hospital into operation. He said that the rural municipality, including elected representatives, has been working with the concerned authorities to resolve the dispute quickly and resume construction.

Locals had expected that once the hospital came into operation, services ranging from general to emergency health care would be available within their own municipality. But with construction halted indefinitely, they are still compelled to travel to the district headquarters or Kathmandu for treatment.

Doramba Shailung Basic Hospital construction gains momentum

The 15-bed basic hospital under construction in Doramba Shailung Rural Municipality–2, Doramba, has also not been completed within the stipulated time. Although more than five years have passed since construction began, the building is still not ready, and locals are still waiting to receive accessible health services in their own municipality.

For the hospital’s construction, a contract was signed with Arogya–Subedi JV on 17 Chaitra 2077 BS (March/April 2021). The contract, worth 113,011,460 rupees including VAT, stipulated completion by 16 Chaitra 2078 BS (March/April 2022), but the work was not finished on time. After that, the rural executive extended the deadline first to 16 Ashwin 2079 BS (October 2022) and again to 24 Ashad 2080 BS (July 2023). However, even within the extended deadlines, construction could not be completed.