The Lumbini State Planning Commission has passed an ambitious second periodic plan at a cost of around 15 billion. The provincial development council meeting held at Deukhuri in Dang on Saturday passed the second periodic plan prepared by the Planning Commission.

It is projected that 14 billion 99 billion investment will be required for the implementation of the periodical plan prepared to be completed in five years.  After the

plan is implemented, it is estimated that Lumbini's gross domestic product will reach 11 trillion 49 billion by the end of it. Now the domestic product of the province is 8 trillion 14 billion. In which the contribution of the private sector will be around 60 percent. It is believed that the proposed plan will achieve long-term prosperity by guaranteeing economic prosperity, social justice, infrastructure development, employment promotion and good governance in Lumbini Province. 

According to the provincial development blueprint, the plan has given priority to 5 main drivers of the province, which are agriculture, industry and tourism, infrastructure development (inter-province and internal interconnection), human resource development, entrepreneurship development and productive employment, green and digital economy and good governance and inclusive development. To effectively implement the

plan, 505 result indicators have been prepared by dividing them into 11 overall strategies and 22 thematic indicators, said Sudan Oli, a member of the Planning Commission. 

By the end of the periodic plan, when all those indicators are completed, the economic growth rate of Lumbini province will reach 7.16 percent. Reducing the absolute poverty rate from 24.35 percent to 15 percent, increasing the per capita income from 1,159 US dollars to 1,514 dollars, increasing the average life expectancy at birth from 69 and a half years to 73 years, increasing the human development index from 0.56 percent to 0.61, gender development index from 0.88 percent to 90 percent, reducing the unemployment rate from 8 percent to 5 percent and limiting the labor force. It is planned to increase the participation rate from 38.5 percent to 50 percent. 

Member Oli said that the target of increasing the literacy rate above 15 years from 78.08 percent to 98 percent has been taken. "We have prepared the second periodic plan after analyzing the current situation, needs and possibilities of the province to the maximum," he said.

Chief Minister of Lumbini Province and Chairman of Development Council Chetnarayan Acharya chaired the meeting which decided to pass the second periodical plan, said Vice Chairman of Planning Commission Dilliraj Aryal. He said that the draft periodic plan will be submitted to the office of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers after including the suggestions made in the provincial development council meeting and submitted to the provincial cabinet meeting. 

Chief Minister Acharya said that periodic plans and project banks will be taken as the basis of plan selection and implemented. "After the passage of the periodic plan, the plans made by the government will be completely based on data and evidence," he said, "now the government will speed up sustainable development." The second periodic plan with the slogan "

Prosperous Lumbini: Happy Citizens" has made the main goal of building an advanced society based on social justice with sustainable and inclusive economic development. The plan aims to increase production and productivity of agriculture, industry and tourism sectors, achieve high and rapid economic growth guided by intensive interconnection and quality infrastructure.