Netravati Dabjong Rural Municipality of Dhading is winning the hearts of citizens in the fields of health, education and agriculture. The rural municipality has launched a higher education scholarship program to prevent students from dropping out of school due to financial constraints after secondary school.

Under this, 50 thousand rupees are provided to students studying at the undergraduate level. There is a provision to provide 1 thousand 500 rupees per month to encourage the study of technical subjects.

Netravati Dabjong Rural Municipality, which has declared compulsory and free education as a rural municipality, has provided financial assistance to the school without taking any kind of money from the students. The rural municipality chairman, Meghnath Rijal, said that priority has been given to providing quality education by ensuring access to school education for students within the rural municipality.

With the aim of producing skilled manpower in the rural municipality, a policy has been taken to provide financial assistance of 3 lakh rupees annually to students studying MBBS from within the rural municipality. Sushila Nyangjo, the head of the rural municipality education branch, where Sunil Sunar of Ward No. 1 is currently studying MBBS, informed. There is an agreement that students studying in this way will serve in a health institution within the rural municipality for at least two years after studying MBBS.

The rural municipality has also been providing honorariums and school incentive grants to teachers and staff as incentives to improve the quality of education. The rural municipality distributes school uniforms to students and sanitary pads at the rate of two packets per student to bring and sustain female students in access to education. Paper, pens and pencils are distributed to orphaned and economically disadvantaged children for one academic session. “No student should have to carry the mindset that their family’s financial condition is weak when they come to school,” says the municipal chairman, Rijal.

The municipality has increased investment in the education sector, saying that the development of the rural municipality will be possible only if the citizens are educated. There are 1,875 students in 16 schools within the rural municipality. The rural municipality has allocated 4.38 percent of the total budget in the current fiscal year to increase the learning achievement of those students.

The rural municipality has been providing training to increase the confidence of young girls under the adolescent self-defense program, informed the municipal vice-chairman, Sitamaya Choden Tamang. According to her, SEE preparatory class operation grants have been conducted, secondary schools have conducted extra classes in subjects with low learning achievement, and extracurricular activities have been conducted at the rural municipality level to identify the talents of students.

With the aim of teaching financial self-reliance, the rural municipality has also started a program to teach how to open a demat account, fill shares (IPO) and manage the amount of shares deposited. Mahendra Barahi Secondary School has been promoted as a residential school with the aim of making the students' learning practical and result-oriented. Sushila Nyangjo, head of the rural municipality's education department, said that a plan has been made to continue it in other schools after analyzing its achievements. She said that the rural municipality has made a leap in education due to the continuous interest of the people's representatives in investing in education, the hard work of teachers and staff, the constant vigilance of parents and the appropriate environment.

In the 2081 SEE, 91.67 percent of the students of this municipality were in the 'grading' category. For the past two academic sessions, Netravati Dabjong has been consistently ranked first among the 13 local levels of Dhading.

Home service for senior citizens

The rural municipality has been providing health services to senior citizens in the village by visiting their homes. A team of doctors and health workers from the rural municipality has been going door to door at least once every three months with medicines and health check-up materials. In case of complex problems, they are taken to the hospital.

The rural municipality has started this service to improve the quality of life by reducing the pain and other physical, mental, social and spiritual problems of patients suffering from chronic or incurable diseases. The rural municipality is providing services by giving high priority to patients in the final stages of cancer, patients with end-stage heart, lung, kidney or liver diseases, patients who are not fully recovered after a stroke or serious injury, those with chronic neurological diseases, senior citizens in extreme pain and patients who cannot manage their daily lives on their own.

Gerimaya Tamang, 78, of Semjong Gair, who suffers from asthma, was tired of having to travel far and wide for treatment with the help of her son and daughter-in-law. She is now amazed by the medical services she receives at home. This has saved money and the time of her son and daughter-in-law who should be engaged in farming.

According to Khagendra Prasad Joshi, head of the rural municipality health department, 35 patients are receiving mobile health services within the rural municipality. ‘Even when they are on the verge of death, the services provided by the rural municipality may not have helped them survive for long, but at least some of the burn wounds have been bandaged,’ said a cancer patient.

The health department of the rural municipality keeps information on the health status of every senior citizen and complex patient. The rural municipality has provided services by appointing a medical officer at the hospital within the municipality so that every citizen can get easy health facilities. Tamang, vice-chairwoman of the municipality, informed that additional plans are being made for health so that the citizens of the village do not have to go elsewhere for general treatment.

Most of the people of Netravati Dabjong rural municipality, located about 25 kilometers from the district headquarters, Dhadingbesi, are involved in agriculture. Livestock is reared in every household. Keeping this in mind, the rural municipality has been operating an animal insurance (cow and buffalo) program to protect livestock and improve the economic status of farmers.

Production is being increased by visiting farmers' homes for animal health tests, distribution of animal medicines, animal health and reproductive management. Medicines are distributed on a cost-sharing basis, external parasite control, and grass seeds and seedlings are distributed for balanced diet management. This has directly benefited farmers.