Prasanna Shrivastava, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India and Baburam Acharya Chief, District Coordination Committee, Kapilvastu and Keshav Kumar Shrestha, Mayor, Buddhabhumi Municipality jointly inaugurated School and laboratory buildings of Gautam Buddha Secondary School in Kapilvastu District.

Constructed with support from the Government of India’s financial assistance of NRs. 33.23 million under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’, the building is first of its kind with all facilities.

The Government of India grant under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’ was utilized for the construction of a double storied school building, three storied lab building and for procurement of furniture and lab equipment.

The project was taken up as a High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP), earlier known as Small Development Projects, under an agreement between Government of India and Government of Nepal. This project was implemented through the District Coordination Committee, Kapilvastu.

Shrivastava, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, highlighted that the project is an important part of the very robust development partnership between India and Nepal, which has made significant progress in the recent years, spanning various priority sectors of the Government of Nepal and its people. He expressed continued commitment of the Government of India to continue to bolster the development partnership as per the priorities of Government of Nepal, for the benefits of the peoples of both countries.

Gautam Buddha Secondary School was established in 1978 as a community based educational institution. It is affiliated to the National Examination Board and approved by the Ministry of Education. This school offers educational programs from Play Group to 10 +2 Level. Currently, this school is having the strength of students over 1200, about 52% of whom are girls students.

Since 2003, India has taken up over 550 HICDPs in Nepal in various sectors and has completed 488 projects. Amongst these, 60 Projects are in Lumbini Province in various sectors, which includes 5 projects in Kapilvastu. In addition to these, Government of India has gifted 974 ambulances and 234 school buses to various hospitals, health posts and educational institutions in Nepal on the occasion of Independence Day and Republic Day of India. Amongst these, 160 Ambulances and 35 School Buses have been gifted in Lumbini Province, which includes 18 Ambulances and 4 School Buses provided in Kapilvastu District.

The implementation of HICDPs reflects the continued support of the Government of India in bolstering the efforts of the Government of Nepal in upliftment of its people, augmenting infrastructure in the field of priority sector especially in the education sector in Nepal.