In a recent news published in The Himalayan Times , about the American embassy in Nepal or US embassy in Nepal reported that " A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Embassy of the United States in Kathmandu and the Armed Police Force today to construct deep tube wells near designated open spaces in the Kathmandu Valley. A press statement issued by the US Embassy said these wells will allow the APF to better serve the citizens in the event of a disaster by providing safe drinking water to displaced people. The deep tube wells will be built using Nepali contractors and construction companies. The estimated cost of one tube well is about $175,000. As per the MoU, a total of six to seven deep tube wells will be built, the construction for which will begin in November."
My attention was directed towards the figures as the estimated cost of one deep tube well is about $175,000, if one deep tube well cost approximate Nrs 189,00000, then you can imagine of the total cost and funding. It is indeed a good initiative of the US embassy in Nepal but the cost are whopping the charts.
I seriously think there is a Mistake or corruption happening. how can a well be so expensive. Apart from that Nepal has no foreign aid policy where most of the money allocated by the donor agencies are spended on foreign human resource and consultants. so at the end of the day the numbers might look big but the resources and allocation of budgets are very small in operation.
Foreign aid policy should be based by analyzing the need of the particular country. In recent years, Nepal’s foreign policy is directed towards mobilizing bilateral and international cooperation through inducting the policy of “Economic Diplomacy”, where economic independence has been overlooked. There is no debate on whether Nepal needs foreign aid or not, but the prime concern is of raising its productivity through effective utilization of foreign aid and economic independence.
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