Local Institutions and People's Participation in Rural Public Works in Nepal

摘要

Local participation through local institutions is the key to the future of rural development in Nepal. Nepal's sociopolitical history is traced from its unification under the Saha kings in 1769 to the emergence in 1951 of a constitutional form of government under which local people were promised active participation in the country's development. Government efforts to make that promise a reality are detailed. Three rural public works projects undertaken jointly by the government and local people are then analyzed: construction of the Banglung suspension bridge and of the Illam-Charali trunk road, and efforts of the National Development Service to promote infrastructure development by mobilizing local labor and resources. The vast need for infrastructure in Nepal and the country's current financial condition clearly shows the importance of such extensive contributions.