Contemporary Issues

Issues: poverty, unemployment, Public Health, Food Security, Social Security, energy crisis, IT, Social Media

39. In terms of human resource production, there are 1.15 doctors and 2.54 nurses per 1,000 population in the health sector in Nepal. As of mid-January of 2023, the number of registered health workers has reached 307,048. The number of women giving birth in health institutions has reached 79.3 percent. The number of children who are fully vaccinated has reached 80.0 percent.

41. The access to basic drinking water has reached 94.93% of the population as of mid-March of 2023, while the access to high and medium-level drinking water services is 25.81 percent.

4.54 As of mid-July 2022, the population covered by insurance, including foreign employment life insurance, is 41.2%. By mid-March 2023, it has reached 44.05%. In the FY 2021/22, the total insurance premium amounted to Rs. 177.81 billion.

6.2 Various programs such as identification of poor households and distribution of identity cards have been conducted to reduce poverty and income inequality by preparing actual details of the poor people. By the end of the FY 2018/19, the population below the absolute poverty line was 18.7 percent, while it is estimated that such population is 15.1 percent to date. Also, the population living in multidimensional poverty is 17.4 percent.

6.3 There appears to be high heterogeneity in multidimensional poverty across provinces. Among the province-wise population distribution, multidimensional poverty is highest in Karnali at 39.5 percent and lowest in Bagmati at 7.0 percent.

9.2 The country is becoming self-sufficient in the electricity sector due to the policy priority adopted in the hydropower sector and increased investment. With the increase in hydropower production, universal quality electric energy has expanded. As of now, 95.0 percent of the population has access to electricity. So far, 2,666 MW of electricity has been generated. 75 districts across the country are connected to the national grid.