Status of Quality of Life and Its Distribution in Nepal

Abstract

After the restoration of democracy in 1990, Nepal has been practicing more liberal and participatory democratic practices in development process. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the distribution of quality of life has been speculated more equitable, justifiable, and uniformly distributed over the country. Data for the analysis were mainly taken from the Human Development Index (HDI) of two successive Human Development Reports jointly prepared and published by the Government of Nepal and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nepal in 1998 and 2014. Both the reports were prepared by the independent Nepalese scholars and the index was computed by the “goal posts” suggested by the UNDP. Since the changes in political system, governance pattern, and power nexus after the people’s movement and restoration of democracy in 1990s, there is a progress in mean index value but the distribution pattern of HDI in 1996 and 2014 does not show much difference. Even some accessible and better scored Tarai districts in 1996 showed a downward trend on quality of life. The expectation of people toward the change in their quality of life after the restoration of democracy did not match properly. It has also widening the gap between a few accessible core districts and several peripheral inaccessible districts. Therefore, a better corrective measure has to be adopted for the enhancement of the quality of life of the people as a whole.

Annex

Appendix 7.1 Distribution of HDI value across districts, development region, and ecological belts 1996

Ecological belt	Development region	<0.20	0.21–0.30	0.31–0.40	0.41–0.50	>0.51
Mountain	Eastern			Sankhuwasabha, Taplejung, Solukhumbu
	Central		Rasuwa, Sindhupalchok	Dolakha,
	Western			Mustang, Manang
	Mid-western	Mugu, Kalikot	Dolpa, Jumla, Humla
	Far-western	Bajura, Bajhang	Darchula
Hill	Eastern			Khotang, Panchthar, Okhaldhunga, Bhojpur, Udayapur, Ilam, Terhathum, Dhankuta
	Central		Dhading, Sindhuli	Makwanpur, Nuwakot, Ramechhap, Kavrepalanchok, Bhaktapur		Lalitpur, Kathmandu
	Western			Gorkha, Myagdi, Gulmi, Arghakhanchi, Baglung, Palpa, Parbat, Lamjung, Syangja, Tanahu	Kaski
	Mid-western		Jajarkot, Dailekh, Salyan, Rolpa, Rukum	Pyuthan, Surkhet
	Far-western		Achham, Doti, Baitadi, Dadeldhura
Tarai	Eastern			Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari	Jhapa, Morang
	Central			Dhanusa, Rautahat, Bara, Mahottari,Sarlahi, Parsa, Chitawan
	Western		Kapilbastu, Nawalparasi	Rupandehi
	Mid-western		Dang, Bardiya	Banke
	Far-western		Kailali	Kanchanpur
Total		4	22	44	3	2

Appendix 7.2 Distribution of HDI value across districts, development region, and ecological belts 2014

Ecological belt	Development region	<0.4	0.41–0.45	0.46–0.50	0.51–0.55	0.56–0.60	>0.61
Mountain	Eastern			Solukhumbu, Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha
	Central			Rasuwa, Dolakha, Sindhupalchok
	Western			Mustang		Manang
	Mid-western	Dolpa, Mugu, Humla, Kalikot	Jumla
	Far-western	Bajhang, Bajura	Darchula
Hill	Eastern			Khotang, Panchthar, Bhojpur, Udayapur, Okhaldhunga	Terhathum, Ilam, Dhankuta
	Central		Sindhuli	Makwanpur, Ramechhap, Nuwakot, Dhading	Kavrepalanchok	Bhaktapur	Lalitpur, Kathmandu
	Western		Rukum, Dailekh,	Palpa, Myagdi, Arghakhanchi, Gorkha, Baglung, Gulmi	Syangja, Parbat, Lamjung, Tanahu	Kaski
	Mid-western	Rolpa, Jajarkot	Dadeldhura, Pyuthan,	Surkhet,
	Far-western	Achham	Salyan, Baitadi, Doti
Tarai	Eastern		Saptari, Siraha,	Sunsari	Jhapa, Morang
	Central	Sarlahi, Mahottari, Rautahat,	Dhanusa	Parsa, Bara	Chitawan
	Western		Kapilbastu	Rupandehi, Nawalparasi
	Mid-western			Dang, Banke, Bardiya
	Far-western			Kanchanpur, Kailali
		12	14	33	11	3	2