Bajura, not Saptari, is the most backward district of Nepal

Sujit Mainali / December 14, 2017

Upendra Yadav, chairman of Federal Socialist Forum Nepal.                      Photo: HimalayaTV/youtube

After being elected to parliament from Saptari, Upendra Yadav, the chairman of the Federal Socialist Forum, Nepal said the following in an interview aired on Avenues TV on December 13, 2017:

‘Saptari is the most backward district, it is extremely backward in terms of development.’

South Asia Check has examined whether this statement is fact-based or not.

Human Development Index (HDI) is used to verify whether a region is backward or not. HDI is measured on the basis of average life expectancy at birth, education and gross national income per capita of the people residing in a region.

According to the ‘Nepal Human Development Report, 2014‘ jointly prepared by the National Planning Commission and UNDP, Bajura is the district with the lowest HDI value (0.364) in Nepal.

Rautahat and Mahottari, the two districts of Province Number 2 fall under the 10 districts of Nepal with lowest HDI values (less than 0.4). Other eight districts under this category are Bajura, Bajhang, Kalikot, Humla, Achham, Jajarkot, Rolpa and Mugu.

HDI value of Saptari is 0.436. Altogether 22 districts of Nepal have HDI values lower than that of Saptari.

Therefore, Chairman Yadav’s claim is wrong.

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