KATHMANDU: Manisha Budhathoki, a resident of Sanibheri Rural Municipality-3, Rukum West, opened an account in the name of her daughter, Sanisa, in 2020 under the Karnali Province government’s ‘Daughter’s Bank Account, Lifelong Security’ program.

The provincial government implemented this program from July 16, 2019 with the objective of ending discrimination against daughters, preventing child marriage, and ensuring secondary education. Under the program, the government is supposed to deposit Rs 1000 in the first month of the daughter’s birth and then Rs 500 every month until the account holder turns 20.

Manisha’s daughter is now five years old. However, she does not know how much money has been deposited in her daughter’s account during this period. She also hasn’t shown much interest in it. She says, “The local body told us that the money would be received in a lump sum when the daughter turns 20, so I haven’t asked why I should ask before that. I haven’t even gone to the bank to check the account details.”

Umesh Nakaal, also from Sanibheri Rural Municipality-3, opened a bank account in his daughter Riyansa’s name in 2019 under the same program. But Umesh also did not show interest in whether the amount was regularly deposited in the account. He assumed the money was being deposited. “After opening my daughter’s account, I thought the money must be coming, I haven’t gone to ask how much has accumulated,” he says.

Just as Manisha and Umesh did not show interest in whether the government deposited money into their daughters’ accounts, the provincial government, which introduced the ambitious program to protect the daughters of Karnali, has also been equally negligent in sending the money.

This program, introduced through the policies and programs of the fiscal year 2019/20, was widely publicized by the provincial government itself and through the local bodies. Parents who learned about it submitted applications to the local body, obtained a recommendation, and opened accounts at the bank.

However, the provincial government has not sent money to these daughters’ accounts for the past four years. The abandonment of the program, which was brought to protect the daughters of the province, shows the Karnali government’s neglect and disregard for daughters.

According to the Procedure for Operating the Bank Account Daughter’s: Lifelong Security Program, 2019, the accounts of daughters in Karnali enrolled in this program should have received a deposit of Rs 6,500 in the first year and an annual deposit of Rs 6,000 from the second year onwards. Based on this calculation, a total of Rs 120,500 should be deposited in an account by the time a daughter reaches 20 years of age.

However, the provincial government’s disregard for this procedure has rendered the ambitious program ineffective.

The then Chief Minister of Karnali Province, Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, started this program on December 18, 2019 in his home district of Kalikot. Since then, the provincial government continuously sent money to local bodies for three fiscal years (from 2019/20 to 2021/22) for opening accounts and depositing money. Seven years since the program began, the government has not sent money in the last four fiscal years.

According to the procedure, the Provincial Ministry of Social Development must provide funds to the respective local levels to open and deposit money into the daughters’ accounts.

The procedure stipulates that the Ministry may provide the funds in a lump sum or in installments, either in advance or as reimbursement. However, no such amount has been sent from the provincial government to the local levels from the fiscal year 2022/23 to 2025/26.

Accounts opened with zero balance due to lack of funds

Manbir Oli, Child Welfare Officer of Sanibheri Rural Municipality, Rukum West, says that due to the provincial government not sending funds for the Daughter Security Program, the daughters’ accounts had to be opened with zero balance. According to him, the rural municipality is yet to receive Rs 19.9 million for accounts opened and cash deposited from 2022/23 to 2024/25 under this program.

He estimates that the total outstanding amount, including the current fiscal year, will reach approximately Rs 25 million. He says, “Neither have we received the money nor has a letter arrived stating that the program has been stopped.” Up to the fiscal year 2024/25, bank accounts for 1,138 daughters have been opened in Sanibheri Rural Municipality alone.

Under this same program, Bheriganga Municipality in Surkhet is yet to receive Rs 22 million from the Karnali Province government for the fiscal years 2022/23 to 2024/25. Sabita Rana of the Women and Children Branch of the Municipality says that even though the provincial government has not sent the budget, they are opening accounts according to the procedure when beneficiaries come.

According to her, 1,279 daughter savings accounts have been opened in the municipality from the fiscal year 2019/20, when the program was announced, until 2024/25. She says, “The initial Rs 1,000 has not even been deposited in some accounts; we will probably deposit it in a lump sum once the province sends it.”

Since the start of this program in Karnali, bank accounts have been opened for 55,916 daughters across the province until the fiscal year 2024/25, according to the records of the Women and Children Branch of the Ministry of Social Development. This data is prepared based on the details sent by the local levels to the Ministry after the accounts are opened.

Under the program, Rs 406.201 million were sent from the provincial government to the local bodies in the name of daughter security in the three fiscal years since 2019/20. However, no money has been sent from the Ministry itself to deposit into the daughters’ accounts opened since the fiscal year 2022/23.

According to Ritu Shahi, Women Development Officer at the Ministry’s Women and Children Branch, a total of Rs 1.14 billion is insufficient for the daughter savings accounts opened under the program, including the money not sent from 2022/23 to 2024/25 and previous shortfalls.

“In recent years, it was said that the program would be revised, so no money has been sent from here, which is why this shortfall is seen,” she says.

The program’s procedure designates banks at the local level as service providers. After parents interested in opening an account for their newborn daughter submit an application, the local body recommends the bank with the necessary documents. The bank then opens the account based on that recommendation.

After accounts remained open with zero balance for a long time, banks started inquiring about the program with the local bodies. Oli, the Child Welfare Officer of Sanibheri Rural Municipality, says, “Parents ask us how much money has been deposited, and banks also ask if this program is still running. We have to tell both parties to do their work, the money will come.”

Former Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi says that by abandoning the program, the provincial government has committed injustice against daughters.

The Karnali Province government introduced the ‘Daughter’s Bank Account, Lifelong Security Program’ with the aim of ending gender discrimination against daughters, reducing child marriage, and assisting with the higher education of girls. However, the inability to continue it according to the objective shows that the program was announced hastily without any study for sustainability.

The government did not spend the allocated budget, stating that the program’s budget increased the financial burden and they would revise and continue it. However, no revision has been made for the past four years.

An officer working in the Budget Branch of the Ministry of Economic Affairs says, “The government implemented the program without considering the challenges that would arise in its implementation and the financial burden it would incur. It seems to have been kept on hold after realizing that the financial burden would continuously increase.”

Budget allocation without implementation

Even though the provincial government has not sent the budget for the Daughter Security Program to the local levels, the program continues to be addressed in the policy and programs and budget of the fiscal year. When the program was announced in the fiscal year 2019/20, Rs 70 million were allocated.

After the program’s procedure was drafted, Rs 38.4 million of that amount were sent to the local levels through the Ministry of Social Development. In the three fiscal years when the government sent the budget, the local levels received the amount in a lump sum.

In 2020/21, Rs 126 million were allocated for this program, out of which Rs 60 million was sent, and in 2021/22, Rs 160 million were allocated, out of which Rs 130 million was sent. The budget for these three fiscal years was sent to the local levels as conditional grants.

Since then, including the current fiscal year, a total budget of Rs 500 million has been allocated for the Daughter Security Program in three fiscal years. However, the money has not been sent.

Rs 200 million was allocated in 2022/23 and Rs 250 million in 2023/24. The program was not included in the budget for 2024/25. Again, Rs 50 million have been allocated for the program in the budget for the current fiscal year 2025/26.

Former Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi says that by abandoning the program, the provincial government has committed injustice against daughters. He comments that the latest leadership of the government has prejudiced the program against the former leadership and made it ‘pendulum’ (stuck).

When this program was announced, he was the Chief Minister of Karnali. “This program was introduced keeping in mind the gender discrimination against daughters in Karnali and their economic condition. It is an injustice for the succeeding government not to continue such an important program,” he says.

Annual plans for revision go nowhere

It has been five years since the Karnali Province government planned to revise the ‘Daughter’s Bank Account, Lifelong Security’ program. However, the plan for revision is in limbo due to confusion about which format to use to advance the program.

The budget statement for the provincial government’s fiscal year 2021/22 mentioned a policy of continuing the program and investing its funds as share capital in profitable large projects within the province.

The budget statement stated, ‘To uplift, empower, and ensure the overall development of women, to end gender discrimination against children, to end child marriage as a social ill, and to ensure children’s education up to at least the bachelor’s level, the policy of continuing the Daughter’s Bank Account, Lifelong Security program and depositing the amount as share investment in profitable large projects within the province will be adopted.’

One of the main objectives of the Karnali Province government introducing the ‘Daughter Savings Account’ program was to stop gender-selective abortion against daughters.

The budget statement for the fiscal year 2022/23 stated that the program was being ‘continued in a manner that makes it more effective and result-oriented.’

Similarly, the budget for 2023/24 mentioned that the ‘program would be revised to include life insurance for daughters.’ The current fiscal year’s budget states that ‘an appropriate framework for implementation will be developed by revising the program.’

The Social Development Committee under the Karnali Provincial Assembly has repeatedly shown interest in this program, which falls under its jurisdiction.

On April 30, 2024, the Committee sought details of the program from the Ministry of Social Development. When the Ministry failed to provide the details within the stipulated time, the committee held a meeting on May 16, 2024 and gave another seven days.

After the Ministry failed to provide the program-related details even after being asked twice, the committee called the Minister and officials of the Ministry to a meeting for discussion. Ghanashyam Bhandari, who is currently the Provincial Minister of Social Development, was the Chairman of the Social Development Committee at that time.

Currently, the Chairman of the Committee is Purna Bahadur Khatri. Khadga Pokharel, who was the Minister of Social Development when Bhandari led the Committee, is now a member of the current Committee. The Committee led by Khatri also called the Minister of Social Development and employees this year to discuss the program.

Committee Chairman Khatri says that the Ministry did not give a mature response regarding the continuity of the procedure and the program during the discussion. “When discussing with us, they said that efforts are being made to amend the procedure,” he says, “According to them, the plan is to create a procedure that invests the account money in profitable sectors rather than just accumulating it in the daughter’s account, and then send the money to the local levels.”

Social Development Minister Bhandari admits that the program has become abandoned recently and says that the government is trying to continue it. He says, “There has been a discussion on whether to move the Daughter Security Program into an act rather than limiting it to a procedure. Earlier, a committee was formed to discuss this, and now the head of the concerned division of the Ministry has been asked to lead the effort to advance it.” He could not specify when the program would receive continuity.

The continuous failure of the government to send money for this program has led to complaints reaching the local public representatives. Maina BK, Deputy Mayor of Gurvakot Municipality, says that the local government has to face problems after the program was abandoned.

She says, “On one hand, there are public complaints, and on the other, banks have to open accounts with zero balance. Even when I participate in provincial government programs, I say—either this program should be closed or it should be continued.”

The Common Campaign for Child Rights (CCR), Karnali Province, a network of non-governmental organizations working in the field of child rights, conducted a study on the effectiveness of this program a while ago.

The study concluded that the program could not cover all daughters. “When we conducted fieldwork in some places, we found that daughters from the Dalit community were left out of the program,” says Tekraj Acharya, Secretariat Chief of CCR, “We suggested that the program should be made effective to include everyone.”
Lack of integrated data

One of the main objectives of the Karnali Province government introducing the ‘Daughter Savings Account’ program was to stop gender-selective abortion against daughters. Although the program aimed to prevent the tendency of aborting female fetuses due to gender discrimination, the Ministry of Social Development has not conducted any study or evaluation of how much this objective has been achieved or how effective the program has been after its implementation.

In Adanchuli Rural Municipality, Humla, the Ministry does not have any details on how many accounts have been opened in the name of daughters, how much money went to the local body, and how much is insufficient.

According to the Ministry, 7,852 daughters’ accounts are projected to be opened across the province in the current fiscal year 2025/26. However, the Ministry does not have integrated data on how many daughters were born in Karnali since the program’s implementation and how many of them opened accounts. The government also does not have an exact figure for how much budget is needed annually for the program.

In the year the program was implemented, the provincial government estimated that 12,000 daughters would be born in the province per year. Accordingly, it was calculated that approximately Rs 80 million would need to be allocated annually for regularly opening new accounts. Recently, this calculation has been abandoned.

The procedure mandates that this program must be implemented in all 79 local bodies of Karnali Province. However, the data regarding daughter security and the amount sent for it in the Ministry is not clear. With four years having passed since the government stopped sending money for the program to the local levels, there is no exact data on how many accounts have been opened and how many of those have zero balance.

The Ministry of Social Development has data showing that 930 accounts have been opened under the Daughter Security Program in Panchapuri Municipality, Surkhet. However, the Ministry does not have a record of how much money has been sent to that local body.

In Thantikand Rural Municipality, Dailekh, data shows that 792 Daughter Security accounts have been opened. But here too, there is no record of how much money was sent by the provincial government under the program and how much is still due.

In Chankheli Rural Municipality, Humla, the data shows that 322 such accounts have been opened and 937,000 rupees have been sent under the program. However, the Ministry does not have the data on how much money the provincial government owes here.

In Adanchuli Rural Municipality, Humla, the Ministry does not have any details on how many accounts have been opened in the name of daughters, how much money went to the local body, and how much is insufficient.

Namkha Rural Municipality in Humla has data showing that 77 daughters’ accounts have been opened, but there is no record of how much money was sent by the province for this program and how much is insufficient.

Shey-Phoksundo Rural Municipality in Dolpa has data showing that 116 accounts have been opened. Only Rs 111,500 have been sent by the provincial government to this local body for the program. However, no record has been kept of how much money is insufficient.

In some local bodies, the projection for the birth of daughters is zero. The projection for the fiscal year 2024/25 was for 7,856 daughter security accounts to be opened. However, there is no projection data in 25 out of the 79 local bodies in various districts.

The Women and Children Branch under the Ministry of Social Development stated that the data could not be integrated because the local bodies did not send the requested details on time. Ritu Shahi, an officer working in the branch, says that program details were requested from the local bodies in an integrated format from the start of the fiscal year, but they were unable to provide them.

The program’s procedure states that the concerned local level must regularly deposit the amount into the daughter’s account as per the details provided by the bank. Section 4(3) of the procedure states that the local level shall deposit the amount into the account holder’s account regularly, either having received it from the Ministry or expecting to receive it.

With the continuity of the program itself appearing uncertain, local levels are not willing to deposit the amount into the accounts with the intention of being reimbursed later by the Ministry.

The procedure of this program stipulates that the daughter must be enrolled in the program within 45 days of birth. A family can open accounts for a maximum of two daughters. The provision is that no money will be deposited once the account holder turns 20 years old.

The procedure also stipulates that the deposits will cease if the account holder drops out of school midway or gets married before the age of 20. If the account holder drops out of secondary school midway or gets married before the age of 20, the amount already deposited in the account will also not be paid out.

Excluding these circumstances, the account holder daughter will receive the lump-sum amount after attaining the age of 20 and completing secondary education.