SYANGJA: The Kaligandaki Rural Municipality in Syangja has decided to provide financial assistance to families giving birth to three children.

The rural municipality has decided to provide financial assistance from the current fiscal year to families who have three children in order to prevent the declining population rate.

Chairman of the rural municipality, Khim Bahadur Thapa, said that recently, due to the decreasing population, it has become challenging to maintain population balance in the long term, which is why the rural municipality has taken this step.

“The population within the rural municipality is decreasing, and over time, the number of people in the village could become quite low. In view of this, we have moved forward with the aim of stopping the declining population rate, providing families with positive motivation towards giving birth to children, maintaining long-term population balance, and implementing nutrition-friendly local governance,” he said.

He stated that the rural municipality has approved the procedure for providing financial assistance to families who give birth to three children and is preparing to provide financial aid to families who meet the criteria set in the procedure.

According to the procedure approved by the rural municipality, families permanently residing within the rural municipality who have had a third child after the month of Saun in the current fiscal year must submit an application along with the necessary documents to the concerned ward office.

Recently, the villages have started to empty as people are having only one or two children and, on the other hand, migrating from villages to cities.

“The rural municipality provides financial assistance of Rs 4,000 per month to families who have three children according to the procedure. The support is intended as a positive incentive for nurturing and caring for children, given to each family for up to two years,” Thapa, the rural municipality Chairman said.