Kathmandu, Aug 1 : Construction of a school building at Khajura Rural Municipality in the western Banke district of Nepal's Lumbini Province has begun with financial assistance from the Government of India, the Indian Embassy said.

Gitanjali Brandon, Counsellor at the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, and Dambar Bahadur B K, Chairman of Khajura Rural Municipality, jointly laid the foundation stone for a new building for Shree Jana Kalyan Secondary School.

The Indian government will provide approximately NPR 32 million under its High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) programme to construct the infrastructure.

According to the Embassy, the project will be implemented through Khajura Rural Municipality. It is the eighth HICDP undertaken in Banke district with Indian assistance.

Local representatives and stakeholders welcomed India's support, saying the new school infrastructure would improve the learning environment for students and provide better facilities for teachers.

The Embassy said the project forms part of India's continued development partnership with Nepal, aimed at strengthening infrastructure in priority sectors and supporting the Nepal government's socio-economic development efforts.

Meanwhile, an operation theatre building constructed at Rapti Eye Hospital in Dang district of Lumbini Province with financial assistance from the Government of India was inaugurated on Thursday,

Brandon, Counsellor at the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, and Tikaram Khadka, Mayor of Tulsipur Sub-Metropolitan City, jointly inaugurated the double-storey operation theatre building at Rapti Eye Hospital in Tulsipur Sub-Metropolitan City, Dang.

The project is aimed at strengthening eye care services in western Nepal.

The operation theatre building was implemented under the HICDP through Tulsipur Sub-Metropolitan City with funding from the Government of India. It is the seventh HICDP completed in Dang district.

India has been supporting the implementation of HICDPs across Nepal in sectors such as health, education and community infrastructure under its development cooperation programme.

Launched in 2003, HICDPs were previously known as Small Development Projects. The initiative supports small-scale infrastructure and community-based projects through local authorities, focusing on priority sectors identified by the Government of Nepal, including health, education, drinking water, sanitation and drainage, rural electrification, hydropower, and river training.

Since the inception of the HICDP programme, nearly 600 projects have been undertaken by the Government of India across all seven provinces and 74 districts of Nepal, according to the embassy.

/IANS