Question 1 What is the issue, and why does it matter?
Nine in ten households in Lumbini (89.6 per cent) received remittances in 2022/23, the highest share among the provinces, and the 2021 census counted 420,906 people from the province living abroad. The provincial plan lists public investment that does not create enough jobs, low private investment and migration that does not match development as main problems, and names keeping young people in the country as a challenge.123
The choice is how to improve outcomes in this province, who benefits first, and which institution can act. The figures below belong to the stated reporting period; they are not a real-time measure of today’s conditions.
Question 2 What do current law and policy say?
Federal: Social security and poverty alleviation; passports and immigration (Sch. 5 items 22, 32). Provincial: Social security and employment, and employment and unemployment benefits, concurrent with the federation (Sch. 7 items 11, 25). Local: Collection of statistics on the unemployed (Sch. 8 item 17).4
Federal: Customs and excise; international trade, ports and quarantine; international borders (Sch. 5 items 7, 9, 18). Provincial: Intra-province trade; industry, trade and business (Sch. 6 items 11, 20). Local: Local market management; business tax (Sch. 8 items 4, 10).4
Federal: Large central irrigation projects (Sch. 5 item 14). Provincial: Agriculture and livestock development; province-level irrigation (Sch. 6 items 7, 20). Local: Agriculture, animal husbandry and extension; local irrigation (Sch. 8 items 11, 15, 18); agriculture shared by all levels (Sch. 9 item 4).4
Provincial executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Chief of Province (governor) performs constitutional and legal functions, generally on the Council’s recommendation and consent; the governor is not the department delivering these services. Provincial revenue and expenditure estimates go to the Provincial Assembly.5
Question 3 What is known, uncertain or disputed?
Known
Nine in ten households in Lumbini (89.6 per cent) received remittances in 2022/23, the highest share among the provinces, and the 2021 census counted 420,906 people from the province living abroad. The provincial plan lists public investment that does not create enough jobs, low private investment and migration that does not match development as main problems, and names keeping young people in the country as a challenge.123
Uncertain
A province-wide number does not identify the worst-served wards or prove the same problem in every municipality. Before spending, establish a current local baseline, service quality, staffing, access barriers and the full operating cost.
Disputed
The policy choice is how to balance universal access, concentrated investment, affordability and fiscal sustainability. The alternatives below are Policy Nepal’s discussion options derived from the problem evidence, not claims that officials or parties have endorsed them.
Questions 4–5 What are the options, and what do they cost and achieve?
Options are listed in no particular order. Policy Nepal does not recommend one; real policies often combine them.
A
Tie skills support to verified demand123
Ask employers and worker groups which occupations have vacancies, then fund paid placements and independently checked job retention.
Benefits
- Connects training to work and makes employers share delivery responsibility.
Costs
- Placement supervision, worker protection and follow-up cost money beyond classroom fees.
Trade-offs
- Performance payments can exclude harder-to-place applicants unless inclusion is built into the contract.
What does implementation require?
- Publish wage and safety conditions, recruit transparently, and check retention and earnings with workers after placement.
Remove business bottlenecks and support returnees123
Improve licensing, market access, reliable local infrastructure and advice for returnees before expanding untargeted grants or subsidised loans.
Benefits
- Supports existing firms and self-employment as well as new businesses.
Costs
- Needs capable advisory staff, market information and transparent beneficiary records.
Trade-offs
- Credit can become a household debt burden when there is no viable market.
What does implementation require?
- Use business survival, net earnings and additional jobs as measures; separate new migrants, repeat permits, returnees and people working in India.
Combining options
Start with a verified baseline and maintenance of functioning services, then test additional investment against the same outcomes. Publish who pays for capital costs, recurring costs and any household charges; an unfunded operating plan is not a sustainable solution.
Question 6 Who is responsible?
Shared
Jobs, migration and social securityFederal: Social security and poverty alleviation; passports and immigration (Sch. 5 items 22, 32). Provincial: Social security and employment, and employment and unemployment benefits, concurrent with the federation (Sch. 7 items 11, 25). Local: Collection of statistics on the unemployed (Sch. 8 item 17).4
Shared
Trade, customs and the borderFederal: Customs and excise; international trade, ports and quarantine; international borders (Sch. 5 items 7, 9, 18). Provincial: Intra-province trade; industry, trade and business (Sch. 6 items 11, 20). Local: Local market management; business tax (Sch. 8 items 4, 10).4
Shared
Agriculture and irrigationFederal: Large central irrigation projects (Sch. 5 item 14). Provincial: Agriculture and livestock development; province-level irrigation (Sch. 6 items 7, 20). Local: Agriculture, animal husbandry and extension; local irrigation (Sch. 8 items 11, 15, 18); agriculture shared by all levels (Sch. 9 item 4).4
Provincial
Chief Minister, Council of Ministers and Provincial AssemblyProvincial executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Chief of Province (governor) performs constitutional and legal functions, generally on the Council’s recommendation and consent; the governor is not the department delivering these services. Provincial revenue and expenditure estimates go to the Provincial Assembly.5
Question 7 What have parties and leaders said and done?
What was said or promised is shown apart from what was recorded as done. Every entry needs a dated source. A missing entry means the position is not established, not that someone opposes or is neutral.
This dossier presents official evidence and research options. It does not assign a position to a chief minister, governor, mayor or political party without a dated source specific to this issue.
Said or promised
Position not established in reviewed sources.
Recorded actions and outcomes
Position not established in reviewed sources.
Question 8 What would progress look like, and when do we check again?
IndicatorLatest official figureOfficial targetRevisit
Employment retained after placement, with earnings and safety conditions123
Not established
No official target found
2026-10-20
Business survival and net additional jobs among supported firms123
Not established
No official target found
2026-10-20
Sources
Grouped by type of evidence. Government plans show what government intends; they are not proof of results. Party material shows what a party says.
Constitution & law
- The Constitution of Nepal (English translation, as amended by the Second Amendment, 2020), Schedules 4–9 — Nepal Law Commission, Government of Nepal, Promulgated 20 September 2015; amended 28 February 2016 and 18 June 2020 (as stated in the document). Schedule 4, list for 'Province No. 5', pp. 190–192; Schedule 5 (federal) items 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 34, pp. 193–195; Schedule 6 (provincial) items 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19, 20, pp. 196–197; Schedule 7 (federal–provincial concurrent) items 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 23, 25, pp. 198–199; Schedule 8 (local) items 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, pp. 200–201; Schedule 9 (all three levels) items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, p. 202. Checked 2026-10-11
- Constitution of Nepal, English translation with first and second amendments — Nepal Law Commission. Articles 162, 166, 207–208; Schedules 6–9. English translation; Nepali text authoritative.. Checked 2026-10-13
Government plans & policy
- लुम्बिनी प्रदेशको दोस्रो आवधिक योजना (आ.व. २०८१/८२–२०८५/८६) (Second Periodic Plan) — Lumbini Province Planning Commission, Lumbini Province Government, 2081/82 BS (plan period 2081/82–2085/86). 1.4 review of first plan (Gautam Buddha International Airport's effect), printed p. 3 (PDF p. 16); 2.2 main problems and 2.3 opportunities and challenges, printed pp. 6–8 (PDF pp. 19–21); 5.3 tourism (background, 283 destinations, problems, opportunities incl. Tilaurakot and Ramgram World Heritage nomination process), printed pp. 70–72 (PDF pp. 83–85). Checked 2026-10-11
Official data
- Nepal Living Standards Survey IV 2022/23: Statistical Report — National Statistics Office, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal, June 2024. Table 6.1 'Literacy rates by sex', printed p. 98 (PDF p. 117); Table 9.1 'Distribution and Proportion of absentee population by sex', printed p. 152 (PDF p. 171); Table 16.8 'Remittance receiving households (Percent)', printed p. 279 (PDF p. 298). Checked 2026-10-11
- National Population and Housing Census 2021: National Report — National Statistics Office, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal, 2023 (reprint May 2023, as stated in the document). Major highlights, item 11 (provincial shares of population), printed p. 2; Table 14 (households with absentees and absent population living abroad, by province), printed p. 58 (PDF p. 73); Table 15 (households, population, average household size, sex ratio, density, 2011 population and annual growth rate, by province), printed p. 62 (PDF p. 77). Checked 2026-10-11
Change history
- 2026-10-13 — Expanded the province challenge into the same eight-question format as national issues. (Regional issues deserve equally accessible evidence, options, responsibilities and tracking. Original dates and sources retained; policy options are editorial proposals.)
