Bhima KC of Musikot Municipality-3 in Rukum West gave birth to her twin daughters—Karishma and Ankita—in April 2021. Soon afterwards, the municipality facilitated the opening of the infants’ bank accounts under the ‘Bank Account for Daughters, for Secure Life’ programme initiated by the Karnali provincial government. But their accounts have zero balance as of now.

“We were told that the programme was for the secure future of the daughters in which the provincial government deposits the amount regularly on their bank accounts,” Bhima said. “It has been over two years but the government has not yet deposited any amount to their accounts.”

She said she is now skeptical of the programme, which was launched amid much fanfare from fiscal year 2019-20.

Bimala BK, a resident of Bangadkupende Municipality-4 in Salyan district, was impatient to open the bank account for her daughter Prabha who was born in July 2022. She hurried to the nearby bank as she heard about the ‘Bank Account for Daughters, for Secure Life’ programme.

“We opened the bank account but it remains useless,” Bimala said. “The people’s representatives and the employees assure that money will be deposited in the account soon. The government instilled hope to the impoverished people like us but they lied to us.”

The Karnali provincial government had launched the programme with an objective to control child marriage and provide financial security to girls when they grow up. According to the working guideline of the programme, parents should file an application in the local unit to open a bank account for their daughters.

The programme was quite popular in the initial years. It was launched in all 79 local units of 10 districts in the province. All the girl children who were born after July 17, 2019 have been included as the beneficiaries of the programme.

According to the Ministry of Social Development, the bank accounts of about 17,000 girls have been opened under the programme as of now. However, the money has not been deposited in the bank accounts in the current fiscal year, nor was it in the last fiscal year of 2022-23.

The people’s representatives in the local units express their displeasure at the provincial government for not depositing the amounts. “A total of 170 bank accounts were opened for the programme in our rural municipality,” said Than Bahadur Rokaya, chairman of Sarkegad Rural Municipality in Humla. “The provincial government stopped depositing money. The beneficiaries vent their ire against us for the provincial government’s failure to release amounts.”

According to the programme, immediately after opening a new account under the programme, the provincial government deposits Rs1,000 in it. The government then deposits Rs500 in the account each month until the girl reaches 20 years of age. The account holder won’t receive the amount if she marries before she reaches 20 or if she discontinues her studies before completing her secondary level.

However, the deposited amount can be withdrawn before the maturity period, according to the ministry, if the account holder dies or becomes completely disabled or unable to continue studies after the deaths of her parents due to financial constraints.

According to the Ministry of Social Development, approximately Rs190 million has been spent for the programme so far.

However, the programme has failed to make an impact in rural areas where the population is vulnerable to financial difficulties and where gender bias still persists. Many guardians, especially from the rural areas, are unaware of the government programme.

Anita Gyawali, woman development officer at the ministry, admits that the programme has not been as effective in recent years as expected. “The ministry also has some drawbacks,” Gyawali said. “The ministry does not have good coordination with some local units. The annual budget has not prioritised the programme.”

The province government allocated Rs25 million for the programme for the current fiscal year. But the government has not deposited the amounts in the bank accounts.

“The provincial government does not have records of the bank accounts opened in the current fiscal year. The local units have not sent us the details of the bank accounts so far,” said Aananda Saru, secretary at the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers. He claimed that the programme has not been effective due to the lack of dedicated employees for the programme and lack of regular coordination with the local units, among others.

Civil society leaders, rights activists and representatives of various political parties have urged the provincial government to implement the programme effectively.

Most of the settlements in the province are in remote locations and gender discrimination is still high there due to lack of education, said Manisha KC, a right activist.

“Programme like ‘Bank Account for Daughters, for Secure Life’ can be very effective to control gender discrimination, end child marriage and violence on girls and women,” KC said. “This programme should be implemented effectively.”