Province 7 held its historic first Provincial Assembly meeting Sunday.

Speaking in the meeting, the Province Assembly members said they were committed to working together to make the Province, comprising nine districts in the far-western Nepal, prosperous.

The meeting was held under the chair of senior-most member of the Province Assembly, Dibyeshwori Shah. Speakers in the meeting insisted on the need of working hand in hand to unlock the development potential in the region.

The first speaker in the meeting, Prakash Shah from Bajura said the Province 7 was richer in natural resources such as water, forest products and herbs than other provinces, which are waiting proper utilization.

"We need to rise above partisan interests and gear up for the development to ensure it the richest zone in the country," he asserted. He was of the view of changing conventional mindset to find a path towards a better society.

Likewise, Province Assembly member from Doti, Bharat Bahadur Khadka, opined that progress and prosperity of the Province should be the common goal of one and all.

He underscored the need of endorsement of a proposal from the Provincial Assembly to accelerate the West Seti Hydropower Project.

Another member from Doti, Trilochan Bhatta, said right management of natural resources available in the Province would pave the way for prosperity.

Rastriya Janata Party's Malamati Rana Tharu spoke of the need of making initiations to address concerns of the Rana Tharu community in view of the new constitution.

In the beginning of the meeting, senior most member Shah read out a letter about the meeting call sent by Province Chief Mohan Raj Malla.

The meeting, delayed by half an hour, had begun at 1:30 pm. It endorsed the interim procedure regarding the operation of Province Assembly. The election of the Province Assembly Speaker has been fixed for 1:00 pm on February 12.

A five-member committee comprising Maya Bhatta, Devraj Pathak, Birman Chaudhary, and Purna Joshi has been nominated to chair the meeting in absence of a Speaker. RSS