A. Rural Roads

1. District eligibility criteria for rural road subprojects include
(i) district transport master plan prepared and approved by the district development committee (DDC) and acceptable to the Ministry of Local Development;
(ii) district office of Department of Survey and Land Revenue functional;
(iii) qualified district engineer in district technical office;
(iv) district infrastructure coordination committee formed and functioning;
(v) agreement between the DDCs and Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads (DOLIDAR) to implement the Project in accordance with project requirements and procedures, including the resettlement framework; and
(vi) district road maintenance fund established.

B. Supplementary Infrastructure other than Water Supply and Sanitation

3. The supplementary investment
(i) will generate additional access benefits for the rural road subproject it is near to;
(ii) was identified and planned through a community participatory process that involves the poorest and most socially excluded groups, and targets the poor, identified through earlier social mobilization activities;
(iii) does not duplicate activities of other development projects;
(iv) will contribute to income-generating opportunities;
(v) will be formulated with a sustainable operation and maintenance plan (financial, physical, and organizational); and
(vi) the community can contribute 15% (cash or in-kind).

1. Supplementary investment type by eligibility and budgetary ceilings includes
(i) improvement of a village trail to improve access to the rural road subproject; maximum length 10 km, indicative costs NRs100,000 per km (maximum total cost NRs1 million);
(ii) construction of a short span trail bridge on village trail to improve access to the main subproject; maximum span 120 meters, indicative costs: NRs20,000 per meter span (maximum total cost NRs2.4 million);
(iii) reconstruction and rehabilitation of an existing small irrigation scheme; maximum size 25 hectares (ha), indicative costs NRs100,000 per ha (maximum total cost NRs2.5 million);
(iv) construction of a market building (agro collection centers, dairy, etc.); maximum size 100 square meters (m2), indicative costs NRs9,000 per m2 (maximum total cost NRs900,000);
(v) construction of a community building; maximum size 100 m2, indicative costs NRs10,000 per m2 (maximum total cost NRs1 million);
(vi) construction of a new or rehabilitation/upgrading of an existing primary school; new construction: up to 3 classrooms, 32 m2 per classroom, indicative costs NRs10,000 per m2 (maximum total cost NRs960,000); and
(vii) construction of a new or rehabilitation/upgrading of an existing health subpost; maximum size 100 m2, indicative costs NRs10,000 per m2 (maximum total cost NRs1 million).

C. Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Subproject Selection Criteria

5. Participating DDCs will prioritize the demands from the village development committees.
The subprojects will be funded by the Project if they rank high according to the criteria. Willingness to share the costs of the water supply and sanitation subproject will be based on the Government’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Policy and Strategy. For poor communities in remote inaccessible areas, the minimum contribution will be reduced to 10% and 1% upfront cash is not mandatory. If the project districts overlap with community-based water supply and sanitation districts, the Project should select the subproject based on the existing priority list of the DDC.

6. Required eligibility criteria include
(i) water supply and sanitation scheme is included in the district plan;
(ii) demand for a water scheme originated from the community;
(iii) the community is willing to contribute as per the Government’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Policy and Strategies; community contribution is 20% (cash or in-kind) and 1% cash up-front;
(iv) the community accepts responsibility for operation and maintenance of the scheme after its completion;
(v) the DDCs and VDCs commit to maintain the scheme in case of natural calamities and required major rehabilitation; and
(vi) maximum 1,000 people per scheme (and subject to available and equitably distributed supplementary investment budget across all districts); indicative costs per person, new construction up to NRs5,000 per person and rehabilitation up to NRs3,000 (maximum NRs5 million); water supply may be complemented by investments in sanitary/health infrastructure such as private and public toilets, and improved cooking stoves, as long as the total budgetary outlays remain within the indicated limits.

7. Process of Prioritization:
Selected subproject must pass the screening criteria. After the screening process, the schemes demand is ranked as per the criteria for screening. Poverty, water supply coverage, and incidence of diarrhea and other waterborne diseases are major criteria for screening.

8. Village planning includes that the communities
(i) submit the demand form to the DDCs through the VDCs, and
(ii) are willing to share the costs of the water supply and sanitation subproject as per the Government’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Policy.

9. District planning involves the following:
(i) community demand must be included in the DDC plan,
(ii) the DDCs must prioritize all demands based on the social and poverty factors and hardship factors, and
(iii) criteria for subproject ranking will be defined and adopted for prioritizing the demand by community (though the VDCs) for implementation based on the priority.