President Bidya Devi Bhandari has handed over the key to the Santapur integrated model Dalit settlement to Satya Narayan Majhi, the Model Settlement Construction Committee president, at a function here today.
The settlement has been constructed by the Dhurmus Suntali Foundation at Santapur, Chandrapur municipality Ward No 8.
Addressing the settlement handover ceremony, President Bhandari praised the artists duo Sitaram Kattel (Dhurmus) and Kunjana Ghimire (Suntali) of carrying out outstanding work on community development.
"Dhurmus-Suntali have done the work which is normally done by the State. This is indeed an incomparable work," the Head-of-the-State said. She stressed that the government should make the optimum use of the means and resources available at its disposal given the great potentials the province has for development.
Executive Director of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) Yubaraj Bhusal said the work of the Dhurmus-Suntali Foundation was exemplary for the development of a prosperous Nepal.
Senior comedy artists Madan Krishna Shrestha and Haribansha Acharya also openly praised the integrated model settlement.
Foundation chair Sitaram Kattel (Dhurmus) said that the integrated settlement was a result of the contribution made by all the helping hands.
Forty-seven houses have been constructed at the settlement at the initiatives of Kattel and Ghimire. These houses would be handed over to the underprivileged families from the Dalit community who are affected by floods.
The foundation stone for the settlement was laid on September 20, 2017. Besides the 47 residential houses, the settlement has a community building, a temple, a club block and a view tower.
Massive flooding last August inundated the Dalits' houses at Santapur. The integrated settlement is constructed at a cost of approximately Rs 52.4 million. Kattel himself used to be present at the construction site and oversaw the construction of the integrated settlement.
According to him, the integrated settlement is disabled-friendly, child-friendly and environment-friendly. This is the fourth such project of the Dhurmus-Suntali Foundation.
