Kathmandu, November 17:

Regional Strategies for Sustainable Development in Nepal — a book authored by Dr Jibgar Joshi, an academician with wide experience in regional development — peeps into sustainability of sectoral plans, regional development and disparity.

The 156-page book that has ten chapters also deals with regional imbalance, migration, urbanisation trend, integration of urban and rural areas, national goal, sustainable development, development priority, and social transformation, The author has put his hard labour in collecting the datas which will be more helpful for any researcher.

He claims that economic growth alone is not enough. “Balanced development is what we should concentrate at present,” the author writes. Development benefits should reach the masses — both rural and urban — in order to ensure social justice. Present social and regional conflict is the outcome of the disparity in our development efforts. “Nepal has failed to distribute its benefits of development,” Dr Joshi writes. Regional disparity is growing in Nepal that could flare yet another conflict.

The book is also a testimony of our failed national and regional planning, emphasises on decentralisation for sustainable development and asks for a review on programmes and policies.

Regional Strategies for Sustainable Development in Nepal also takes a closer look into urbanisation, regional development and strategic planning in Nepal. It suggests that establishing a link between urban and rural economies is equally important to equitable development and big urban centres should be made generative with strong rural-urban linkage.