Dang District

Dang, a district of Rapti Zone, has the headquarters at Ghorahi. Politically, it is divided into 2 municipalities 39 VDCs and 13 Ilakas. The two municipalities are Tulsipur and Gorahi (headquarters). It covers an area of 2,955km² abutting Salyan, Rolpa and Pyuthan districts to the North; India to the South; Kapilvastu and Arghakhanchi to the East; and Surkhet and Banke to the West. Approximately 192, 955 square kilometer of land is covered by forest. The temperature ranges from 25 to 40 degree Celsius.
According to the Census Report (2001) the total population of the district is 462,380 comprising 233, 422 females and 228, 958 males. The average density of population is 156.47 square kilometers with 83.3 percent rural population. The majority of the people living in the district are Tharus. The system of Kamalary Pratha (indentured servitude) has been declared eradicated but the practice at grassroots level still persists due to abject poverty among Dalit and Janajati communities.
About 58% of the total population is literate with 47% women literacy. In total only 45.85% of the girls enroll in the school and the percentage of female teacher is just 16%. There are 339 primary, 61 lower secondary, 85 secondary, and 27 higher secondary schools in the district. The number of community based ECD centers are 507. There are 5 institutions providing tertiary level education. The district has achieved 86.32% NER and 118. 32% GER at Grade one. 8.93 % of the total primary level students leave their studies as dropouts and 15.76% repeat the same class.
Various I/NGOs are working in various sectors in Dang District. Save the children works in collaboration with Dalit NGO Coordination Committee (DNGOCC) for the implementation of RtF program. The partnership was started in 2002 and has covered10 VDCs. They are Halwar, Hapur, Narayanpur, Bijauri, Dharna, Dhikpur, Dhanauri, Sreegaun, Panchakule, and Purandhara. The program has made interventions to 87 schools including 58 primary schools.