February 12: The National Statistics Office (NSO) has stated that 20.27 per cent of people in Nepal still live below the poverty line.     
Releasing the Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) 2079-080 on Monday, the NSO said that the country's poverty rate could not decrease as expected due to the Gorkha Earthquake in 2015 and the COVID-19 pandemic.    
According to the NLSS report, the rate of poverty is intense in the rural areas compared to the cities, with the poverty rate in the cities remaining 18.34 per cent while it is 24.66 per cent in the rural areas.    
During the programme, National Planning Commission’s Vice-Chairman Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha argued that the country's progress in poverty alleviation has faded due to the coronavirus pandemic, natural disasters and other reasons.    
As per the survey, four provinces have more poverty rate against the national record of the poverty rate. Sudurpaschim Province has the highest rate of poverty with 34.16 per cent while Karnali Province has 26.69 per cent, followed by Lumbini Province at 24.35 per cent and Madhes Province at 22.53 per cent.    
Gandaki has the least poverty rate with 11.88 per cent followed by 12.59 per cent in Bagmati and 17.19 per cent in Koshi Province. -- RSS