The government in Nepal has announced a special economic programme to improve the living conditions of the country's twenty-five least developed districts.

Half of the areas selected are among those worst affected by Maoist violence.

The vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission Prithvi Raj Ligal said the projects -- which are aimed at increasing agricultural and industrial production -- will help in drawing the villagers away from the Maoist insurgency.

A BBC correspondent in Kathmandu says Maoist rebels are reported to draw support from the poor and unemployed youths in the villages.

More than two-hundred-and-fifty people have been killed since Maoist rebels started a violent campaign two years ago to replace Nepal's multi-party democracy with a communist republic.