Arjun Shah

Facing an acute food shortage in their villages, people of Bichhya and Rugin VDCs have started venturing to India in hordes in search of jobs.

The two VDCs make the most food-deficit area in the district. According to the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), produces at Bichhya hardly last two months. Moreover, suspension of the distribution of rice among the locals under a food-for-work programme launched by the Support Activities for Poor Producers of Nepal (SAPPROS Nepal) with help from the World Food Programme for the past six months has made the matter worse.

The SAPPROS Nepal said it had suspended the programme due to security concern for its employees.

“People, devoid of any means of sustenance, are leaving for India in search of jobs,” assistant accountant of Bichhya VDC Jaya Bahadur Bohara said.

Dhanrup Sunar of Yuna said that five members of his family had gone to India without any food remaining at home. He said most locals had left the village in search of employment opportunities.Local people said they found it easier to make a living previously as the SAPPROS Nepal was distributing rice. Bohara said local people used to buy food with the income from the sale of medicinal herbs. He, however, said they had no way out as they could not find medicinal herbs this year. He said locals do not have money enough to purchase subsidised rice at the Kolti depot of the Nepal Food Corporation, which is a two-day walk from the villages.

According to the DADO, Bichhya, spread over 43,766 hectares and housing 541 families, is the biggest VDC in the district but has just 100 hectares of arable land, of which only 16 hectares is irrigated.

Published on: 9 December 2012 |The Kathmandu Post