"People of other communities nearby enjoy communities enjoy tasty wheat rice but we are still forced to gulp down corn rice with water," he said while pointing out to the day to day life conditions of Chepang people.
This Chepangs had shifted from Lothar of Makawanpur to Barbot Faat about seven generations ago and since than every one of them considers corn rice as a staple food. Around nine Chhepang families reside in Barbot Faat and two families reside in Bhirkuna of Hiletaksar, Lamjung district respectively.
Commenting on the situation, Sukuman Chhepang, 63 asserts that livelihood of the backward communities, like that of the Chepang, has been based on menial labor work, farming and animal husbandry.
"We do not have our own land to cultivate crops. Working on tenants land limits our earnings to a very small percentage. We have been surviving in the temporary shelters that fend us from natural calamities by roofs made of corrugated sheets."
Chepangs celebrate Nwagi
Chepang community members sharing their grievances at their settlement in Barbot Faat, Lamjung.
It is not that they always had corrugated sheets. The Madhya Marshyangdi Hydro-Power project had constructed temporary settlements for these people. But these temporary houses were not strong enough to sustain the earthquakes that Nepal witnessed some months back.
Sukuman Chepang, a member of the community informed that the rate of education is very low in the community. So far there is only one SLC graduate in the community so far. "The young kids here seem least interested in studies. Instead, they keep themselves busy in house-hold chores and other recreational activities," Chepang said elaborating on one of the factor behind lower education literacy rates in the community.
Lack of education is one of the biggest hurdles in enabling the Chepang community members to get better jobs that could eventually foster the community's economic and cultural growth. While some of the community groups across the nation are fighting for the identity, Govind Raj Panta a member of the local community expresses amazement with the Chepang commuity's isolation from the national politics.
While elaborating their habits, Panta said the Chepangs were still ignorant of many basic issues related to population control, and about personal and communal cleanliness and hygiene.
Members of this community still prefer to have up to seven children and defecating openly rather than using toilets and latrines. This community is detached from national transportation. Their settlement is near to the ungraveled road that leads to Prabanna Chowk.
The community has been on the run since their earlier settlement was swept awayby flooeds. Kopila Chepang, a local said," We have not been able to rehabilitate ourselves since we came here after the flood washed away our habitat two years ago. Among our other problems, drinking water supply shortage is one of the biggest we are facing nowadays."
Amrita Chepang a community leader claimed that the Chepang community remained marginalized and devoid of its fundamental rights. She called on concerned authorities to focus on their concerns and demands for a better life.
