“We have not had rice for the last three months. I had borrowed Rs 500 from a neighbor after my children started complaining. But, the office says it has run out of stock,” said Hansa Bahadur Bista of Dotala VDC-2 in remote part of the district. [break]
“There is little arable land in our village. Hence, we have no option other than to take a two-day walk to visit the district headquarters to purchase subsidized rice. We cannot afford the rice available in the market as they are very expensive,” he added.
Kalak Damai, of Hemantawada-4, who reached the NFC office to purchase rice for his son´s wedding, was sad to return home empty-handed.
NFC had received 1,868 quintals of rice in the fiscal year 2010/11. According to Bajhang NFC chief Dil Bahadur Thapa, the office did not receive fresh supplies in the fiscal year 2011/2012. This resulted in acute food shortage in the district.
“Poor people have been visiting our office for subsidized rice everyday. But we have run out of stock two months ago. We have demanded 100 quintals of rice from our zonal office. But, we are yet to receive fresh supplies,” said Thapa. “We are not even in a position to supply rice to prisoners,” he added.
Locals accused NFC officials of selling the subsidized rice to local businessmen for hefty commissions. While subsidized rice costs Rs 29 per kilo, rice costs Rs 35 in the local market.
Related story
Locals face food crisis as rice rots at NFC godown
