“I go to Jhapa for everything except for the administrative works. It takes just one hour to reach any town of Jhapa. It is far easier and shorter in distance than the headquarters,” she said adding that at least Rs 500 and a day have to be spared to reach out to the DAO, Ilam. If work is done in the DAO in a day, there’s not much hassle. Or else, more time and more budget needs to be spent at the headquarters, Magar said.
Several villages in western part of Ilamare are closer in distance to Jhapa. Just like Magar, locals of of Chulachuli, Irautar, Mahmai and Girma, among others, have compulsion to visit Ilam district headquarters for documentation and other important official work.
As the discussion on federal demarcation is rife in the country, locals of the villages are concerned whether their wish to get included in Jhapa will be fulfilled. However, they are aware that it’s not the public but the leaders who have upper hand in such matters.
“People have their aspirations. But, they doubt that the leaders will think about them,” commented Ujjwal Prasai, a journalist said. “In fact, leaders cannot be trusted. Or else, they could address this issue even earlier by extending the service centers. They didn’t do that. And even now, they are not talking about the marginalized groups,” he added.
Devendra Rijal, a local of Chulachuli village stated that in the matters like federal demarcation leaders should consult the locals instead of making such decisions on their own. “All of our needs are connected with Jhapa. But for every official work, we have to reach out to Ilam headquarters. For that either you should walk for hours or reach out to Birtamod first and then board bus from there,” he lamented.
“It would be convenient if we could have all official work completed in Jhapa instead of Ilam,” he added. The villages in Ilam which are close to Jhapa have easy transportation service to Jhapa, not with Ilam district headquarters. Population in thes e villages now looks forward that their demands be addressed during the upcoming federal demarcation.
“This matter has not even come under discussion. Has anyone been saying that the administrative center of the VDCs in western Ilam should be in Jhapa? No! No one is talking about it,” says Govind Rai, a teacher at Irautar. “It would be far easier for all the people in this area,” he added.
Rai said that it is serious concern for the population in the region as they have to spend a whole day even for a minor official work. “It is very economical in terms of expenditure and time, if we have to visit Jhapa for administrative works,” he asserted.
His village, Irautar, falls in the constituency of the CPN - UML leader Jhalanath Khanal. Locals claim that they had expected that Khanal would understand and resolve their problem. However, they now feel that he would not as he not shown up since the poling campaigns of second constituent assembly elections.
Along with that locals are not optimistic of such an act from other influential leaders of the region. “No one cares about our issues. Khanal hasn’t shown up since the election. How can he understand our problems?” commented Gita Magar. She further added that the political leaders only like to see public’s face during elections. In rest of their time, they are interested in nothing but power, she claimed.
Sagar Shivakoti, a student of sociology suggested that the new borderlines or federal demarcation should be on the basis of providing equal access to distribution of services and opportunities. “However, considering the ongoing political tensions, chances for locals of western Ilam to get such benefits are slim,” he noted. Shivakoti further stated that the issue of federal demarcation should be public centric.
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