Some 70 families of Nepal´s only nomads remain deprived of the allowance, including 164 members of 40 families living in Ampani village near Jogbuda bazaar. [break]
Rautes of the village complained that they were not made available of the allowance despite knocking the doors of the Village Development Committee (VDC) Office on a daily basis. In 1982, a commission formed by the government had resettled Rautes living in the district´s forests in Ampani and neighboring Rajyauta villages. There are 33 Raute families in Rajyauta village.
The Rautes here who were elated by the provision of special allowance announced by the Maoist-led government are a sad lot these days.
“We had heard that our allowance has been raised,” said Raute elder Chandra Singh Rawat. “But we haven´t received the old allowance. Getting raised allowance seems out of question.”
The Rautes here are also deprived of the social security allowance. Chandra Bahadur said Raute widows and elders are not getting social security allowance.
According to VDC records, there are 181 Rautes in Rajyauta and 173 in Ampani eligible for the special allowance.
In absence of allowance, the Rautes face threat to their very existence as they are already facing a tough livelihood struggle after community forests were handed over to the people thus barring them from chopping wood to make household utensils that they traditionally bartered for food.
The Rautes here are earning livelihood these days by doing menial work on daily wage.
Related story
Warm clothes, nutritious foods distributed to Rautes
_20230802105002.jpg)
_20200711120618.jpg)
