But five months on, the promised food has yet to be distributed although food was transported to the district before Dashain. The government had sent 1,660 quintals of rice, and lentil and salt 166 quintals each to the district. The food remains stuck in the warehouse of the Nepal Food Corporation at the district headquarters. Toilet construction has not even started.
Head of the corporation Prem Kumar Thakur blamed the delay on the lack of records of diarrhea patients. "The government should set guidelines as to which records we have to follow while distributing food. How can we distribute without any data?" Thakur argued.
The government has sent food for 16,600 persons but government authorities have submitted a report to the district administration putting the number of patients at around 40,000, according to Thakur.
Likewise, Kamal Thapa reports from Rukum that 950 quintals of rice and 95 quintals each of lentils and salt have remain undistributed as the district administration has yet to receive complete record of diarrhea patients.
The government has also been found wanting in its commitment of making toilets. Prime Minister Nepal had vowed to make around 5,000 in the diarrhea-affected districts as health officials had blamed the epidemic on open defecation. But the government has yet to make any plan of action towards this end. Even the local administrations have not given any priority to the toilet issue.
Nepal Water for Health, and Hilly Region Development Campaign have published damning reports saying even community schools, health posts and VDC offices that are supposed to raise awareness about sanitation are themselves without toilets. The report says 42 of the surveyed 105 schools did not have toilets.
"How can we be convinced that the government that cannot make toilets mandatory at schools and health posts will construct 5,000 toilets," Bharat Bhatta of Nepal Water for Health questioned.
There are also doubts about the distribution of compensation amount. A few clever persons have received the amount by producing forged documents. Records at the district administration office show families of all the dead have been given Rs 10,000 each, and Rs 15,000 each if the dead is head of the family.
It says two persons have received compensation from Sima VDC in the western part of the district though local health reports say no diarrhea-related casualty had been reported in the VDC. Locals say many have received compensation by making false documents through VDC secretary with the backing of political parties.
14,000 to ferry one quintal rice
District Food Management Committee, Jajarkot has decided to airlift rice to Jurkepani village in Daha VDC. Cost for airlifting the food has been fixed at Rs 14,000 per quintal. But locals say mules transport food at much cheaper rates -- Rs 2,500 per quintal. A Shree Air helicopter has already dropped 29 quintals of rice as per the decision.
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