"What is this?" the Raute leader asked. "Money," replied Pun. "How much?" Bhadra Bahadur wanted to know. "One thousand," answered Pun. "Then you keep it yourself. No less than Rs 50,000 will do for the Raute people," he shouted, putting Pun in a difficult situation."Please take this for now. Our chief will come in a week and then you will get more," Pun told Bhadra Bahadur.
It took some time for Bhadra Bahadur to understand the matter. After he came to know that he was asked to come again, he straight away refused to do so stating that he did not have money to stay in the town for so many days.
Pun has been taking care of the office since the chief and other higher officials recently got transferred.
"In the absence of the officials, I am finding it hard to deal with such issues. We don't know when the new chief will be appointed here," said Pun, adding that dealing with Raute is even harder.
After long discussion with the office staff, Pun finally decided to send Bhadra Bahadur to District Administration Office, Doti. However, Bhadra Bahadur was reluctant to move until he would be dropped. Pun had to send the duo in a vehicle. As Chief District Officer Yagya Raj Bohora was attending a meeting somewhere else, he was informed about the Rautes' visit over telephone. Bohora ordered to send Bhadra Bahadur to the District Development Committee.
Then, it was the turn of Local Development Officer of the district, Basudev Regmi, to deal with Bhadra Bahadur. He directed the concerned desk officer to hand over Rs 5,000 to the seeker. But Bhadra Bahadur denied taking the money.
"I won't go unless given 50,000. Less than that cannot suffice the people," he reiterated.
Regmi tried to convince him a lot, however, the Raute chief was not backing off. Finally, Regmi asked him to get a written application and revisit the office after some time.
Raute, a nomadic community of the Far Western Region, used to be around Dailekh district until some time ago. Later, they were seen basically in Chalsa VDC of Aachham distgrict. The population of Rautes, according to Bhadra Bahadur, is just around 250. Rautes' existence is under threat due to the loss of their habitat, jungle, and the growing influence of the modern society. With no proper source of income or livelihood, Rautes find life very challenging.
Bhadra Bahadur is used to frequenting administration offices for financial support.
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