Four youths from the Raute community, who arrived in Surkhet seeking help had to return empty handed. “We don´t have food. The villagers said they weren´t in a position to give us food. We don´t have money to buy food, either,” said Shivarj Shahi, 26.
The famine, however, has not only doomed the lives of Rautes living in Khambagade, Dailekh. The neighboring villages have been hit equally hard.
Another Raute, Prakash, said, “Villagers no longer barter food for the wooden utensils we make. How are we to feed our families?”
A month ago, each Raute received Rs 2,000 as a quarterly allowance from the government. But the money was spent within 15 days, according to the youths.
Last year, the then Finance Minister Baburam Bhattarai had promised to raise the allowance from Rs 500 a month to Rs 1000. “But we received only Rs 500 per month,” Shivaraj rued.
Recently, the government announced in the budget speech that the Rautes would receive Rs 1,000 per month. “We are hopeful that we will get the increased sum hereafter,” Shivaraj said.
Some 52 households of around 150 Rautes live in Khambagade of Dailekh. Even if they receive financial help, they will need to walk for a day to reach Dandamadi to buy rice. The only person, who helped them, was Local Development Officer Yagya Prasad Bhattarai, who offered them Rs 5,000. “Chief District Officer Rudra Prasad Poudel refused to offer us any financial help,” Shivaraj said.
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