Bajura folks face acute rice shortage

Bajura folks face acute rice shortage

ARJUN SHAH

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BAJURA, JUL 22 -

People in 17 VDCs in the district are facing an acute shortage of food after the stock of subsidised rice at the Nepal Food Corporation deport in Kolti was all finished around two months ago.

The food shortage has hit hard locals in Pandusain, Kolti, Kotila, Wai, Bandhu, Rugin, Bichhya, Sappta, Gotri, Jagannath, Jukot, Dahakot, Manakot, Kanda, Jayabageshwori, Dogadi and Gudukhati VDCs in the district.

According to the Food Security Network, which recently inspected the rice deficit areas, 75 percent of families of the VDCs do not have rice at their homes.

People in the VDCs face food shortage every year as their produce hardly lasts three months. “We depend on subsidised rice for around nine months every year,” said Ran BK of Kolti.

Dhirendra Nepali of Kotila returned empty-handed after officials at the Kolti-based depot said they do not have rice in stock. “We have no any foodstuff at home,” he said.

On Wednesday, local people had staged demonstrations in Kolti Bazaar, demanding that the subsidised be supplied to the district at the earliest.

District leaders of the CPN-UML have also submitted a memorandum to Interim Election Government Chairman Khil Raj Regmi through Chief District Officer Dhrubaraj Joshi on Friday, demanding that the problem of food shortage be addressed soon. In response, Joshi said the NFC has assured that it will supply 200 quintals of rice though the Kolti-based depot has demanded for 2,000 quintals.

The District Agriculture Development Office said the district requires 24,000 metric tonnes of rice every year. However, Ganeshraj Padhya, a representative of the Food Security Network, said only 20,000 metric tonnes of rice is supplied in the district annually.