Karnali: Learning the ropes of federalism
Surkhet: Every April, Kamal Budha of Jumla Patarasi goes to Patan to collect Yarshagumba, an activity that involves considerable risks but that helps Kamal manage his households and study costs. Just by collecting Yarshagumba, a Himalayan herb also known as Sanjeevani Booti because of its (real or perceived) medicinal value, Kamal, who studies in Surkhet, earns around Rs 100,000 in two months. “One piece fetches as much as Rs 1,000 and all that I collect get sold. Since this is our source of income, I go to collect it every year with my family.” Not just Kamal, but most people from Karnali go to Patan from April to June every year and collect herbs worth millions of rupees. Karnali has Yarshagumba worth billions but no processing center. In fact, the entire country doesn’t have such a center.
And so hundreds of precious herbs like Yarshagumba are sent abroad for extremely low prices. Yarshagumba, Jatamasi, Chiraito, Satuwa and red mushroom get collected in Karnali. Other districts in the province also produce herbs like Timur, Tejpat, Kaulo, Chiuri and Rittha worth millions of rupees. But because there are no processing facilities, these herbs get exported in their raw forms for a pittance.
In the first week of July last year, local representatives of Province 6 got together in Birendranagar for a two-day discussion on provincial prosperity, and issued a declaration, which read, “Herbs are the backbone of this province’s economy. For the prosperity of the entire province, we are committed to give top priority to herbs.” The elected representatives made a commitment to invest in the production, processing and commercialization of herbs.
Around 7,500 types of herbs are found in the province. As their annual business is worth billions of rupees, they have the capacity to dramatically transform the economy of not just the province but the entire country. Dhan Bahadur Rawat, President of Surkhet Chamber of Commerce and Industry, claims that if the herbs can be processed locally, Karnali will the most prosperous province in the country.
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Last living nomads attracted to modernity
The Raute community, a nomadic group that depends on hunting and gathering for survival and that still primarily resides in the forest, is slowly being drawn to modernity. After a decade-long effort from the government and various NGOs, the Rautes are slowly finding alternate ways to earn their livelihood. The nomadic community, which until recently used to preach that touching money is sinful, is now asking for monetary support from people they come in contact with. They even request the people to phone government officials to inquire about the social security allowance that they have been promised.
The local and provincial level governments have introduced programs to encourage Rautes to settle down. Raute chieftain Surya Narayan Shahi grieves, “We do not find enough food in the jungle, and on top of that, people no longer buy the wood utensils that we make. We have started living like others despite the problems we face with food and shelter. For the time being, we will not settle down in one place permanently, but slowly we hope to be able to eat and dress like others.”
As many as 145 Rautes are staying at Rate Khola in Surkhet’s Lekbeshi municipality-1. Identity cards have been issued to them recognizing them as permanent residents of Dailekh’s Guransh rural municipality. The rural municipality also gives each person in the Raute community Rs 2,000 a month in social security allowance, and the identity card helps them to get their allowance wherever they go.
The rural municipality gives each Raute Rs 2,000 a month in social security allowance
Communal meal
The Ministry of Social Development arranged a communal meal on Jan 5 in an effort to make the Rautes more engaged in society. Food brought in from Birendranagar was also distributed to the Rautes living in Rate Khola.
Singing and dancing programs were held as part of the program. Anita Gyawali, an officer at the ministry, says this was done to make the Rautes familiar with other cultures and to help them socialize better. Clothes, food and children’s toys were distributed to the Rautes by the provincial government.
Maan Bahadur BK, a secretary at the ministry, says the Karnali Province government has a project aimed at getting the Rautes to settle permanently, while providing them social security and preserving their culture. “It’s important to inform Rautes about the disadvantages of living in the forest. But as we have to make efforts to preserve their culture, it will take a while to get them to settle permanently,” says BK.
Rautes lead a nomadic life and roam around forests in the districts of Dang, Surkhet, Salyan and Dailekh in Province 5 and the district of Achham in Province 7. Hira Singh Thapa, Chairperson of Social Service Center Dailekh, says that two teachers and a health worker have been assigned with caring for the Rautes. He adds that the plan is to make them permanent settlers within the next two years.
Malnourished children
A health camp was also conducted on the same day by a team of doctors from the Surkhet Provincial Hospital. Medical Officer Dr Lokendra Thapa reported that more than 80 percent of the Raute children are malnourished. “Lack of nutritious food has led to this problem. Adults seem to be suffering from various infections as well. It’s important to teach them healthy eating habits. They also need to be informed about the importance of taking medicine when they’re ill,” he says.
China interested in airport at Rara
Chinese investors have shown an active interest in physical infrastructure development of Karnali province, including in a high-altitude airport at Rara region, near the famous eponymous lake. The investors say their interest was piqued after witnessing Karnali’s rich national resources and its investor-friendly climate.
Chinese investors have been touring various places in Karnali at the invitation of the provincial government. According to Province Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, following their survey, the investors have shown a keen interest on big-ticket infrastructure projects.
Minister Shahi, who is preparing to go on an official trip to China, says he wanted to prepare the Chinese about what they could expect in his province. He says the Chinese are ready to invest in what is still “a virgin land in terms of development”, and as per the needs of the province. On Sept 16, representatives of China’s North-West Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group, as well as some other potential investors, had toured various places in the province.
The company, which is owned by the Chinese government, has shown an interest in building a big airport in Karnali, possibly at Rara. North-West is the company that is also involved in the upgrade of Bhairahawa airport to make it suitable for international flights.
Chief Minister Shahi informs that North-West representatives were studying the feasibility for a high-altitude airport at Mugu district’s Rara. As Karnali needs foreign investment to develop its tourist, electricity, road and airport infrastructures, the Chinese were invited for the same purpose. “The Chinese are ready to invest in priority areas we select,” he says. “We will now coordinate with the central government to arrange for foreign investment.”
He said efforts are underway to invite more potential investors from abroad. Besides Rara, the Chinese team has already surveyed Madanechaur and Birendranagar, both in Surkhet, as possible airport sites.
Likewise, as the province plans to build big hotels, resorts and airport at Rara, with the larger goal of developing Karnali as a tourism hub, investments in these areas have been sought.
Moreover, as the province is still unconnected to the national power grid, it has also requested investment to make Karnali self-sufficient in electricity. “We see local electricity generation as a prerequisite for Karnali’s industrial development,” Shahi says.
Potential investors have already surveyed several hydropower sites in the province. If the provincial government can come up with a viable plan, the investors have assured Shahi that they will provide ample support.
‘Kalapahad’ still beckons
The India-bound men of Karnali at the Jamunah border of Banke district | Photo by Govinda Prasad Devkota
When what they cultivated proved too little to feed his family even for three months a year, the 12-year-old Harilal Kami decided to leave his village in Jumla district for Kalapahad (‘Black Mountain’) in search of work. Kalapahad is an informal local term for India, historically used to hint of the despair attached to having to leave your country, via an arduous route through the ‘black mountains’. That was nearly 60 years ago. Kami is now 71, back in Nepal, and finally seeking citizenship papers. “I wanted to be a certified Nepali citizen before I died,” says Kami.
Likewise, it has been three decades since Laxmi Prasad Devkota, 60, of Kartikswami municipality in Jumla started going to India in search of work. “Who would have given a good job to an uneducated person like me?” he asks. “To go to Gulf countries, I didn’t know their language. Nor did I have the money for it. I then decided to go to India.”
India is the chief source of jobs for men (and, increasingly, women) from the Karnali zone, a region comprised of five big but sparsely-populated mid-western districts of Dolpa, Humla, Jumla, Kalikot and Mugu. (The zone now falls in Province 6 of the new federal setup.)
In recent times, the people of Karnali have also started going to other countries for jobs, but India remains the prime destination for these mostly uneducated workers. The soil of Karnali is not fertile; the region cannot even grow enough to feed itself.
Often, with little to eat at home, whole families migrate to India. The region now has reliable road networks, which has helped with their daily lives. But Karnali’s imports still far outstrips exports, decimating the local economy and leading to more and more out-migration.
Among those headed to India, again, are 44-year-old Rajkali Damai and her 49-year-old husband Prem Damai of Tatopani rural municipality. Both had first left for India with their parents when they were very young. The two got married in India and had three children there. They were happily settled.
But they were forced to return to Nepal after they started getting into trouble with the Indian authorities over their lack of any identifying documents. “We came to Nepal after four days of travel just to get our citizenship,” says Prem Damai, “If there were employment opportunities at home, we would not have had to go to India to start with.”
According to the 2011 national census, the population of Karnali is 388,000. It should not be difficult to find gainful employment to such a small population.
In fact, every year, the central government spends Rs 70 million specifically to create jobs in Karnali. But the money sent with the express purpose of giving all the youths of Karnali at least 100 days of employment a year is invariably pocketed by powerful political leaders and contractors, locals complain.
“Even to build local roads, the contractors hire dozers. They don’t need manual laborers like me,” says Devkota of Jumla.
Nor are NGOs, whose hoarding boards adorn every other household in Karnali, doing much. The irony is not lost on the locals that most of these NGOs have ‘creating local jobs’ as their main goal.
So few able-bodied men and women remain in Karnali that, often, should someone fall sick there is no one to take them to hospital, and should that person die, nor are there enough folks to carry the dead body to cremation-site.
