Two ‘new’ ethnic groups register themselves in census

Members of two groups living in Gorkha have registered themselves as separate ethnic communities for the first time in the ongoing 12th national census.

Members of the Chumba and Nubri ethic groups, who live in Chum and Nubri valleys of Gorkha use ‘Lama’ as their surname, were listed as members of the Tamang community during the previous census. This time they have enlisted themselves as Chum and Nubri people and the same as their language.

This came after local youth groups campaigned to raise awareness about the issue, said Wanchuk Rapten from Kimolung Foundation. “We organized door-to-door campaigns to ensure that the Chum and Nubri people enlist themselves in the correct way,” he added. “We also used social media and telephone to make the people aware.” He hoped that the latest census will establish their identity as being separate from the Tamang people.

The local residents feel at ease as most of the enumerators enrolled for the census are from the two communities, said Pema Gyalbo Lama, a resident of Nubri. “We understood that people from other regions won’t understand our feelings. That is why members of the same community have been mobilized as enumerators,” he said. “Even if some of the illiterate people find it hard to give their details, the enumerators will assist them to do so,” he added.

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“The Central Bureau of Statistics hasn’t assigned any particular codes to facilitate the listing of the two communities as separate ethnic groups,” he added. “The district office has told us that they will look into the matter,” he added.

“They are a separate ethnic group. But due to a mistake, they were counted as Tamangs,” said Mahendra Prasad Dhungana, head of the district census committee. “Even if we haven’t assigned separate codes for the two groups, the census office will do the needful,” he added.

Meanwhile, Gurung and Ghale communities of Dharche have listed ‘Bon’ as their religion. In the past, they were listed as followers of Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. “We are Bon people and we want to ensure that we are counted that way,” said campaigner Tek Bahadur Gurung.

The national census, which is held every 10 years, is being conducted from November 11 to 25. As many as 40,000 enumerators and 8,016 superintendents have been assigned for the job.

The Central Bureau of Statistics has built mechanisms from the federal level down to the ward level to conduct the census this year. District census offices have been set up in all 77 districts, with an additional 10 offices in the most populated districts. Similarly, 349 local level census offices have been established at the local level.