Jajarkot reeling under food shortage

Khambe Damai from Barekot Rural Municipality-2 in Jajarkot faced disappointment when he visited the Ghatbazaar food depot earlier this week only to find it closed. He returned empty-handed, wondering how he would provide food for his family.

“The subsidized rice provided by the government made our lives much easier. We cannot afford the high prices of rice in the local market,” he lamented. Prem Bahadur Bohora from Barekot-3 shares a similar story. “Festivals are approaching, but we have no rice. Many people like me are eagerly awaiting the arrival of rice shipments at the government depot.”

The depot has been closed for three months due to a shortage of rice stock. In the remote villages of Jajarkot, people are compelled to purchase rice from the local market at double the price charged at the government depot. The Ghatbazaar-based depot of the Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) has remained shut for three months. Bir Bahadur Giri, the Chairperson of Barekot Rural Municipality, revealed that the locals in Barekot are facing a severe food shortage. “Since the depot has been closed for three months, we have urgently requested the Chief District Officer to supply rice to the Ghatbazaar depot and the sales point at Kaule,” he added.

The food shortage is not limited to Barekot. Other local units of the district like Nalgad Municipality, Kuse Rural Municipality, Chedagad Municipality, and Junichande Rural Municipality are also seeing food shortages. Food depots and sales centers in these areas have exhausted their food stocks. With the exception of Surkhet and Salyan, all other districts in Karnali have also run out of stock. As new harvests are not yet ready, and food depots are depleted, local residents are struggling to get food. In the rural areas of Jajarkot, locals cannot access rice even if they are willing to pay for it. This crisis has arisen because the FMTC failed to initiate procurement and shipment processes on time. Even after starting the bidding process, the company has not yet selected a transport company for rice delivery to rural districts.

Ram Prasad Poudel, the chief of the Jajarkot district office of FMTC, mentioned that all four depots and sales centers in the district have run out of stock. “The process of selecting the company for rice supply is in its final stages, and preparations are underway to supply rice before the Dashain festival,”  he said. Jajarkot district headquarters currently has only 660 quintals of rice in stock.

According to FMTC, the depletion of rice stock in remote depots and sales centers is attributed to the increase in international market prices, India’s ban on rice imports, and delays in the tender process for procurement and transportation. In the remote areas of Karnali, people face food deficits as their agricultural output is insufficient to sustain them throughout the year. Consequently, the government has been providing subsidized rice in these areas through food supply and trading companies.

The Surkhet Office of FMTC has initiated the necessary steps to supply food grains to remote depots. They are sending 4,000 tons to Humla, which is not connected to the national road network, via Tibet. Madhav Mishra, the head of FMTC’s regional office in Surkhet, reported that 1100 quintals of rice were sent to Jumla, 770 quintals to Mugu, and 170 quintals to Kalikot. He stated that they have taken the necessary initiatives to transport rice to depots and sales centers in Jumla, Humla, Dolpa, Jajarkot, Mugu, Kalikot, Dailekh, Rukum West, and Bajura of Sudurpashchim Province before Dashain. “There won’t be a shortage of rice this festive season. We have already initiated the shipment process, and we have also begun procuring rice,” he added.