Irregular flights cause distress

By a Post Reporter

JUMLA, Sept 23 - Many passengers are hit hard to reach their destinations in the western hilly districts for the coming Dashain following the irregularity of RNAC flights.

People are thronging to different airline offices in Nepalgunj and Surkhet airports to buy tickets. The flights of RNAC for Rukum, Chaurjahari, Humla, Dolpa, Bajura, Bajhang and Saphe Bagar are limited only to their schedule and they do not operate at the time mentioned in their schedule. Many passengers have been short of cash due to irregularity in flight.

According to RNAC, the flights from Nepalgunj to remote hilly districts declined by 75 percent this year as compared to those of the last year.

Due to the irregularity in RNAC flights, passengers have been forced to buy tickets from other airlines at a price three times more than in the RNAC( RNAC Nepalgunj-Jumla ticket costs Rs 750 while other airlines charge Rs 2150). On top of exorbitant ticket fare, they were not allowed to use 15 kilogram baggage facility by the other airlines, according to passengers.

RNAC has also not been able to provide additional flights in Jumla-Nepalgunj sector as it had promised.

Drug addiction taking alarming proportion

By a Post Reporter

BIRATNAGAR, Sept 23 - A 23-year-old youth Ram Basnet (name changed) from Jhumka bazaar of Sunsari district is now repenting for transmitting the contagious fatal disease HIV/AIDS to many of his friends   unknowingly.

Basnet came to know that he is infected with the deadly disease only two months back when he got his blood tested at a Biratnagar- based NGO--Creative Community Development Organisation.

Basent concedes that many of his drug-addict friends may have also contacted with HIV positive as they shared untreated needles together.

At a training programme organised here Friday by Reduce the Demand of Drug Supply Campaign under the Ministry of Home to the eastern region's health workers, Chairperson of Help, an NGO working for the rehabilitation of drug-addicts, Bishnu Sharma said that 40 percent of the total 12,000 drug-addicts are contacted with HIV/AIDS.

According to a latest survey conducted by Help, more than 200 youths between 14-30 years of age group regularly throng to the Nepal-India border town of Jogbani for drugs.

Chairperson Sharma said 20 new drug users are recorded everyday from the eastern region of the country.

Doctor Choplal Bhusal, Director of Reduce the Drug Demand Campaign, revealed that there are 60 thousand drug-addicts across the country. Doctor Bhusal said only three percent of the total drug-addicts are brought back to normal life.

"Only way to bring them back to normal life from addiction is to reduce the supply of their demand," Doctor Bhusal said, adding there is a problem of identification of drug users, their treatment method and lack of immunity education from such addiction.

It has already been ten years the United Nations focused on the rehabilitation of drug-addicts. A UN report states that more than 200 million people have become the victims of drug-addiction all over the world.

Maoists ban 3 VDC chiefs from leaving village

By a Post Reporter

MUSIKOT (Rukum), Sept 23 - The CPN (Maoist) has banned three VDC chairmen elected from CPN (UML) from leaving their VDC area.

According to District Development Committee President Khem Man Khadka, the three VDC chairmen are Devi Lal Khadka (Pokhara), Kami Pun (Kakri) and Bane Kami (Maikot). They have not been allowed to leave their village for the last three months.

Of the three VDC chairmen, the Maoist workers had demanded 150 thousand rupees from Kami Pun (Kakri). It is reported that he has already paid some of the amount. All the development activities have come to a standstill in the three VDCs after the chairmen were restricted from leaving their VDC area.

The Maoist workers have prohibited the VDC chairmen from carrying out any of their normal business. The entire activities of the three VDCs are being carried out by the DDC President for the last three months.

30 suffering from kala-azar

By a Post Reporter

DHARAN, Sept 23 - A 3-member team of B. P. Koirala Health Science Academy, which visited the kala-azar affected Dulari VDC in Morang district for conducting a study and treatment of the patients found that 30 people of the VDC were still suffering from kala-azar disease.

It was said that 20 people had died of kala-azar at Thadiya Chaudhari Tole in this VDC. However, this report has not been confirmed. 

Morang District Public Health Office had taken blood of 20 patients of the locality for examination two months ago, but the disease was found in the blood of only two of them, according to Chairman of the VDC Nand Lal Chaudhari.

Only 7 of the 30 patients found suffering from kala-azar by doctors were admitted to B. P. Koirala Health Science Academy, Superintendent of the Community Health Department Umesh Lal Karna told The Kathmandu Post.

According to a press release issued by the academy, the team was sent at the request of Morang District Public Health Office. The academy and the public health office had agreed that the public health office would bring the patients to the academy for treatment and the academy would provide treatment for seven days at its own cost including free bed and food. The patients would then be taken back to their village where the sub-health post would make sure that the patients take necessary medicines regularly in accordance with the prescription. The medicines were to be provided by the government free of cost.

The main reasons as to why the disease had not come under control is that patients are extremely poor and they did not come to the hospital for treatment. Moreover, the local medical shops were charging higher prices for the medicines and medicine was not available at the sub-health post. On top of this, patients who were taking medicines also did not complete the full course of the medicine.

The team of the academy examined the suspected patients at ward No 9 of Dulari VDC for a week until Wednesday. The public health office, sub-health post office and VDC office people were also involved in health examination of the suspected patients.

Badhahis dwell in miserable plight

 By a Post Reporter

RAUTAHAT, Sept 23 - People belonging to the nomadic community of Badhahi (Kapadi) are living in a miserable plight these days.

They earn their livelihood by buying rags and old cloths, cutting them into small pieces and selling them. These small pieces of cloths are sold to motor garages.

These are the most backward people among the Hindus. They stay two months at home and spend the rest of the year by roaming from village to village.

"We have been pursuing this occupation since the time of our forefathers and we don't have even a small piece of land in our names. We spend all our life by collecting the rags", Pratap Badhahi said.

He said they earn 30 to 40 rupees a day and buy two square meals a day with this money. They cannot meet their other demands from their meagre earnings.

The males go out to collect the rags in the day while the females tear into small pieces the old cloths brought by male members of the community.

Ushera Badhahi, wife of Pratap Badhahi said, " Sometimes our hands are hurt in course of tearing  cloths all day long and this hampers our work and income if we don't take the treatment in time. We may have to remain hungry during such period when we have no work and income."

The Badhahis are habituated to roam from village to village. They feel happy to move from village to village in a group, Hari Shankar Badhahi said. He informed that they were called Kapadi because of their involvementin collecting  kapada (cloth).

There are about 13 families of the Kapadi community in Rautahat district alone. Since their community is being eliminated fast, they find it difficult to marry off their daughters for want of marriageable boys in their community. Their community people are found in Gorakhpur, India and they marry off their daughters to people of the same community in Gorakhpur.

"Though we are Nepalis, we are forced to find son-in-laws from India. We fear that our lineage will come to an end after 10 to 15 years," Pratap Badhahi said.

A few of these people have small houses in Dharampur

VDC of Rautahat district. They leave their homes in the month of Poush and return home in the month of Kartik.

Chief District Officer Anand Raj Pokhrel said members of this community may give up their nomadic life if arrangement could be made for their income, permanent resettlement and employment.

These people who have no idea as to where their ancestors came from, camp in the open space near the forest due to the lack of open space and sometimes they are chased out by  forest guards.

Each of them has four to seven children. The Badhahi people have not participated in any of the general or local elections after the restoration of democracy. "Only rich people are concerned with election and government. Why do we people who are begging old clothes need government?" Pratap Badhahi said.