National 9 (Spotlight Weekly)

“People In Achham Are Still Scared”

— KRISHNA PRASAD JAISI

After the devastating attacks by the Maoist insurgents in the far-western district of Achham on the night of February 16-killing nearly 150 security personnel, officials and civilians and burning down most of the government installations-- international aid agencies evacuated their workers and are providing them with counseling and other services in Kathmandu. But for people of Achham, the nightmare continues. President of Achham District Development Committee KRISHNA PRASAD JAISI is currently in the capital pleading for a `rehabilitation package— from the government and aid agencies. A popular local leader affiliated to the main opposition, UML, Jaisi spoke to BHAGIRATH YOGI Tuesday Morning about his mission. Excerpts:

How is the life in Achham now?

Most of the offices in Mangalsen (the district headquarter) have more or less started their operations (from their temporary offices). After the new CDO was sent (CDO Mohan Singh Khatri was killed in the attacks), offices have started their functions on the houses offered by local people. Essential goods including milk and vegetables are being transported to the district headquarter on mule back. Water supply and local hospital were not affected by the attacks. District Education Office is also functioning well. The situation is gradually returning to normalcy.

Are local people still scared or fell safe now?

In the beginning, people were suspicious because the Maoist cadres also don the uniforms similar to that of soldiers. On the day of the attacks, the security forces entered the district headquarter opening fire. As three laborers got killed in the firing, local people were very much scared. There have been reports of use of force by the security personnel during their search operations in the rural areas. At the same time, local people are alienated from the Maoists due to their activities including killing and torturing of innocent people and torching government buildings. The security forces seem to be trying to win over the public faith by improving their behavior. But people in general are still scared and finding it very hard to cope with the situation.

Have you assessed the extent of damage due to the Maoist attacks?

The government hasn—t formed a separate commission (to assess the damage). At the local level, a committee was formed under my chairmanship to study the damage comprising government officials. After initial inspection, we found that the damage to the government building (in Mangalsen and Sanfebagar) amounted to around Rs 40 million. Similarly, government properties worth over 20 million were destroyed in the attacks. Similarly, government property worth Rs 15 million was also destroyed during the attacks.

So, what type of help are you seeking from the central government?

The damage to development related offices are likely to have far-reaching impact. All the records at the District Survey Office have been destroyed. In order to boost up the morale of local people, offices like banks and telecommunications need to be operated immediately. We have estimated that it would cost up to Rs 20 million to install reliable telecom service in the district. We have identified immediate and long-term rehabilitation works to be done in the district. There is a very strong political consensus in the district level. We have demanded that the government immediately send Rs five million that it has allocated for the rehabilitation works. By mobilizing local people and through other political activities, we hope that we will be able to restore confidence of the people. We need strong support, not mere lip service, from the government now.

How did you find the response of the aid organizations?

During my interaction, I have felt that they are more worried than us. They have even offered cash assistance to start rehabilitation works. Organizations like UNDP, CARE and GTZ have offered us their full support in such an hour of crisis. We would like to express our gratitude toward them. Looking at their sympathy and support, we feel that we will be able to re-start our development works in shortest possible time.

What do you think would be the overall impact of the Maoist attacks?

A survey in 1997 showed that our district was at the bottom (75th position) in terms of human development. But due to our efforts, we improved our position over the last five years and now we have reached 68th position (out of 75 districts in the country). We have a long way to go. But our situation now looks exactly same to what we had some two decades back. If we don—t expedite our development programs, we may lag behind by more than 50 yearscompared to other districts.