Sukaman, a local of Chiti VDC-6 of Lamjung district, believes that the new constitution will help in the development of his village. He is happy thinking that the government will now help them repair their houses which are on the verge of collapse. He genuinely believes that the government will construct water taps in the village to rid them of water woes.
Like Sukaman, many people of the underprivileged Chepang community are happy about the promulgation of the new constitution. They expressed their happiness and celebrated the historical moment by singing songs in their own language when reporters from Republica daily reached their village.
In one of their songs, the Chepang people also gave suggestions to leaders of the country. The song roughly translates as, "Do not quarrel and fight with each other big leaders. If leaders of every political party unite to develop the country, development will also follow in our village."
Another local, Bijmaya Chepang said she had cast her vote in the last Constitution Assembly election hoping that peace and development will prevail in their village. "We may not have much understanding about the constitution and polities, but we are happy about it as we know that it will bring peace and development in the whole country," said Bijmaya. "We have plentiful to eat for six months and then we suffer from famine in the other six months. We hope the situation will change now that we have our constitution in the country."
Bijmaya and her neighbors are hopeful of receiving help for repairing their houses which have been damaged by the catastrophic earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on April 25. They also expressed their plights caused by the earthquake in a song. "The earthquake took away our house where we have been sheltering," translates a line of the song.
The quake caused damage to eleven households in the Chepang village, including those belonging to Bijmaya, Kopila, Tilak, Sanu Maya, Bal Bahadur among others. Although most of their houses are not in proper condition, they said they have been living in the same houses as there are no other alternatives for shelter.
"Various offices and organizations provided us with foods and clothes among other daily necessities. However, none have bothered to think about the damaged houses," said Amrita Chepang, district chairman of Chepang Union. She said that lives of Chepang people are very difficult and full of plights.
Likewise, Milan Chepang, 18, said many Chepangs in the village do not have their names listed in voters' list. "I request the authority to include everyone's name in the voting list. I would also like to request them to provide the Chepang youths a means to earnings," he requested.
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