After the Local Development Ministry provided a subsistence allowance only to former Maoist combatants, people in the district who were disabled in the conflict complained about unfair treatment over this issue.
They opined that the former Maoist rebels got their allowance only due to their influence in the government. Over a dozen individuals in the district were disabled in the course of the decade-long Maoist insurgency. [break]
Badri Nepal, who lost his right hand and the right side of his face when a public bus was ambushed by the Maoists at Halhale along the Lamosaghu-Jiri road in November 2002, expressed unhappiness over unfair treatment.
“What was our fault? I was almost killed for no reason in their war,” said Nepal. He blasted the government for failing to address the problem of people like himself while providing relief allowances even for Maoist rebels who had only lost a finger.
The Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction has been providing a regular monthly subsistence allowance of Rs 6,200 each for 11 former Maoist combatants, according to the local peace committee (LPC).
Krishna Ghising, who lost his legs in the Halhale blast, also lamented unequal treatment by the government in providing relief. “Allowance is being distributed on the basis of political affiliation and influence. They tried to kill us by bombing a civilian bus. What is the intention of the government in treating us unequally,” asked Ghising.
However, the LPC has said that it did not recommend the names of the 11 Maoist combatants for allowance. “None of these names were recommended from here. They were recommended from the Maoist cantonment itself three years earlier,” said Mohan KC, secretary of the LPC. He further informed that the LPC had already forwarded a list to the government, including the names of Nepal and Ghising, for allowance. “We are yet to receive the budget for it,” he added.
The LPC has already provided relief amounts to 167 families of conflict dead. The families of 45 army and police personnel who died in the conflict had received Rs 100,000 each while 122 families of civilians received Rs 200,000 each.
Similarly 73 people who were maimed in the conflict, including civilians and police and army personnel, have been provided relief amounts so far. However, the government is yet to earmark the budget for 19 people maimed in the conflict and recommended for compensation last year, according to KC.
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