Saman Singh Thekre, 23, of Khandeshwari-3 was found dead after going to bed on an empty stomach the night before, according to Kamalesh Manyal, a local. Manyal said Thekre had five mouths to feed including his parents, wife, brother and a daughter, and he had been going about the village to garner help. [break]
But the locals, who are themselves reeling under an acute food shortage, could not help him. He was under extra pressure as his wife was pregnant again. He had to take his wife to TEAM Hospital in Dadeldhura for a checkup but lacked the money. The family, dependent on pickings of yarchagumba, was facing difficulties after failing to collect much of the herb last year.
His wife needed treatment and the entire family had nothing to eat. "The whole family had reportedly gone hungry for the past few days," Manyal told myrepublica.com over the phone. Thekre had gone to Khandeshwari Bazar for food but returned empty-handed. And then he was found dead in bed.
Thekre´s wife, who gave birth to a daughter on Monday, has nothing to eat, and his father Bira and mother Bhagita remain unconscious since his death. The village, a three-day trek from district headquarters, is now mourning him.
The youths of Khandeshwari have formed a relief committee in each village to collect help for the Thekres. "We have managed to collect more than Rs 5,000 till now," Janak Singh Bohara, a local, said.
Bohara said the villagers are now taking food with them while visiting the Thekres at their house which stands alone, far from the village. "Due to the distance we never learnt for how long they were hungry," Bohara said over the phone.
An all-party meeting held after Thekre´s cremation Monday has decided to provide the family Rs 10,000 from Khandeshwari Village Development Committee (VDC).
No food supply
The food depot established by the government in Khandeshwari two decades ago has remained empty for the last two months, affecting people in Khandeshwari and Ghusa VDCs. Contractor Shankar Aitwal brought in rice the third week of February and sold it but he has not been seen in the villages since.
"Hundred quintals of rice was distributed then but it finished within a month," Kamalesh Manyal, a local businessman, said. The food depot had raised the price of rice to Rs 28 per kg from Rs 25.90 a month earlier, citing increased cost of transport. It was still much lower than the Rs 45-50 charged elsewhere in the village, but the locals could not afford it.
The government had closed the depot during the armed insurgency after the Maoists started to loot the food. The government reopened the depot at the end of the conflict but started to contract out the transport.
Contractors transport the food as per their convenience, causing shortages for the locals in times of need. Contractor Aitwal claimed that he would transport in food soon. "The food corporation has allotted 300 quintals. Transport has been delayed for lack of mules and porters," he explained.
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