None of the contractors has transported their full quota of rice to any district in Karnali so far. With the rainy season -- when supply by road is almost impossible -- just around the corner, another food crisis looms.[break]
In Jumla district, only one fourth of the rice quota sanctioned by Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) --the body tasked with delivering subsidized rice to remote districts -- has been supplied so far.
"We are yet to receive 9,000 quintals of rice," says Mukunda Pyakurel, acting chief of NFC´s Jumla branch. NFC has allocated 12,500 quintals of rice for this year, including 3,000 quintals for Mugu and 1,500 quintals for Dolpa. However, only around 3,000 quintals have been transported to Jumla as of now.
Similarly, of the total rice quota of 5,000 quintals, only 3,000 quintals have been transported to Kalikot district.
Indradeep Construction, a Surkhet-based company that won the contract for transporting rice to Jumla and Kalikot districts, has refused to supply more of the foodgrain unless it gets more money from NFC. The company has asked NFC for more money, citing recent fuel price hikes.
According to Jaman Singh Budha, proprietor of the company, the price of diesel, which was Rs 68 per litre when the contract was awarded, has now shot up to Rs 89 per litre in Surkhet.
"As per the contract, the NFC should increase our transport rate if the price of diesel increases by more than 15 percent," says Budha. "Today, diesel has gone up by almost 29 percent. We have, therefore, asked NFC to raise our previous rate."
Budha´s company won the contract for supplying one quintal of rice to Jumla and Kalikot at Rs 637 and Rs 423 respectively. "Given the new diesel price, we can no longer transport rice at those rates," says Budha.
Ananda Bahadur Chanda, chairman of NFC, admits that food transport rates can be revised if fuel prices go up during the contract period. "We may or many not have to revise the rates," says Chanda. "But if the transport rates were already fixed at a higher level when the contract was awarded, we may not increase them. We cannot revise the rates without first assessing the contractors´ claims."
If claims about the impact of fuel price hikes are found to be false, according to Chanda, the contractors can get blacklisted. "We may cancel the contracts and find new contractors," he says.
According to Bachchu Raj Bista, sales department chief at NFC, contractors have stalled grain transport not only to Karnali but elsewhere as well. "We have received applications from as many as 12 districts for revision of transport rates in the face of fuel price hikes," says Bista. "But the applications are pending as our board meeting is yet to be held."
After Karnali, arguably the country´s most underdeveloped region, was connected with the rest of the country by road some five years ago, NFC has been supplying foodgrain to Jumla and Kalikot districts over the Karnali highway. Earlier, air transport was the only means of supplying grain to Karnali.
However, the Karnali highway is not very reliable, especially in the rain season. "The road is totally blocked during the rainy months," says Pyakurel. "Therefore, if the issue of rate revision is not sorted out soon, the contractors will not be able to transport more foodgrain."
If NFC fails to transport the subsidized rice, local people will be left with no choice but to buy from traders at very high prices. "Local traders are always looking for a chance to fleece people," says Pyakurel. "If our stock runs out, they will surely get that chance."
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