Jajarkot, November 14

More than 3,000 people have been deprived of social security allowance due to negligence on the part of Bherimalika Municipality, Jajarkot.

Bed Bahadur Shahi of Bherimalika Municipality, Jajarkot, frequented the municipality office for social security allowance, but he was disappointed every time. Shahi bemoaned that his livelihood had become difficult as he had not received the allowance on time.

He did not get the allowance before Dashain and Tihar and as a result could not celebrate the festivals. “I frequented the office for the allowance, but had to return empty-handed after the staffers there told me the centre had not allocated the allowance,” Shahi complained.

The plight of Om Kumari Khatri, 76 of Punma is similar. She visited the municipality office repeatedly, but to no avail. Dashain and Tihar were dull without the allowance,” Khatri lamented.

More than 3,000 people from the district have been deprived of the allowance. This has put elderly, single women, physically challenged and Dalit children in financial trouble.

The concerned authorities said the allowance allocation was delayed as the municipality had failed to update the names of allowance beneficiaries in their computers.

Second class non-gazetted officer Uday Thapa of Social Development Section at the DDC said the Ministry of Local Development had issued a directive to update the list of beneficiaries on computer.

Thapa said though 26 VDCs had updated the list of beneficiaries on computers and received the allowance for the municipality, the money was yet to be released due to negligence and dilly-dallying on the part of municipalities.

Civil Society Jajarkot Chairman Kesavjung Shah said that negligence on the part of the municipality had deprived the beneficiaries of their allowance.

Executive officer Ram Prasad Sharma at Bherimalika Municipality said that since the municipality was announced late, many things needed to be managed. Sharma pledged to begin distribution of the allowance shortly.