Damauli, October 15:

All 21 households of the indigenous Chepang community in Chhimkeshwari VDC-3 of Tanahun district have turned to growing vegetables and Amliso grass (broomstalks) for their livelihood.

Fifteen Chepang households in Kholagaon and six others in Rasauli are engaged in vegetable and Amliso cultivation and they have become economically self-reliant by selling off their produce.

This became possible after the District Development Committee (DDC), Tanahun, provided assistance for the cultivation of seasonal and off-season vegetables, Amliso grass and beekeeping as a means of poverty alleviation in Chepang settlements.

An official at the DDC Local Development Fund said the assistance has been provided to make Chepang people economically self-reliant.

It is learnt that the Chepangs have also constituted the Chhimkeshwari Small Farmers Community Association and started saving money. One hundred and five Chepang families in that village are earning their livelihood through vegetable and Amliso cultivation. Inspired by them, Chepangs elsewhere are shedding their reticence of new ways of life.