95 per cent of families in Muktikot village are living under severe food shortage leading to malnutrition
BAJURA, AUGUST 3
As many as 216 families of Muktikot village in Swamikartik Khapaar Rural Municipality-1 of Bajura district were provided relief materials, on Tuesday.
Following the publication of news the Muktikot village reeling under acute food shortage in The Himalayan Times, Stories of Nepal and Nepal Rising came forward to provide food packages in a bid to provide them with some relief during these trying times.
Earlier on June 27, 62 among the 400 households that were most affected by food shortage were provided with food supplies along with Sarvottam Pitho (baby cereal) for 41 undernourished children.
In the second stage, 216 families were provided relief packages containing rice, pulses, salt, soap, oil and soda, informed Mima Budha, Deputy chair of the rural municipality.
The relief items provided by Stories of Nepal/Nepal Rising were distributed in coordination with the rural municipality and Badimalika Khabar, informed social activist Samrat Singh Basnet.
Muktikot village has been suffering from food scarcity as a drought has severely affected agricultural produce in the area.
Due to the draught, most of the families have to depend on store-bought rice which has now become more difficult with the lack of opportunities for income generation due to COVID-19 lockdown.
According to Kuber Shahi, information officer at the rural municipality, 95 per cent of the families in Muktikot village are living under severe food shortage leading to malnutrition among children, pregnant women and the elderly.
Every year children die of malnutrition in the village, he added.
Swamikartik Rural Municipality is one of the poorest local levels in the country. According to a report published by Poor Households Support and Coordination Board, 2072, as many as 75 per cent of the families fall below the poverty line.
Similarly, among the 2,185 families in the Swamikarti Khapar Rural Municipality, 1,838 are living in severe poverty.
