Budget for freed Haliyas freezes

Dadeldhura, September 7

A budget amount of Rs 190 million, allocated for the rehabilitation of freed Haliyas from the mid and far-western regions was frozen last fiscal.

Of the total amount of Rs 420 million appropriated by the Ministry of Land Reform and Management, only Rs 230 million was spent last fiscal.

Speaking at a programme organised at Dadeldhura headquarters Baghkhor, Joint-secretary Tikaram Ghimire at the Land Reform Ministry said a huge amount of the budget allocated for the rehabilitation of the freed Haliyas of the districts of Humla, Jajarkot, Surkhet, Kailali, Achham, and Bajura had frozen as it was not used.

“Earlier, it was said that budget was frozen due to government employees’ lack of activism. Now, the budget has frozen, as the number of freed Haliyas is not as mentioned in the data,” Ghimire said.

Keeping in view the 16,000 freed Haliyas from nine districts of the far-west and three districts of the mid-west, the government had launched the programme for their rehabilitation in six districts.

This fiscal, a budget of 490 million had been allocated for freed Haliyas’ rehabilitation in six districts. Of the 16,000 freed Haliyas, only 10,000 have been verified.

“Government staffers visit the village seeking 6,000 Haliyas, but have failed to figure them out,” said Deputy Secretary Gokarna Prasad Sharma.

Ministry of Peace and some non-governmental organisations had declared that the number of Haliyas was 21,000 in 2008. Three years later, the number was reassessed to just 16,000.