DHADING: Students of Chepang community throughout the country may have to discontinue studies as the government did not allocate budget for their scholarship this fiscal year.

According to Nepal Chepang Association, the government had been providing scholarship to the Chepang students under Chepang Development Programme. However, not providing the same, this year, has affected 22 thousands Chepang students nationwide. 4,500 in secondary levels and 25 in higher secondary level were studying under the scholarship programme in Dhading district alone.

The government had been allocating Rs 4.5 million for the Chepang students of Dhading, Chitwan, Makawanpur, Tanahun and Gorkha districts since 1977 BS. Former central secretary of Nepal Chepang Association Tilak Chepang informed that they had been using the money for academic and social development of Chepangs. The government, however, had stopped the scholarship as it declared free education till secondary level.

Central member of the association Jitendra Chepang said,'' It is injudicious step of the government to stop scholarship instead of increasing the amount.'' The association has also claimed that dropout rate would increase among Chepang students as the scholarship had been cut-off. Tilak Chepang, an intellectual, said that that the dropout rate might increase as economic conditions of most of the people of the community was very low.