Rautahat, August 27

Alleging discrimination in relief distribution, flood victims of Bhalohiya of Durgabhagawati Rural Municipality picketed the District Administration Office in Rautahat today.

The victims argued that relief items distributed by state agencies, including Nepal Red Cross Society, was not given to the real victims but distributed to proxy victims. The agitators picketed the office for an hour and chanted slogans against the authority.

Local Nepali Congress leader Arun Sah, CPN-Maoist Centre’s Shmabhu Singh and Naya Shakti Party-Nepal’s Central Member Roshan Jha, among others, were present at the demonstration. “The real victims were deprived of relief materials meant for them while the fake victims claimed them,” argued Rebant Jha, Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal central member.

Meanwhile, Chief District Officer Uddhab Bahadur Thapa denying the allegations of the victims, said that they distributed all the relief items proportionally and fairly to all the victims through the concerned municipalities and rural municipalities. He pledged to dispatch relief to all the victims.