HUMLA, APRIL 19
Locals at Maspur of Tajakot Rural Municipality in Humla are compelled to spend three days to reach the voting centre.
Locals said they would not cast their ballot as the voting centre was very far from their village. The voting centre for villagers of Maspur was fixed at Kailash Basic Level School which is a day's walk for the villagers. The villagers said they had to spend a whole day to reach the voting centre, another one day to cast the ballot and one day to return home.
The population of the village is 103 from 23 households. There are as many as ten people above 60 years in the village.
According to the ward office, the authority concerned paid no attention even though the District Election Office and administration office were informed about the problem faced by villagers due to lack of voting centre in the nearby area.
Seventy-year-old Jyokhya Budha at the village said that he could not take part in voting as the voting centre was very far from his village. He said there was no one to carry him to the voting centre and he did not have strength to reach the voting centre by himself. "I am deprived of a basic right due to this reason," he said. He added that he had not taken part in the previous local, province and federal elections for the same reason.
Similarly, Aause Rokaya, 82, and Aakha Damai, 73, among others, were deprived of voting rights. Most of the villagers do not have voters Identity Card.
Tek Bahadur Rokaya, a local, said that the ID card had no meaning as the voting centre was very far from the village.
A non-gazetted Officer at District Election Office, Humla, Shyam Bahadur Rana said that the office had no plan to add an election centre. He said a voting centre was essential for villagers as the voting centre was very far away.
Humla Chief District Officer Sita Pariyar said the voters of Maspur have to spend more than ten hours to reach the voting centre. She said that ministry, election office and concerned departments were informed and had taken the initiative regarding this. She added that it depended on the centre to establish a voting centre in Maspur.
Information Officer at the election office Surya Prasad Aryal said that his office had yet to inform about this. He said voting centres were changed as per the recommendation of the district committee last year. "It is impossible to establish a voting centre as the election is near," he added. He said that the voting centre could be established for villagers in the next election.
Locals said they had demanded a voting centre long back. They said they had to carry food materials to cast vote. The state has paid no attention to the remote area. Pregnant women and elderly citizens, among others, would not take part in the election.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 20, 2022, of The Himalayan Times
