From the Nepali Press
Ram Bharosi Yadav in www.ratopati.com
Madhesi parties have been agitating against Nepal's new constitution over the last four months, cutting supplies of fuel, medicines and other essential commodities to Kathmandu. But the people worst affected by their political strikes are in Madhes itself.
Children in Madhes have been forced to stay out of schools for months. And now, elderly people have been deprived of their monthly social security allowances due to the prolonged unrest.
Apart from staging a sit-in at Birganj check-point, Madhesi parties have also forcibly shut down government offices in the Tarai. And elderly Madhesi people have been forced to wait endlessly for their allowances.
"When I do not get my allowance, I have to ask my son and daughter-in-law for pocket money," says 75-year-old Dorik Lal Yadav. "It feels bad to beg for money with them."
Local government offices have been distributing social security allowances every four months. Shortly after the previous installment of allowances was distributed, Madhesi parties began an indefinite shutdown in the Tarai. And the new installment of could not be distributed in Madhes.
Jaya Kumar Katwal of District Development Office in Siraha, says: "We cannot distribute allowances amidst violence and protests."
Officials in Siraha were to distribute more than Rs 11 million for elderly, widows, Dalits and disabled person two months ago. But this money remains undistributed, and elderly people have no options but to wait for the unrest to end.
"I was planning to buy a pair of warm clothes after receiving my allowance," says 70-year-old Khokhai Mahara. "But now I do not have money to buy even medicines. My son is working in the gulf, and my daughter-in-law gets angry when I ask her for money."
An elderly man has even filed a complaint at Golbazaar Police Office against his son and daughter-in-law for throwing out of the house. "When I had money, they treated me well. But when I started asking them for money, they forced me to leave the house," says Gangai Yadav.
But Madhesi parties have turned a blind eye to the suffering caused by their endless strikes to Madhesi people.
Madhesi Morcha, an alliance of agitating Madhesi parties, has rejected the joint proposal by the ruling parties and the main opposition. And Morcha has decided to further intensify its protests.