Tribals See ‘Red’ As Ration Falls Short In Kumaon; Forced To Obtain Chinese Grains From Nepal

Border villages along the Tibet-Nepal region in Uttarakhand are facing shortage of government ration in the Kumaon region due to which they have to depend on Chinese foodgrains brought in from Nepal, NDTV has reported.

A delegation of Vyas valley villagers met Dharchula sub-divisional magistrate on Friday to demand more ration under the public distribution system or PDS so that they do not have to rely on Chinese foodgrains.

"The quota of ration supplied by the state government falls short of our requirement. So much so that some of the villagers have had to depend on Chinese foodgrains bought from markets in Nepal," Krishna Garbiyal, a person who was part of the delegation, said.

Due to less quota of ration, the villagers have to cross a bridge, connecting India and Nepal, over the Kali river near Garbiyang and buy their ration from the markets at Tinkar and Chhangru in Nepal.

"The government allocates 5 kg wheat and 2 kg rice per month to each family, which is far from enough. We have demanded increase in the ration quota for families living in high-altitude areas as these places do not grow grains like wheat or paddy," Garbiyal said.

The villagers said that quota of the ration is only one of their problems, others being they have not got their ration from the onset of the monsoon.

Ration to the villages is sent on mules and horses, but due to repairing of a 49 km-stretch from Mangti to Gunji for the last six months, it has been difficult to send ration on mules to the villages this year.

"Over 72.5 quintals of ration were sent to Vyas valley villages by helicopters before monsoon began. The ration for October, November and December are yet to be sent to the villages," said Dharchula SDM RK Pandey.

He said that due to repair works on the road, helicopters have been deployed to transport ration to the villages. Army is also being contacted for its helicopters.

The villagers have asked the SDM in a letter if the helicopters used for Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra could be used to carry ration to their villages.