Residents of Tumcha village in Sarkegad Rural Municipality-1, Humla, are forced to spend up to Rs 2,500 to collect subsidised salt priced at just Rs 9.
The high cost is incurred solely for the round trip to the salt distribution depot, run by Salt Trading Corporation, which is located a day’s walk from the village.
“The municipal center is far from our village,” said Ramsharan Rawat, a local resident, speaking to state-owned news agency RSS. “Recently, we had to spend Rs 2,500 just to get the salt.”
Another resident, Ratan Rawat, noted that a round trip to the depot by vehicle costs Rs 2,500, highlighting the challenges created by the depot’s location in Sarkegad market. This setup has made accessing subsidised salt extremely inconvenient for Tumcha’s 95 households, as it is sold exclusively through the distribution center.
In addition to the salt distribution challenge, villagers have also been deprived of other municipal services due to the distance from the municipality center. "We have to walk three hours uphill to reach the ward office in Jaira for various recommendations and services," locals complained.
Villagers have proposed distributing salt from the Balukuna area instead of Sarkegad, which they say would save both time and money.
However, Raj Bahadur Lama, chief of the Humla branch of Salt Trading Corporation, stated that salt is distributed from designated sales centers to ensure accessibility for the district’s four southern rural municipalities.
Lama explained that salt was occasionally distributed from Balukuna to address specific challenges, but the current agreement mandates deliveries from Sarkegad for Sarkegad and Chankheli rural municipalities, and from Srinagar in Adanchuli for Adanchuli and Tajakot rural municipalities.
For the current fiscal year, 1,800 quintals of salt will be delivered to these four municipalities: 500 quintals for Sarkegad, 400 for Chankheli, 500 for Adanchuli, and 400 for Tajakot.
RSS
