Imaluja Chaudhary, 18, of Katanpur, Tikapur Municipality-3, who came to Kalikot from Kailali to join the election police, said, ”My heart sank when I saw the scary mountains. I felt dizzy when I traveled to the mountains for the first time.”
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Imaluja Chaudhary, 18, of Katanpur, Tikapur Municipality-3, who came to Kalikot from Kailali to join the election police, said that the Kalikot she saw was different from what she had heard.
‘My heart trembled when I saw the scary mountains,’ she said after arriving at the district headquarters, Manma Bazaar. ‘I felt dizzy when I traveled to the mountains for the first time.’
She said that she came here to gain experience in recruitment as she aims to become a Nepal Police officer in the future. ‘There has been no development in Kalikot,’ she said, ‘Although it is not as muddy as the Terai, there is a shortage of drinking water in Manma Bazaar.’
Having passed SEE with 2 GPA from Saraswati Secondary School in the village, she is currently studying in the 12th grade at the local Radiant Montessori English School. Yubaraj Kumar Chaudhary of Kohalpur, who is related to her, called her to Kalikot to join the Election Police. ‘I came to earn money for my studies rather than staying at home,’ she said, ‘My desire to travel to the mountains has also been fulfilled.’
When 30-year-old Yubaraj, who came to Dailekh with his brother, who works as a contractor in the village, got information that recruitment for the election police was open in Kalikot, he not only filled the form himself, but also called three other close relatives to Kalikot. ‘I was in the area of Dailekh,’ Yubaraj said, ‘I heard that many quotas were open in Kalikot, so I came here because there was a high chance of being selected.’
Yubaraj tried to go to New Zealand twice for foreign employment. For that, he paid 500,000 rupees to Amar Sunar of Dhangadhi-18. Sunar did not send him abroad. Instead, he embezzled the money and absconded. He said that he then arrived in Dailekh while working as a wage laborer. ‘The broker ate all the money,’ he said, ‘I haven’t been able to pay the loan.’ I came here because it would be easier to meet household expenses as an election police officer.’
Surendra Tharu, 29, of Kohalpur-6, is resting in his room after falling ill. After catching a cold due to the snowfall that accompanied the rain, he has a cold and fever. Chitravati Tharu, 21, of Titiya, Baijnath-6, Banke, who was selected as an election police officer, has a different experience from others. ‘I feel dizzy just looking at the hills here,’ she told Kantipur, ‘Ajang is a hilly district.’
She said that when she came in the car, she closed her eyes in fear as soon as the border of Dailekh crossed the border of Kalikot. She said that she could not open her eyes after seeing the cliffs. Chitravati, who studied up to 10th grade, said that she was suffering from the cold after the snowfall in Kalikot. ‘I was afraid to go out for two or three days after coming to Kalikot,’ she said. ‘I am slowly getting used to it. Now I am used to walking and running.’
Mahesh Lal Yadav, 44, from Saptari, has also come to Kalikot and been selected as an election police officer. He came here after being invited by his nephew, who works in the Nepal Police. They said that they had to go to the place where they were assigned, as they came from the Terai. However, they expressed their expectation that if they were assigned to the polling station in Tadi and Manma under the nearby Khadachakra Municipality, they would be comfortable to stay and eat. ‘We don’t even know the geography of other places,’ Yadav said. ‘We hope that we will be assigned near the headquarters, Manma.’
Five people from the Terai have come to Kalikot to become election police officers in the House of Representatives elections to be held on Falgun 21. They will be sent to participate in training after receiving their appointment letters on Magh 18, said District Police Chief Him Bahadur Khatri. ‘They came from the Terai with courage and were selected,’ he said, ‘They must have come here because there is a lot of competition in the Terai.’ He said that two people had colds and mild fever due to snowfall during the winter. 1,298 election police officers have been selected in Kalikot.
