A young man who created panic in the Raute community was arrested by the youth of the Raute community on this October 24 night.  The young man from Lekbensi municipality of Surkhet had drunk alcohol and entered Rautebasti at night.

On Saturday morning, the youth of that community informed the nearby police and handed over the youth to the police. Mohanjung Budthapa, spokesperson of the District Police Office informed that necessary investigation has been carried out against the young man who created terror. 

In recent times, it has been reported that the Raute community has started feeling insecure due to the unauthorized entry of outsiders. They have been living in the forest with their own lively customs and costumes, and the entry of random outsiders into their settlements has started to make them unsafe. They say that there is an increase in the tendency of going to route settlements under different pretexts and doing various undesirable activities there.

A few years ago, the police had taken action against some people who were doing unwanted work against the Route community, who were living itinerantly in different places of Karnali. Deepak Shahi, a young man from the Route community, says, 'coming from outside without work has made them uncomfortable. As outsiders started coming into the settlement at night, it became more unsafe, we needed security. Just yesterday, a drunken man came to our settlement and made noise. We are worried when random people come at other times as well.'

He asked them not to come drunk during the night even if they come to Raute Basti during the day. Similarly, Durga Khatri of Sosek, who has been working for the maintenance of the Raute community, also pointed out that security challenges have increased in the Raute community recently and pointed out that there is a need to send police to the settlement. 

There is a need for police in Raute Basti. She said, 'More people from outside come here, along with making videos, the security risk of the route is increasing as the entry of wrong people increases at night.'

She said that the route should be given ration instead of allowance, and when money is given as allowance, it is having an adverse effect on their health as they are getting addicted to alcohol. He says that this has also added a challenge to the security of the routes. 

Viral fever infection in the Raute community

Viral fever infection has been found to be increasing in the Raute community for the past few days. In the beginning, only two people fell ill, but in the last one week, 25 people fell ill. Health worker Anuja Pant, who is assigned to treat the Route community, said that they do not allow other check-ups such as dengue. 

'Currently fever infection is increasing in Routey settlement, more than 25 people have fallen sick since last one week, they are not allowing dengue checkup. We have only done first aid. They are not 'convinced' to check other problems.''

The number of route communities is continuously decreasing. The 2081 report of the study conducted by the National Human Rights Commission also shows that the number of Route communities is continuously decreasing. In the

report, the population of Raute, which was 149 in 2075, has decreased to 135 by January 15, 2081. In 2075, the number of routes decreased by one person from 149 to 148 in 2076. After the death of three people in 2077, the number of this community decreased to 144 and in 2078, it decreased to 144.

Now the number of this community has been limited to 135. Experts say that there are various reasons for the decline in the number of this community. According to them, social value and recognition is the main reason behind the decline in the population of this community.

Heerasingh Thapa, the executive head of Sosek Nepal, a non-governmental organization working for the upliftment of the Raute community, says, 'There are three communities in the Raute community namely Kalyal, Raskoti and Sovanshi. Due to the social tradition that boys and girls of the same community do not marry, many young women are living unmarried. Another tradition is that after the death of her husband, no matter how old a woman is, she has to remain single.

He added, "Now there are 23 single women, most of them are in the age group of 20 to 30 years." They are not allowed to remarry, how can the number increase when women of reproductive age do not give birth to children.

Chief Thapa said that the number of senior citizens and children is more than the number of young people in the Raute community. He says, 'Another reason for the decline in the population of the Raute community is the excessive consumption of alcohol. Due to the consumption of alcohol, the problem of them falling down and dying is increasing.' The commission said that it is necessary to implement the method of providing housing, food, nutrition, clothing and education instead of direct money, and concluded that it is necessary to control the external modern world as it interferes in their civilization.

Even in the study of the National Human Rights Commission, it is mentioned that the population of Raute is becoming negative due to the lack of proper attention of the state, poor public health, malnutrition, lack of access to treatment, lack of reproductive health, living in substandard traditional housing, lack of seasonal clothing, lack of clean drinking water and sanitation. Man Bahadur Karki, the Karnali province coordinator of the

commission, says, "The government used to give allowances so that the Raute community could live, but the government gave them allowances so that it would be easy for them to make a living." But it was found that they use that allowance for alcohol rather than their food. Due to this, it seems that many of them died. This may not be the only reason, but their number is also decreasing due to other reasons.

Karki suggested that all three levels of the government should make a new plan for their protection.