Kathmandu,August 16:

The government had come up with a project named Housing for Raute under the People’s Housing Programme nine years back.

At that time there were 86 Raute families at Jogbudha in Dadeldhura district. The Raute people have been enlisted as the endangered indigenous people and it is the responsibility of the State to provide them protection. Under the project, 41 families at Parshuram municipality-4 were selected for the entitlement to the house.

Later, a case was filed at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against 108 community forests in Jogbudha before the project was completed. With the registration of case, the timber collection from such forests was ceased and it impacted the project. The shortage of timber forced the project to get stopped before the completion.

Later the Special Court allowed the sale of timber cut at that time in the community forests , but it was not available for the construction of houses for Rautes. Houses for one dozen of Raute people are yet to be constructed. Local Santidevi Raute said they could not get homes as community forests denied to provide timber for them.

“Though we are the consumers of local community forest, we have been denied timber,’’ she said. The delay in completing the project also caused the stoppage of budget allocation, fading the hopes for getting new homes.

Some half-built houses are dilapidated and those with foundations have turned into forest, said Raute leader Daan Bahadur.