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Chhath, an important festival of the people of Tarai-Madhes that aims to increase human interest in non-violence and encourage compassion for all living beings, is in full swing. Devotees are busy celebrating Chhath in the districts of Tarai-Madhes, including in the religio-cultural capital of Janakpurdham.

Preparations for Chhath, which is a festival of special hardship for the women of Mithilani, Tharu and Bhojpuri among the main festivals of Tarai-Madhes, are in full swing in the districts of Tarai-Madhes. 

The public is currently busy buying and purchasing the materials required for Chhath, which is a common culture celebrated with rules, integrity and rituals. The general public is busy shopping in the market to buy coconuts, sugarcane, bamboo baskets, nanglo, dhakiya, and clay materials, including coconuts and sugarcane.

This four-day festival of worshipping the Sun, the source of all power, will conclude with a ritual bath on the first day, followed by a ritual offering to the setting sun on the second day, and an offering to the rising sun on the third and rising sun on the fourth day. During the Chhath festival, it is customary to offer fish, meat, garlic, onions, millet, lentils and boiled rice as food items, according to Ram Bharosh Kapadi, president of Madhes Pragya Pratishthan and culture expert. “The purity of the items offered during Chhath has made this festival different from other festivals. In this festival, rice and wheat are carefully examined, washed, dried and ground, not in general, and this special aspect of cleanliness has made this festival different from other festivals,” said cultural expert Kapadi.

This important festival, which has been celebrated among the Madhesi community, has also become popular among the hill communities here for the past few years. Rita Lama of Bardibas says that along with the Mithila women who celebrate Chhath every year, women from the Nepali community have also started celebrating Chhath.

To give grandeur to the Chhath festival, which is mainly celebrated for the purpose of procreation, disease cure and family welfare, dozens of ponds and lakes including the historical Gangasagar, Dhanushsagar, Angrajsar, Maharaj Sagar, Agnikunda, Ratnasagar, Valmiki Sar, Dasharath Talau in Janakpur have been cleaned by various organizations and youth clubs and arrangements have been made for electricity, pandals and other facilities, says Sushal Karna, a youth from Janaki Chowk.

During Chhath, which is celebrated to worship Lord Surya Dev, there is a tradition of offering bananas, sugarcane, a vat, milk, clay elephants and lids as per vows. On the sixth day of the Chhath festival, which is considered the main day of the festival, the devotees who have observed a fast by bathing and washing themselves in the morning have a tradition of offering Argha to the setting sun in the evening by standing in water bodies. In the Tarai-Madhes, this ritual is called the evening Argha or ‘Sazhuka Argha’.

There is a tradition of staying awake all night at a ghat decorated with tents and garlands at water bodies like ponds, wells, lakes and rivers, and offering Argha to the rising sun in the morning on the seventh day. The Argha offered to the rising sun in the morning is called ‘Bhorka Argha’. After offering Argha to the rising sun in this way, Chaiti Chhath is formally completed.

The government of Madhes province has not implemented a single provincial pride project in six years. Instead, it has focused on smaller programs with budgets no more than Rs 1m, but their progress too have been slow and laborious. Many of these projects have had their budgets frozen. The capital spending has never been satisfactory. The provincial government and ministers often make commitments to implement provincial pride projects but the reality is completely different. Their focus is mostly on small projects proposed by their cadres.

The provincial government has proposed a budget of Rs 44.11bn for the fiscal year 2023/24. However, the focus has primarily been on implementing piecemeal programs even though the provincial government has no dearth of resources. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development has the highest budgetary allocation of over Rs 12bn. However, minister Krishna Prasad Yadav’s focus seems to be on implementing small projects proposed by party cadres rather than larger projects that could benefit the whole province. For instance, Hansapur Municipality in Dhanusha has been provided with 25 projects ranging from Rs 1.5m to Rs 2.5m. Pradeep Yadav, who serves as the treasurer of the Madhes Provincial Committee of Nepali Congress, is the mayor of Hansapur. In contrast, neighboring Dhanauji and Aurahi rural municipalities lack programs of even Rs 2m.

Dipendra Thakur, deputy leader of the CPN-UML parliamentary party in the Madhes Province Assembly, criticized ministers for pouring budgets into their constituencies while neglecting pressing needs elsewhere. The Dalit Development Committee, responsible for uplifting the Dalit community, which comprises 18 percent of the province’s population, has been allocated a meager budget of Rs 6.9m.

Ministers have also been accused of overspending in their areas through budget transfers. Minister for Finance Sanjaya Kumar Yadav and Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Tourism Sunita Yadav have been summoned by provincial assembly committees for transferring over Rs 600m in the last month of the previous fiscal year.

Dr Bhogendra Jha, former vice-chairman of the Madhes Province Planning Commission, said that the capital budget is being distributed without considering the priorities of the local people. Similarly, CPN (Maoist Center) assembly member Mala Kumari Karna criticized the chief minister and ministers for implementing budgetary programs only in their constituencies.

Maoist Center leader Bharat Prasad Sah also emphasized the need for the provincial government to focus on provincial pride projects instead of distribution-oriented plans. “The province hasn't implemented a single significant program over the past six years. I served as a minister in the government led by Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP). I, however, couldn’t implement development-oriented programs due to inadequate support,” he added.

Satish Kumar Singh of Janamat Party said party cadres are favored while selecting development programs. “Only those close to the ministers are benefiting from budgetary programs. We had the opportunity to make federalism work, but the government’s actions are making a mockery of it,” he added.

Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav issued a 19-point directive on Jan 22, pledging to uphold financial transparency and good governance. However, the first budget of Chief Minister Yadav has faced criticism for focusing on distributing piecemeal programs to appease cadres rather than prioritizing substantial projects.

According to Minister for Home, Communication, and Law, Mohammad Shamim, projects such as the Ram Janaki Stadium, one electoral constituency-one road, provincial roads, and universities are considered provincial pride projects. However, he acknowledged that these projects are not gaining momentum. “Service delivery of provincial governments have been affected due to obstacles created by the federal government,” he added.

Despite the many political transformations Nepal has recently witnessed, the lives of the Musahars, a Dalit community from the Tarai, have barely changed.

Musahars have been living in 24 districts of Nepal for generations and work mainly as manual laborers. They are deprived of education, healthcare and jobs, as well as government services and facilities.

Among the 22 castes Nepal lists as Dalits, five are from the hills while the remaining 17 are from the plains. The government spends millions of rupees every year in the name of improving the Dalit communities’ living standards. But many Dalits have not benefitted.

Musahars are treated as untouchables and insulted. Many allege that international NGOs such as UK Aid, Department for International Development (DFID) and Street Child have not been transparent in their financial transactions and suspect irregularities.

Nepal National Musahar Association (NNMA) says that due to irregularities, the centers established for the purpose of improving the lives of Musahars have been unable to function properly. DFID has been running a project called ‘Break the Bond’ at the centers in partnership with various local
organizations.

Even though the centers have been giving training on literacy, life skills, income generation and women’s awareness, a local Musahar leader Pacchu Majhi claims that they have been ineffective. “INGOs have been cheating us. They call us for a day, offer us food, and then ask us to sign an attendance sheet for the whole month. But they do not care about improving our lives or about educating us. NGOs are getting fatter while we get poorer,” he laments.

At an NNMA press conference in Janakpur on June 23, General Secretary Ram Sworup Sada accused the dozens of Musahar centers across several districts of being an easy source of money for their officials. Currently, there are 17 Musahar centers in Mahottari, 24 in Dhanusa and 21 in Siraha. “There is hardly any Musahar participation at such centers,” alleged Sada.

NNMA has issued a press release demanding that 60 percent of the employees of the Musahar centers be Musahars, that the age group eligible for enrollment at the centers be changed, and that the budget and activities of the centers be made public.

Other demands include making Musahars in-charge of monitoring the centers, and giving Musahar girls
Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 for running a business. The release warned that failure to meet the demands would lead to street protests and a boycott of the center’s activities.