Mustang's Gharpagjhoong Rural Municipality Distributes Yaks and Nakas with 50% Subsidy

Mustang. Gharpagjhoong Rural Municipality has distributed yaks and nakas to livestock farmers at a 50 percent subsidy. The rural municipality has distributed yaks and nakas at a subsidy to livestock farmers under the 'Himali Yak-Naka Promotion' program.

The rural municipality's chairman Mohan Singh Lalchan informed that the subsidy was distributed with the objective of encouraging farmers to raise yaks and nakas through a 50-50 cost-sharing partnership between the beneficiary livestock entrepreneurs and the rural municipality under the federal conditional grant. According to him, yaks and nakas were purchased and distributed at a cost of Rs 750,000 from the municipality and Rs 750,000 from the livestock farmers.

On Saturday, farmer Pemba Gurung of Jomsom brought yaks and nakas at a subsidized rate. Chairman Lalchan informed that the yaks and nakas, along with their calves, distributed at a subsidy by the rural municipality were purchased from Manang. According to him, farmer Pemba Gurung purchased yaks and nakas worth an additional Rs 800,000 beyond the rural municipality's budget and brought them to Mustang.

Farmers have brought more than 56 yaks and nakas, including their calves, here. Rural Municipality Chairman Lalchan mentioned that distributing yaks and nakas at a subsidy to many people when the number is small makes it difficult to promote yaks as per the target, so yaks and nakas were distributed to one farmer within the criteria of the selection committee.

According to the rural municipality's animal branch officer Aait Thakaali, there is an agreement that the yaks and nakas distributed by the rural municipality at a subsidy cannot be sold for five years. He stated that the rural municipality is distributing yaks and nakas with the objective of contributing to biodiversity and the ecosystem, as this business is not only a business but also a unique culture of the Himalayan region.

Earlier, Gharpagjhoong Rural Municipality had published a 35-day notice to distribute yaks and nakas at a subsidy to farmers under the said program. According to the notice published by the rural municipality, some farmers had submitted applications for the subsidy.

According to animal branch officer Thakaali, yaks and nakas worth Rs 1.5 million were purchased at the price determined according to the district's rate and provided at a 50 percent subsidy. Farmer Gurung informed that 38 chaunris, three male yaks, and 15 calves were purchased from Yakkhark in Ngisyang Rural Municipality of the district and brought to Jomsom. He said that 38 were purchased with the rural municipality's subsidy and 18 with personal investment.

Gurung expressed happiness that the rural municipality provided him with a subsidy for yak and naka farming, entrusting him, and pledged to contribute to their promotion by raising yaks and nakas commercially.

On Saturday, at a program organized here, the rural municipality's chairman Lalchan, executive member Bhishan Thakaali, and animal branch officer Thakaali jointly handed over the yaks and nakas to the beneficiary farmer. The rural municipality office stated that these yaks and nakas have also been insured.

A team including insurance company representative Ganesh GC registered the insurance for farmer Gurung's yaks and nakas. He informed that the insurance was arranged such that the farmer has to pay five percent of the livestock's value as insurance premium, and the remaining amount will be borne by the local government.

As the yak and naka farming business, the ancestral profession of the Himalayan region, has been facing a crisis in recent times, the municipality has started operating yak and naka promotion programs with the conditional grant from the federal government. In the current fiscal year, Thasang Rural Municipality of this region also distributed yaks and nakas at a subsidy to livestock farmers.

Due to climate change, yaks and nakas raised in herds in the high pastures and meadows of Mustang are facing a crisis due to lack of grazing areas and the risk of wild animals, mentioned rural municipality chairman Lalchan. He added that the government has introduced an insurance security policy to protect the yak and naka farming business.

Insurance representative Ganesh GC informed that if the livestock of farmers involved in insurance are lost, 90 percent of the compensation will be provided by the insurance company.