Khalanga, Jumla–Patarasi rural municipality has banned students going for picking Yarsagumba (Cordyceps Sinesis) this year in a bid to assist their studies. Reports are like schools in the mountainous districts are closed every year for almost three months allowing students and teachers to pick the previous medicinal herbs. What’s more, in some cases, authorities allowed colure of schools so as to allow students and teachers to collect the herbs. Yarsa picking season begins from mid-May in general while hordes of people in the mountainous districts go to highlands to dig the precious herbs. Many people of the mountainous districts are dependent on yarsa for their sustenance, while others trade it to increase their wealth.
Previously, classes were affected by allowing students to go pick yarsa, said Tek Bahadur Badhthapa, chief administrative officer at Patarasi rural municipality. “So we decided to not allow students to go to highlands to collect the herbs this year,” he said, adding that parents have also been made aware of the issue.
Circular has been sent to every school of the village not to discontinue classes during the yarsa picking season, said the rural municipality’s chairperson Lachhimane Bohara, adding an awareness campaign has been launched to discourage such trend. “Students may earn Rs 50,000 each from digging yarsa. But their future will be destroyed if they skip classes,” he said. The campaign will run for the next 13 days more, he said, adding that next meeting of the village education committee will take a decision on what action could be taken against those disobeying the directive. ---
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