First Exhibition of the Raute Community in Eastern Region Charges NPR 200 Entry Fee

In Nisellung Park, located in Miklajung Rural Municipality-3 of Morang, 19 members of the Raute community have been accommodated in huts. Yaktung Village has set an entry fee of NPR 200 per person to see the Raute community, which is reportedly used for management expenses. This initiative has sparked criticism on social media over concerns of privacy violations and ethical treatment. (May 18, Biratnagar)

Visitors arriving at the huts constructed for the Raute in Miklajung have also raised questions about personal privacy. The Raute, who traditionally lead a nomadic lifestyle in the forests of Karnali Province, have previously been seen as far as Chitwan. The Raute community was brought to the eastern region by Yaktung Village in collaboration with SOSEC Nepal, an organization working in the Raute areas. The group comprises eight women and eleven men, who have been provided with huts as their living quarters.

To view the Raute community relocated to the eastern region, Yaktung Village has fixed an admission fee of NPR 200 per visitor. Previously, the entry fee for the site was NPR 100, but after bringing the Raute community, it was increased by NPR 100, according to Ashok Chemjong, the administrator of Yaktung Village. He explained that the fee is utilized to cover the management, transportation, and accommodation costs of the Raute people.

The arrival of the Raute has stimulated economic activity in the hilly region of Miklajung. According to organizers, around 4,000 to 5,000 people visit the exhibition daily. Hotels and shops in the Ramite and Dhobeni areas of Miklajung reportedly conduct business worth millions of rupees each day. Additionally, the Raute are generating extra income by selling wooden handicrafts they make themselves.