Locals of Hausalpur, Kailali neither have citizenship certificate nor any document issued by the state to show their identity or lawful status. Hausalpur that abuts the no man’s land and lies across the Mohana River is almost cut off from rest of the area in the same village development committee — Ratanpur. There are some 22 Kathariya Tharu families in the village. “The state has deprived us of citizenship certificate,” said local Shobha Chaudhary, who also bemoaned the fact that the state had not issued land ownership document for their land.

“A school had been opened here during the Panchayat era but that too was shifted elsewhere. I’ve heard that our VDC has been declared fully immunised while our kids have never been vaccinated,” she lamented. It is important to note that Ratanpur has also been declared open defecation free zone. However, the campaign left the village across the river untouched. Locals here are deprived of state facilities, including social security allowance, and health and education services. Local Jugaram Chaudhary rued the state apathy towards them. “On the Indian side, they have electricity, road and other basic amenities, but we don’t even have a document to show our lawful status,” said Chaudhary.

CPN-UML leader Chandrika Prasad Chaudhary urged the government to address the concerns of people of Hausalpur. SP Arjun Chand of District Police Office, Kailali said his administration was ready to address security issues. Chief District Officer of Kailali Govind Rijal said, “We are serious about their plight. We are planning to set up an Armed Police Force camp to look after Ratanpur as a whole,” he said.