In a benevolent gesture, many people and organisations from Mahottari have rolled up their sleeves to help artist couple Sitaram Kattel and Kunjana Ghimire to build houses for the people of the marginalised Musahar community in the district.

They have donated money ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10,000 to the Dhurmus-Suntali Foundation to help the couple, popularly known as Dhurmus (Kattel) and Suntali (Ghimire) for building the Musahar settlement at Bardibas-2 a sample settlement with new houses and all basic facilities like road, electricity and drinking water.

Those who donated money are social worker Gobinda Poudel (Rs 25,000), Mahottari chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (Rs 11,000), mediaperson Raj Karan Mahato (Rs 10,000), said programme coordinator of the foundation Arjun Neupane.

A Sample Musahar Settlement Building Assistance Committee has been set up at local level in the target area to collect donation to make the settlement model, said the committee coordinator Suraj Singh Kushawaha.

Likewise, government employees in the area have started a campaign to assist the cause of the artist couple while local people and government employees like executive officer of the Bardibas Municipality Ram Kumar Karki have already pledged to provide labour donation.

Meanwhile, as part of the campaign, the pulling down of huts of Musahar community and their relocation has been complete, said a committee member.

The foundation stone for the construction work will be laid on Jan 9 and the Foundation plans to hand 50 Musahar households in the area new houses as gift on the day of Nepali New Year, 2074, the Foundation said. RSS