However, she is taking shelter in the house of Ganeshman Pun, central chairman of the Young Communist League, a youth wing of the UCPN (Maoist), after all the 12 families who were living in the commune—an old house—walked away saying it was hard to sustain there.

“I joined the commune after paying Rs 80,000 which I collected by selling all property I had. But, I do not know where to go and how to sustain now,” she said. All the families who lived in the commune are left in the lurch now. Some of them have gone to India in search of job opportunities.

The commune system was introduced by the Maoist party during the insurgency to provide shelter and food to party cadres. The party had established many communes across the country that mainly dealt with finance, agriculture, education, weapons, health and construction.

Bin Kumari Buda of Sankh VDC, who left the commune two years ago, said she had joined the commune after facing troubles from the state security forces.

“However, we left the commune later as we found it difficult to manage basic needs,” she said, informing that the main problem they faced in the commune was differences among people living there in carrying out household chores.

Likewise, twelve families are still living in a house at Thabang in Rolpa as commune members though 20 families who lived there have already left.

“Some families left the commune after the peace process began,” said Lap Bahadur Roka, a commune member. He said the commune members walked out after they felt they were being ignored.