The government decision to provide 20kg rice to the family celebrating birth of a new member or mourning loss of a loved one in Karnali region has been ridiculed by the All Nepal National Free Student Union (ANNFSU) in Jumla district.

The ANNFSU on Friday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal through the District Administration Office on Friday, asking him to stop “rice politics” and come up with a long term development plans for Jumla and other districts in the region.

The student wing of the main opposition, CPN-UML, also submitted 20kg of locally grown rice to the district administration as a symbolic protest.

Lokendra Raj Giri, the ANNFSU district chairman, said the scheme brought by the Dahal government is an insult to the people of Karnali.

What Karnali needs is schools, hospitals and road networks, he said.

The prime minister’s own party, CPN (Maoist Centre) has also criticised his government’s decision.

The government should focus on the overall development of Karnali instead, said Bir Bahadur Kunwar, the Maoist Centre coordinator in Jumla.