Citizenship required to buy salt in Humla

By Rajan Rawat,Humla, Mar. 11: The Salt Trading Corporation Limited has made it mandatory for citizens to present their citizenship certificates to purchase subsidised salt.

The Humla branch of the corporation requires consumers to submit a copy of their citizenship certificate to buy salt, which is sold every Tuesday.

Krishna Bahadur Shahi from Simkot Rural Municipality-7 shared that he had to provide a copy of his citizenship certificate to purchase salt from the corporation’s warehouse.

Last week, he walked three hours to the district headquarters to buy salt but was unable to do so as he had not carried his citizenship certificate. When informed by staff that salt could not be provided without the document, he had to return home empty.

Shahi expressed concern that the rule added an extra financial burden on citizens, as photocopying a citizenship certificate costs Rs. 10.

Raj Bahadur Lama, head of Salt Trading Corporation’s Humla branch, stated that the rule was introduced to prevent individuals from purchasing salt multiple times and to ensure fair distribution.

He added that while a ward recommendation could also be used, citizenship copies serve as an alternative, especially when ward chairs are unavailable.

As per the rule, each individual is allowed to purchase 10 kilograms of salt.

The corporation currently holds a stock of 1,395 quintals of salt in its warehouse.

Of the 1,100 quintals allocated for this fiscal year, 582 quintals have been transported by air, with the rest in the process of delivery. The corporation has assured that there will be no salt shortage in the district.