Tinkar residents contribute Rs. 134,211 to PM Relief Fund

Kathmandu, Sept. 12

Residents of Tinkar village in Darchula have collected Rs. 134,211 for survivors of the Rasuwa floods, bringing together Tinkaris from Darchula, Kathmandu, India and abroad in a rare collective initiative organised in the name of their village.

At a meeting with Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle on Friday evening, residents handed over the donation to the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund (PMDRF). They said that the contribution was meant to stand with flood victims, while putting Tinkar on the government’s radar and bringing their overlooked community into Nepal’s civic space.

Tinkar is in Ward No. 1 of Byas Rural Municipality in Darchula, Sudurpaschim Province. The village has roughly 70 households and is home to the Rung community. It lies in the far northwest of Nepal, at the tri-junction of Nepal, India and China.

The initiative began on August 29, when Kamna Tinkari, from Byas Rural Municipality, Darchula posted a proposal in a WhatsApp group used by Tinkari residents. What initially proved difficult was gradually brought together by Tinkaris living in Kathmandu, Darchula, abroad and even daughters of Tinkar residents married in India.

The collection came as Tinkaris were watching the devastation in Rasuwa and thinking about their own vulnerability to floods.

Kamana, who started the campaign, had rarely seen Tinkaris come forward collectively on this large scale for a cause beyond their own community. “The experience made me think about how Tinkar is seen in Nepal, so often through adversity and remoteness, with even our distinctive culture sometimes becoming another fixed lens,” she said.

There is no road or foot trail connecting Tinkar with the district headquarters Khalanga on the Nepali side. People travelling between the settlements have to pass through the Indian territory.

According to Ranjana Tinkari, 28, one of the reasons she participated in this donation was to draw attention to Tinkar, a village that is largely unknown outside the community.

She said Tinkaris often have to explain that their surname, ethnicity and language are part of Nepal too, a statement sent on behalf of them said. The initiative, she said, was also a way to create a digital footprint of Tinkar’s existence and its people’s initiatives, rather than having the village appear in public discourses only during debates over border issues of Kalapani-Lipulek.

According to Krishtal Budhathoki, 20 years old from Tinkar, they have repeatedly suffered damaging floods every year but received little government attention.

Every time after the floods, the little remaining roads get damaged, and with no attention from the government, residents have to rebuild themselves with one person from each household helping, said another 19-year-old resident, Juni Tinkari.

“Through this collective work, we hope the government recognises our vulnerability to disasters, lived experiences and also possibilities of Tinkar,” added Juni.

Published in The Rising Nepal on 13 September 2026.