Returning home for Dashain, only to face trouble at the border

Thousands of Nepali workers leave Indian cities for home during Dashain. The festival gives families a chance to reunite after months or years apart. Workers also return with savings to pay for celebrations and household needs. For many poor families, shared time matters as much as money.

Bhim Prasad Khatri returned after four years working in Himachal Pradesh. Prem Oli came back after working in Shimla, while Sijang Nepali returned from Bageshwar after two months of daily-wage work. Sarjan Bahadur Saud came home after seven years, and Bir Kesh Saud after 12 years.

The movement grows as Dashain nears. Many workers plan to celebrate Dashain and Tihar before returning to India. Some, such as Sijang Nepali, also hope to seek better work in places like Bengaluru after the festivals. Their journeys show how migration supports both family life and festival expenses.

Returning workers enter Nepal mainly through three crossings named in the article: Jamunaha in Banke, and Gauriphanta and Gaddachauki in Sudurpaschim. These crossings serve people heading toward Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces. Traffic increases at all three during the Dashain season.

The journey usually begins in Indian work destinations. Migrants from western Nepal commonly work in Punjab, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Gujarat, Surat, and several parts of Uttarakhand. Many travel for three to five days by a combination of buses and trains before reaching the border.

After crossing, they continue toward districts including Achham, Bajura, Bajhang, Doti, Kailali, Surkhet, Dailekh, and Rukum West. The article does not give one fixed route for every traveller. Instead, routes vary according to the worker’s Indian destination and home district.

Jamunaha became a major return point as Dashain approached. Rajan Prasad Bhattarai, chief of the Jamunaha Area Police Office, said around 10,000 people were entering Nepal through the crossing each day. The scale shows how strongly the festival shapes seasonal movement across the border.

More than 50,000 Nepalis had returned through Jamunaha during the five days before Bhattarai’s statement. People entered in large numbers from 6am until 10pm. Many had already spent three to five days travelling by bus and train from Indian cities, so they reached the crossing tired but eager to continue home.

The article says numbers were rising as Dashain neared. However, it does not provide an ordinary-season figure or a precise percentage increase. Therefore, the available comparison is between daily traffic, about 10,000 people, and the five-day total, more than 50,000.

The article identifies excessive transport charges as a major problem for returning migrants. After long journeys from India, workers still need local transport to reach Nepalese towns and their home districts. Arbitrary fares can make the final part of the journey especially difficult for people who have limited savings.

The excerpt does not provide the official fare near Gauriphanta. It also does not state a specific amount charged by auto-rickshaw drivers. Instead, it reports that drivers were accused of charging arbitrary fares and sometimes leaving passengers stranded along the way. That establishes the problem but not its exact price difference.

A precise comparison cannot be made from the supplied text. The article indicates that festival-season demand gives transport operators an opportunity to pressure passengers, while workers are tired and eager to get home. Any rupee figures would require information from a portion of the article not included here.

Overcharging creates a difficult final leg for workers who have already travelled for days. Those unable or unwilling to pay may be left stranded along the route. This can delay their journeys and add stress after an exhausting trip from Indian cities to the border.

At Jamunaha, auto-rickshaw drivers reportedly jostle to attract passengers. The article also says hotel operators from Nepalgunj approach people at the crossing. These actions create a crowded environment where returning workers must quickly choose transport and accommodation after arriving in Nepal.

The supplied excerpt ends while describing these problems. It does not explain specific cases of robbery or fraud, nor does it state how much money workers lose. It establishes that harassment, arbitrary fares, and possible exploitation make the border crossing harder, especially during the festival rush.

Authorities are present at the crossings, but the supplied excerpt gives limited information about their response. Rajan Prasad Bhattarai is identified as chief of the Jamunaha Area Police Office. He provided the estimate of roughly 10,000 daily returnees and described the scale of movement.

The excerpt does not say that police fixed transport fares, arrested operators, created help desks, or protected migrants from robbery and fraud. It also does not identify a specific government programme for assisting returning workers. Therefore, no detailed account of official safeguards can be drawn from the available text.

The article does show why protection matters. Crowds rise sharply before Dashain, workers arrive exhausted, and drivers are accused of arbitrary pricing and leaving passengers stranded. Further reporting would be needed to explain what Nepalese authorities are doing and whether those measures are effective.

People from Nepal’s western hill districts depend on migration because local earnings are often insufficient. Sarjan Bahadur Saud said he left home because village income could not support his family. Workers therefore seek labour, resin collection, and daily-wage jobs in Indian states and cities.

Dhan Bahadur Daulyal spent a decade collecting pine resin in Bageshwar. Prem Oli went to Uttarakhand after finishing farming at home, while Sijang Nepali has worked in several Uttarakhand locations since age 16. Their pattern combines farming in Nepal with income-generating work across the border.

Migration can be seasonal or long term. Daulyal and his wife planned to return to India after Tihar and their farming work. Saud had worked in India for 37 years, while others moved repeatedly in search of better opportunities. The article shows migration as a practical response to limited rural income, not simply a temporary choice.