The “Tukis” of Dolakha: A Return to Darkness?  

Tukis are traditional oil-fed lamps used to light village households. "Tukis" are also the trailblazing villagers who serve as unique agricultural extension workers in the Dolakha and Sindhupalchok districts, east of Kathmandu. As torch bearers for development, the 200 Tuki farmers in the area have, for many years, acted as information conduits, passing agricultural information to the villages. They have also channelled feedback from the farmers to scientists and bureaucrats.

"Unfortunately, what remains of the Tuki farmers is the last bright glow. The oil is almost used up and the lamp will soon go out," says conservationist K.K. Panday, who has been involved with Tukis since the late 1970s. With the Swiss funded project scheduled to be wound up in 1990, he says it is likely that these "emissaries between the village and the project" will go their own individual ways. The villagers of the two districts will then, once again, slip back into dusk, if not darkness.