Bikram Giri

Four years after their emancipation, freed bonded-laborers of the Far-Western Region of Nepal still decry their bleak prospects as the government has not provided them the promised compensation package. 

Participants of a two-day Haliya Rights Movements 2012, which concluded in Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur district on Tuesday, reminded government officials of their demands and the need for an immediate solution. 

According to Ganesh BK, chief of National Dalit Network (NDN), the problems and hard life of freed bonded-laborers have remained the same although the government proclaimed their emancipation back on August 18, 2008. 

“Sustaining life after emancipation has become a huge burden for them as most of them possess no land or other property,” said BK. “We want the government to address out rights and demands in a package which should be implement though the local level,” he added. 

Almost all the free bonded-laborers are landless. Those possessing land in the Terai are living along the rivers and those living on public land have not received land ownership certificates. “Identity cards from the government are no solace for us. Every day we struggle to live and feed our families. I see no future for us,” said Kare Damai, who has a 10-member family. 

Bharat BK of Khirchen VDC-3, Doti district spoke of a similar predicament after being emancipated. “We are compelled to work on others´ land since we have no land of our own. Because of dire poverty, even our children have to work just like the rest of us,” he said.

“Since most laborers like us have gone abroad for work, the women are having a hard time receiving their identity cards as the law requires male representatives,” informed Bharat. Most of the freed female bonded-laborers have been appealing to the authorities for a provision for issuing identity cards in their own names. 

Years after being rid of the bonded tag, the number of those who have not yet received their identity cards is surprisingly high. 

According to records at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, out of the total of 220 freed bonded-laborers in Kailai district, 154 passed the verification procedure and only 83 of them have received their identity cards. 

In Kanchanpur district, 3,732 freed bonded-laborers had registered for identity cards, and among these, 381 passed the verification procedure and 339 received identity cards. Similarly, in Dharchula district, 250 out of the 381 who have been verified received their identity cards.

According to the Freed Bonded-Labors Monitoring Committee, there are a total of 19,051 freed bonded-laborers in the Far and Mid-Western Regions of Nepal.

Published on: 1 December 2012 | Republica