Arjun Poudel

Domestic helps serving well off families in the capital who have been so far deprived of education have a reason to cheer, as the government and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) have started liberating them. Officials at the Department of Labor (DoL) said that the office will also guarantee education to the rescued children in their respective villages.

The DoL, Labor Office, Kathmandu and the Children and Women in Social Service and Human Rights (CWISH) on Tuesday rescued two domestic helps from a home at Nagendra Chowk, Kathmandu. CWISH, an NGO that advocates rights of children and women, said that Ram Gopal Chaudhary, 15, of Dang and Ramu Paswan, 14, of Krishnanagar, Kapilvastu district were rescued from Asha Sah´s home. Sah is a government official working for revenue department and her husband Rajkumar Mahaseth is an engineer at Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

"Children rescued from their home complained that they suffered excessive torture from the couple´s hand," Pradeep Dangol, a rescue officer at CWISH, said. He said that the office will file case against Mahasheth at court for keeping the domestic helps and not sending them to school. Child labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2000, prohibits government officials from keeping domestic helps. Both children complained of exploitation and not getting salary. "They also complained about physical and verbal abuses at the hands of their employers," he added. Chaudhary and Paswan came to capital for better education but were never sent to school. The organization said that both the boys will be returned to their respective villages and favorable environment will be created for them to resume school. The organization has also committed to provide scholarships, stationeries and uniform to the rescued children.

CWISH has said that it will first rescue children serving government officials. The organization has prepared a list of 64 domestic helps who have been toiling at government officials´ home. "We have decided to start from government officials´ home but eventually all the domestic helps deprived of education will be rescued," added Dangol.

Hundreds of children from the districts adjoining the capital have been toiling as domestic helps in the Valley. A study conducted by International Labor Organization (ILO) on 2003 estimated that about 21,000 domestic helps have been working in capital. Several studies have divulged that such children have been denied even their basic rights. In some instances, underage domestic servants have become victims of sexual abuses. The organization last month launched a campaign to reunite domestic helps with their families.

Published on: 12 June 2013 | Republica