Changing forms of labor exploitation in the traditional agriculture system

Agriculture is the main occupation of the Nepalese but commercialization of agriculture has not yet materialized. Those who toil over land are landless, while those who own land are not taking agriculture as a profession. As a result, Nepal has become a food importing country. In Nepal, 85% of people are dependent on agriculture but 26% of the land belongs to 5% of the people. As the landlords are not engaged in commercial agriculture, there has been no increase in agricultural production. Rather, there has been wide exploitation of agricultural labor.

In Nepal, feudalistic type of land system has been in practice since long. There has been much exploitation of farm labor due to feudalistic land ownership system and practice of subsistence farming. Reforms have been made from time to time in the land system but every reform has only safeguarded the interests of a few landowners. Majority of landowners are not benefiting from these reforms which have not benefited the farm laborers at all because they are not getting due compensation for their labor.

Unfortunately, the existing land system has created class division within society. There were the Jamindars and the Ryots in the feudal system, which existed in Nepal till 2015 B.S. when it was abolished and the Tenancy System was introduced. The Land Reform introduced in 2021 B.S. created two classes – the landowner and the tenant farmer. The Land Act 2048 ended the dual ownership on land, but it intensified the dispute between the landlords and the Kamaiyas. In this way, the land system of Nepal has always created class divisions of one or the another type. The blame does not go only to the government. The traditional Nepali culture itself is the main culprit. However, the government is required to bring appropriate policies, laws and programs to resolve or mitigate the problem. Now the Kamaiya system has been abolished, and the law has already been enacted in this regard and there are some provisions to punish those who keep a kamaiya. But ironically, while new laws are being enacted, the exploiters have been quicker to go on adopting newer forms of exploitation. Along with the abolition of the Kamaiya system, the new methods of exploitation of the farm laborers have been emerging, and they have got such names as 'Adhiya (share cropping)', 'Bantma', 'Jirayat' and 'Begari' systems.

In the Kamaiya system, the Jamindars used to get the wives of their Kamaiyas to work for no wages under the system named Bukrahi. Now, after the abolition of the Kamaiya system, they are doing the same under the name of 'Jirayat' and 'Begari'. Though these are punishable under the Kamaiya Abolition Act 2058, these practices are going on unchecked.

It has been customary in Nepal as well as other countries of this region to divide the products of the land between the landlord and the tenant farmer. In the past, when there was plenty of land, the tenant farmer would get the bigger and the landowner smaller share. In the terai there also existed such practice that the entire product was divided into five shares out of which the tenant farmer would get four shares and the landowner would get only one share. Similarly, there were also the systems called ‘Potait’ and 'Savya' in some places. In this system, the tenant farmer would enjoy all the produce himself if he paid the land tax to the government on behalf of the landowner. In the cases of the 'Potait' system, the whole produce of a portion of the total land would go to the landowner and this condition was known as the 'Jirayat'. The landowners have started reviving the 'Jirayat' system with the exploitative condition in which the products are equally divided between the landowner and the tenant farmer. The tenant farmer will get half of the production in that land under the condition that he works throughout the year for the landlord for no wages. On the one hand the present law allows no one to work as a Kamaiya, while on the other jobs are not easily available. So, the freed Kamaiyas and the small farmers, who hold only a little land, are compelled to work under the 'Adhiya' system. Thus they have become bonded labourers who work for the landowner for no wages.

One hundred two families at Bathuwataal of ward no. 2 of Motipur VDC of Bardia district are tilling land on 'Adhiya' basis. Kamal Chaudhary from Rehartanri of Bathuwataal is one of those who are engaged in 'Adhiya'. His family is farming 3 bighas of land belonging to Baburam Pangeni, a landlord from Laxmana of ward no 7 of Deudhakala VDC. For using the 3 bighas of land under 'Adhiya', kamal Chaudhary also tills another 3 kaththas of land for his landlord without getting anything paid for his work. Similarly, he has to send two of his family members to his landlord's house to do household chores all the year but they get no wages. When asked about the chores at the landlord's house, Kalangi Chaudhary, Kamal's mother, says, "We have to do all the work including cleaning the cowshed, collecting fodder, doing the washing-up and doing other work in the kitchen. The landlord makes us work throughout the day but we do not get any food. At eight in the evening, we come back to our place and cook food for ourselves." When asked about the wages, she says, "No wages at all. They say they will give us two pairs of clothes but I’m not sure." Kalangi and her husband are staying in a 'Bukura' (small hut) of the landlord ever since they started tilling the landlord’s land on Adhiya. Regarding the wages, Baburam Pangeni, the landlord, says, "We do not make them work all the day. They work for only two hours a day. So, two pairs of clothes are enough for their wages. If they want money instead of the clothes, we will give them 1,200 rupees a year."

Going by the account of the landlord himself, two persons work for two hours a day throughout the year. It makes 460 hours. The minimum daily wages (on the basis of 8 working hours a day) as fixed by the government is Rs. 60. In fact, the workers are paid a bit higher than the government-fixed wage rate. The calculation gives a figure of Rs. 10,950 in a year as the minimum wage that these workers should get for doing domestic chores. In addition, they also till 3 kaththas of land for the landlord. If farming is properly done in time, a bigha of land yields 30 to 35 quintals of rice, which is equivalent to 4,000 rupees. That amount also goes to the landlord. The tenant farmer gets just 1,200 rupees as the annual wages for two persons. This shows that they get their wages at the rate of Rs. 6.57 per day and 82 paisa per hour. Answering the question why the tenant farmers work for such low wages, Kamal Chaudhary says, "There are 13 members in our family and we have 10 kaththas of land which does not produce enough food for us. So, we are bound to work on the landlord's land on 'Adhiya' basis. It is not likely that we will earn enough money even if we go elsewhere to work. Work is not available. So, we have no option." After the abolition of the Kamaiya system, the number of tenant farmers who work as Adhiya laborers is growing very fast. It has been more difficult for them to find land to use. Landlord Baburam says, "This year, six agricultural workers came to me to ask for land. I gave my land to the one whom I trusted the best." Answering the question whether there is a competition among the laborers, he says, "Laborers queue up. Naturally, there is a competition. But it is not fair to make them do excessive work."

A survey carried out in Bathuwataal village of Bardia district shows that about 50% people of this village cultivate the land on Adhiya. In return of using a bigha and five kaththas of land, one family of the tenant farmer tills another seven kaththas of land as 'Jirayat' and work at least for 6 days for the landlord, for which they get nothing from the landlord. In return for the use of the land on Adhiya, at least 10% of the families work for the landlord throughout the year. They get just food for their work. 2% of the families work for the landlord throughout the year but do not get any food. 26% of the landlords give food and make the tenant farmers do both the 'Begari' and the 'Jirayat'. 4% of the landlords do not give food to the tenant farmers even on working days. 95% of those who work throughout the year but do not get wages are women and children.