Half of the recognized ex-Kamaiyas yet to receive land

More than half of the liberated kamaiyas (bonded labourers) in Bardiya district are yet to receive land as per the promise made by the government when they were declared free. "From the frying pan into the fire" is what quintessentially characterizes the situation of the ex-Kamaiyas, who are still languishing in many illegal camps in different places close to the East-West highway. This is reflected in the voices of around 3,000 ex-Kamaiyas here who, in no uncertain terms, state this is simply because the government failed to live up to its promise to provide them land and money. The government had promised Rs. 8,000 and a piece of land to each former bonded labourer when it declared them free from all kinds of bondage some two years back.

Of some 7,000 ex-Kamaiyas in Bardiya, around 3,000 holding red and blue cards have received lands in some 30 Village Development Committees (VDCs) and in one municipality - Gulariya. The remaining half are yet to get land, while those who have already settled have not felt fully emancipated as even very basic requirements like drinking water is out of their reach. The government distributed four different coloured cards – red, blue, yellow and white – to ex-Kamaiyas in its bid to group them according to their status.

The red cards are given to those who do not have both land and house. Blue cards indicate ex-Kamaiyas with houses but no land. Yellow stands for those having houses and small plots of land. Those carrying white cards are supposedly better off than the yellow cardholders. However, even those 'settled' in new lands are not happy. They complain the Land Reforms Office has pitted them in squatters’ settlement area and riverbanks. "How can people build houses in areas where people are already living?" Wondered Lautan Tharu, who has been living in Machhaghar camp in Bardiya.

"Even when it comes to the open lands, the ones already settled there claim those were their animal pasture," Hassi Ram Chaudhari echoed Tharu’s voice. "The government had provided around 5 kathha land and given Rs. 8,000 for house-construction, but how can we build a house on sand?" After the government had abolished the bonded-labour system on July 17, 2000, tens of thousands of Kamaiyas were, according to the plan, to be re-settled in five Kamaiya concentrated districts—Banke, Bardiya, Kailali, Kanchanpur and Dang.

The government had planned to provide land to the remaining ex-Kamaiyas in different VDCs, according to Mukti Bahadur Swanr, Land Reforms Officer in Bardiya. He says, "We have already planned the settlement areas in several VDCs and municipalities but other government bodies and NGOs are not cooperating. Only an integrated approach can rehabilitate these ex-Kamaiyas."

Almost in all ex-Kamaiya camps the heart of the problem lies in unemployment. Earlier they had to work for landlords round the clock; the difference now is that they are free—may be happy to be so as they don't have to work for landlords—which is where the difference ends for them. For, even now they are frustrated because they have not received enough land for agriculture, their traditional profession. While ex-Kamaiyas in legal camps are desperate for employment, for people in illegal camps even the promised land seems to be a distant dream, leave alone employment.

"Without home you can think of nothing," say many ex-Kamaiyas at Langhawa and Bangain camps. Land Reform Officials in Bardiya realize that although some 2000 ex-Kamaiyas are yet to be identified, they have not yet re-identified them. They say, "A proposal has been sent to the Council of Ministers for re-identifying ex-Kamaiyas."

This is not all. Perennial water supply crisis plagues most ex-Kamaiya camps. For instance, there is only one shallow tube-well for more than 60 houses in Dhadhwar, the VDC having the largest number of ex-Kamaiyas. Likewise, Machhaghar camp has only shallow tube-well for 50 families.

The NGOs too are facing difficulties in providing relief to ex-Kamaiyas. "Unless the government re-settles ex-Kamaiyas permanently, we can’t distribute shallow tube-wells in the temporary camps," said Kumar Silwal, program coordinator at Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH.)

Dhadhwar, Deudhakala and Kalika camps have the largest number of ex-Kamaiyas, where the supply of drinking water is necessary. More than 500 families have already settled in Dhadhwar but the government plans to settle around 800 houses there. There are government schools close to a few ex-Kamaiya settlement camps but the former bonded labourers' children have hardly been to those schools.

In addition to this, some camps like Dhadhwar, Sorhawa, Tesanpur, Jainpur barely have any link with towns like Gularia, Bhurigaun, Basgadhi and Kohalpur. Tepri is another ex-Kamaiya settlement, which can only be reached via Indian -- Motipur. This makes the situation of ex-Kamaiyas worse and their life harder in Bardiya.

A case of Illegal Camp--Langhawa

Some 15 km away from the highway, Langhawa, an illegal camp is situated in the middle of the jungle. One has to go through the Royal Bardiya National Park (RBNP) to reach the camp, where some 300 families are living illegally. Although the camp is illegal, the houses here look better than those in legal camps like Machhaghar. People here were not identified as Kamaiyas and so they have not received any card or land.

When the government declared 'freedom from bondage' they encroached upon the forest, which, they claim, had already depleted. "We settled in the forest, which had already thinned. We never encroached upon it," said Jangla Tharu. According to ex-Kamaiyas living here, their landlords cheated them. "When the government officials came to distribute cards, we were working in the fields as our landlords had told us that the government will not give any land to us in reality," said many ex-Kamaiyas interviewed here.

Although these people are illiterate, they are conscious of human rights. For instance, Jangla queries, "Are we not human beings? In fact, all human beings are equal. But we were treated as second-class citizens. Sometimes I get frustrated and feel as if I were not a human."

Jangla Tharu has opened up a small shop in his home. He sells biscuits, toffees and cigarette. But no market or haat-bazar is close to this camp so it is difficult for him to purchase things everyday. Unlike Jangla, many ex-Kamaiyas here depend on daily wages. Almost all of them have their kitchen garden to plant vegetables though they have to go to the forest to bring wild vegetables like ferns and mushrooms.

For earning daily wages, male folks of this camp go to Bhurigaun, Kohalpur and Nepalgunj. Women work in villages close to the camps. According to Mahanga Tharu, an ex-Kamaiya, each family living in this camp has six children. Very few children go to the government high school, which is some 5 km away from the camp and all the children above 10 work in villages along with their parents during paddy plantation period.

A teacher was found to be running literacy classes for children in the camp with 15 kg rice as remuneration from the parents. They lack health and sanitation awareness though their houses look clean. Not every house has tap or toilets. Whenever they are sick they visit the health-post nearby.

A case of Legal Camp-Machhaghar

Machhagad camp is situated very close to the east-west highway. Although the government had planned to provide land to 99 families in this camp, only 50 families have settled here. Most of the families in this camp have migrated from Rajapur’s Manau and Hattikhola VDCs only a year after the government distributed land.

With many of their problems yet to be addressed, many ex-Kamaiyas are feeling the heat of the scorching summer sun under the tin-roofed sheds with no walls. Some five to seven people live under the tin roof. "Now it is too hot because it is summer and we will have to suffer even after it rains. We don't have walls around us and water will pour in," said many ex-Kamaiyas living in this camp. "To live here is as difficult as living in Kisanghar (landlord’s house). The only difference is you worked round the clock earlier but now you can work taking your own time," said Baniram Tharu.

One can find a vast difference between people living here and people living in other legal camps like Gujrana and illegal camps like Langhawa. Although Langhawa is an illegal camp, people there are cleverer than here. It has been reported that ex-Kamaiyas who came from Rajapur were highly exploited by their landlords so they seem more scared and are still living in fear. "I never believed that we would be free one day. I had never expected we would have our own home one day," says Lautan Tharu.

The government has provided them separate lands to establish school and health post in the southeastern part of the settlement area, but neither government organizations like District Education Office nor any NGOs have taken the initiative to build the school. Children here rarely go to school—hardly 10 children go to school from this camp. This is because either they do not know they have government primary schools nearby Machhaghar village, adjacent to the camp, or they have the compulsion to send their children to work for survival.

Moreover, this camp has a severe problem--drinking water. For fifty houses there is only one shallow tube-well. "It takes almost two hours to fill our buckets in the morning. Cleaning and washing is also very difficult. If we had we enough water, we could have planted vegetables here," said Hira Tharu, who had just returned from the forest with some mushrooms.