Kamaiya update from the field-Sept 28

The landlords in Kanchanpur and Kailali have been showing their political strength in the past week. They have managed to have several VDCs declare that certain NGOs are banned from working within their area. They also locked up a BASE office in Kanchanpur. Monday they called a bandh in the two districts to pressure the central government to follow their demands. The most basic demand is that they should be compensated for their lost investment in the Kamaiyas. It is fairly clear that VDCs' declarations and certainly the claim to repayment are outside of the law. Villagers in some areas have sent protest letters, but the most basic issue -- that the law is not with the landlords -- is not really considered. People expect the arbitrary use of power by local landlords.

Meanwhile, the spirit in the Kamaiya camp in that I visited in Dhangadi seemed pretty good. The camp had about 250 families, living in makeshift tents. The conditions were tight, but the camp seemed fairly well organized. The people there meet every morning for a meeting and discuss their problems and issues. They were getting some food through the food-of-work program. They had to go argue with the DDC every morning to get it, but that they got the food none the less. When asked, most said that they preferred life there to that of the landlords houses, because they didn't have to work from early morning to late evening anymore.

Most of the people I spoke to in the camp had not been registered under the government's survey of Kamaiyas. The survey and the results it is producing is being questioned by everyone. The survey teams are too small and have too little time. They are relying almost exclusively on what the local VDCs members (many of whom themselves keep kamaiyas). The kamaiyas themselves are cannot speak up, and in any case no serious effort has been made to involve them or the NGOs. The need for reliable data and registration if the rehabilitation program is to be successful is still clear.

The question of available land is also a pressing one. The government is considering the distribution of one katha per family, which is woefully inadequate for a family's survival. The NGOs say as that as a minimum 10 katha should be given. This would still require the families to work on others land to feed themselves, but they would then be in a position to bargain for the minimum wage. There are large tracts of unregistered land in all of the districts out here. But, of course, much of this land is already being used by some one even though it is not registered. The real land situation, including available forest and marginal land, is not clear.