The Kamaiya situation: from bad to worse?

It is unfortunate that bonded labourers (Kamaiyas) who were liberated about three months ago from the exploitation of landlords should find themselves in so precarious a position. They have had to adopt arious means for their survival.

The main reason for this is that the government has done nothing about its pledge to resettle them. The Kamaiyas who are skilled only in agriculture have been left with no other choice but to take up low-paying menial jobs or to get into the sex trade. It is a fact that the plight of these liberated bonded labourers has gone from bad to worse. Such an estranged profession not only hurts their dignity but also raises questions regarding their future resettlement. Obviously, Kamaiya girls and women have been compelled to involve themselves in sex trade due to lack of employment opportunities as well as due to difficulties in coping with their liberated life in the absence of proper economic and rehabilitative packages for them.

Three months ago, the government and some social organisations liberated over eighty five thousand Kamaiyas in the country's five western districts. Ironically, the government claimed it was a revolutionary step to reform the existing social system. Since July, the government has neither been able to resettle them nor has it come up with substantial measures for their rehabilitation. This has not only affected their daily life but also forced them to wander without jobs and shelter. This apart, the I/NGOs which drove the government to pass the legislation against the practice of bonded labourers have also failed to resettle Kamaiyas due to absence of resources.

A week after their liberation, the government made an appeal to Kamaiyas to cooperate with their former landlords and urged them to return to work. The government did this because it realised its state of "unpreparedness" for their rehabilitation. Had there been some arrangements to provide land or jobs to landless bonded labourers, such an appeal would not have come. This apart, the emancipation fund too did not draw any international attention due to lack of specific resettlement programmes. But there are a few questions. Does the government have any right to give such counselling? If not, then why did the government liberate them without having proper measures for their resettlement in place? The constitution of 1990 clearly prohibits any kind of slavery or serfdom. Under such provisions, the government does not have any right to send Kamaiyas back to their former landlords.

The government, opposition parties and I/NGOs must realize that they have turned the life of Kamaiyas from bad to worse. For example, their involvement in sex trade will generate more social problems than can be solved with government or I/NGO intervention. Therefore, the government must treat the Kamaiya question as a matter deserving great urgency.