Lalu Luhar, a Haliya (bonded tiller), tills the land of his landlord in the district just to pay off the loan his father reportedly borrowed some 60 years ago.

A permanent resident of Dewal VDC, Luhar, from a Dalit community, assigned himself as a Haliya to the family of Gangaraj Panta after his father’s death. “My father tilled the land for 30 years, but could not pay back the loan. I do not know for what purpose my father took the loan but I am having to work hard to pay back the loan,” he said, adding that he was told that his father took Rs 5,000 sixty years ago.

He shared the story to a district-level monitoring committee which reached the village to inquire about Haliyas. Local Dalit leader Jayaraj Lawad said Luhar has been tilling the land of Panta for the past 30 years to pay off the debt, claiming that many still work as Haliya in rural areas.

In September 2008, the then government signed an agreement with Haliyas announcing the end of the tradition.

Published on: 15 June 2014 | The Kathmandu Post