Ten-year-old Shristi Chaudhari of Gadariya in Kailali works as a domestic help at the house of Shiva Kumari Dangol in Kathmandu.

Shristi´s parents had sent her to Dangol´s house to work as a domestic help. But despite her school going age, the Dangol´s while making Shristi work hard throughout the day do not send her to school.

“She has been denied her right to education. Her parents had handed her over to the Dangol´s as they were very poor. We have been freed as Kamlaris, but the government´s neglect of our condition has forced us to continue sending our children to work for the landlords,” complained Pabitra Chaudhary, a former Kamlari from Chaumala in the district.

Sushma Chaudhary, 12, of Tikapur has a similar story. She works as a domestic help and does not go to school.

Currently, hundreds of children of the former Kamlaris have been forced work as domestic helps due to poverty.

“Dozens of children of former Kamlaris aged 10 to 13 years are working as domestic helps. But the government has turned a blind eye to their plight, let alone ensure their right to education,” complained Pabitra, who is also a member of Free Kamlari Development Forum.

She admits that though the government had agreed to address their 10-point demand forwarded after their protests in Kathmandu, the government has nothing as of yet to address their demands.

“We will resort to more stringent protests if the government continues to remain apathetic to our demands,” she warned.  According to the forum, 243 Kamlaris in Kailali, 124 in Bardiaya, 61 in Banke, 26 in Kanchanpur, and 89 in Dang districts are yet to be freed by the government.

“Unless we are freed of poverty, we and our children would continue to work as bonded laborers even if the government proclaims us free,” said she.

In their 10-point demand, the former Kamlaris had demanded rehabilitation, issuance of birth registration certificate to children of single mothers, and punishment those who killed Kamlaris.

As many as five Kamlaris were killed and 27 disappeared in the past. But the government is yet to punish the guilty. The government had abolished the Kamlari system some thirteen years ago, but freed Kamlaris are still living in poverty.

Published on: 16 January 2014 | Republica