Weena Pun

A meeting between former Kamlaris and the government-held to discuss an amendment to the Kamlari Education Guidelines (2012) ended inconclusively on Sunday with both the sides agreeing to meet for further discussion in the near future.

The amendment is in accordance with an agreement struck between the government and former Kamlaris on June 7. The former Kamlaris have been demanding a raise in the scholarship amount disbursed by the government (see table). Although the government is open to discussions on the raise to ensure education for freed Kamlaris, the increment, it said, might not be as demanded.

“Increasing the amount is not a solution to the problem, but identifying it is. We’ll meet with concerned stakeholders and figure out ways to ensure education for all former Kamlaris,” said Mahashram Sharma, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Education, who chaired the meeting. “The guidelines are one of the best government scholarship schemes,” he added.

This reluctance in increasing the amount simply because Kamlaris are already getting the best, however, disappointed former Kamlaris who attended the meeting. 

“If we were economically strong, we wouldn’t ask for assistance. Comparing us to indigenous and Dalit populations, who also receive financial aids for education from the government, is an attempt to avoid the problem,” said Manjita Chaudhary, a 21-year-old former Kamlari and central chairperson of the Freed Kamlari Development Forum (FKDF).

Chaudhary is awaiting her Plus Two results. “Because Rs 5,000 from the government was not enough, I had to sell newspapers and work at a cooperative to finance my education,” she said.

After the talks on money went nowhere, the meeting on Sunday focussed heavily on 370 orphaned and homeless Kamlari students staying at eight government-run dormitories. Even there, the assurances to look into the demands were mostly verbal, said former Kamlaris.

Apart from extending the period of allowance disbursement, the former Kamlaris demanded that the government establish a structure to address health issues, and increase the salary of the security guard, cook and warden from Rs 1,500 a month to the monthly minimum wage of Rs 8,000.

“The girls in dormitories feel unsafe because no person wants to guard the dorm for just Rs 1,500 a month,” said Phakala Tharu, central programme manager at the FKDF. “These seemingly minor details affect a Kamlari’s performance at school.”

Twenty-year-old Krishna Chaudhary, a former Kamlari who stays in a dorm in Kanchanpur and appeared SLC exams last year, echoed a similar sentiment.

“Boys just get inside the dorm and start eve-teasing. We’ve talked to the school management about this problem a number of times before coming to the Capital, but the management says it can do nothing unless the government increases the funding. All this adds to the stress we orphaned Kamlaris already face,” said Chaudhary, whose parents died when she was young.  

Sharma, however, stressed that these were the responsibilities of the school management and not of the Kamlaris or the government. “On establishing a health fund or coordinating with government hospitals to address Kamlaris’ health problems, we can do something,” said Sharma.

Published on: 19 August 2013 | The Kathmandu Post