Kamaiya system ends
Bonded labours freeded from debts

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, July 17 - The government today made a landmark decision outlawing the practice of Kamaiya or bonded labour that still exists in at least five districts in the mid and far-western parts of the country.

"The cabinet in today’s meeting decided to make the practice of bonded labor illegal and anyone involved in it will now be punished under the law," Minister for Land Reforms and Management Siddharaj Ojha told the House of Representatives, the Lower House of Parliament.

Though forced labour and slavery is banned and punishable by up to 10 years in prison, the government estimates that there are at least 16,000 bonded labourers in the country.

Human Rights groups say that the figure of these people in Banke, Bardia, Kailali, Kanchanpur and Dang districts could be as high as 40,000 who for generations have been working as bonded

labours trying to pay off debts drawn by their fathers or grandfathers.

"From this day, these bonded labourers will not only be free of any obligations but they won’t have to pay any money they owe to the landlords and are free from any bonds that are either written or verbal," Minister Ojha said.

Anyone who tries to force these bonded labourers to continue or those who are still involved in the practice will now be punished between three to 10 years in prison, he added.

Minister Ojha further said that this decision by the cabinet follows the commitment and announcement made by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in the Parliament few weeks ago about abolishing the practice of bonded labour.

The government in the past had tried to free these bonded labourers by paying off the debt to the landlords under a program. About two years ago, the government through a cabinet decision decided to set up a fund of Rs. 50 million to pay back the loans as part of the Bonded Labor Debt Relief and Upliftment Program.

But the program drew much criticism saying that the government was trying to buy these people back and that it was involved in trade of human beings by making illegal payments to these landlords instead of punishing them for violating human rights of these bonded labourers.

The government has been accused of awarding these handful of exploiters by paying them money in the form of debt relief instead of punishing these people who have for years exploited the bonded labourers and are violating human rights. Even the Auditor General’s report questioned the program.

So far, only 764 families have been rescued by the government in the past two years since the program came into effect. And at this rate, it would have taken at least another 50 years before the present number of bonded labourers were freed, experts had said.

It is no surprise that the decision to ban bonded labour was hurried through by the government today. Though the government had from time to time reiterated its pledge to outlaw the practice and help raise the economic standards of these people, not much had been done in this area.

The main opposition CPN-UML today filed a motion of stricture demanding that all the business of the Parliament be suspended and discussion on the issue and problem of bonded labour immediately begin. The motion was filed by CPN-UML Chief Whip Bharat Mohan Adhikari and seconded by Subash Nemwang at the Parliament Secretariat.

However, even before the stricture motion could be tabled, Minister Ojha made the announcement that earned the applause from both the treasury and the opposition benches.

NSP flays UML on citizenship

KATHMANDU, July 17 (PR)- The main opposition CPN-UML is maintaining double standards on the Bill brought to make sixth amendment on Citizenship Act-1963, accused Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) lawmaker Hridesh Tripathi today.

Without naming CPN-UML by its name, Tripathi said that "this party" had first discussed the Bill and then taken part in the amendment process when it was at the State Affairs Committee, endorsed it through the Lower House of Parliament and now had "conspired" to block the Bill at the National Assembly, the Upper House of Parliament.

The Bill had been unanimously adopted by the Lower House last month but was immediately rejected by the Upper House where non of the parties hold a majority.

"This Bill is already incomplete and does not meet the requirement of the time, so why was this party so much interested to block the Bill?" Tripathi said.

The Bill, the first one to be adopted by the on-going session of Parliament, was passed on to the National Assembly where a majority of the legislators opposed it saying that it would pose dire consequences given the huge inflow of refugees from countries like Bhutan and migrants from India. The Bill has been retabled in the Lower House which can again be passed and sent to the Palace for the Royal assent.

Under the new provision of the Bill, any person could acquire a Nepali citizenship on the basis of descent and the father of the person does not necessarily have to hold a Nepali citizenship. Before this provision, one could get citizenship certificate only if the father held a Nepali citizenship card.

"We demand the Bill be immediately presented and forwarded," Tripathi said.

‘Big imbalance in crime & punishment’

KATHMANDU, July 17 (PR)- People are losing faith in the judicial system due to faulty investigation procedure, the tendency of the investigators to let the convicts go scot free and vague policies on penalties, legal experts said today.

"The intentions of the investigators in any of the inquiries is questionable," said Harihar Dahal, chairman of Nepal Bar Association (NBA) at an interaction programme organised by Amnesty International to mark International Justice Day. "The culprits are walking away without being fined or having to serve jail sentence since the investigators work with a wrong intention."

He said that criminal activities are carried out in a "scientific manner", whereas the investigation procedure is "antiquated." "The investigation procedure needs to be reviewed and improved," Dahal said.

Kashi Raj Dahal spokesperson at the Supreme Court, said that there is an acute imbalance between the crimes and the penalties.

"There is no such system which determines the penalties according to the crimes committed," said Dahal. "In most of the cases the penalties depend upon the judge’s discretion. A new policy that defines the penalties needs to be formulated."

Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Mahantha Thakur conceded that the investigation and judicial system are faulty and need to be reviewed.

Road still a distant dream in Humla

By Dil Bhusan Pathak

KATHMANDU, July 17 - After the government failed  to allocate funds in this year’s budget for the construction of the estimated 80 km long Simikot-Hilsa road linking the headquarters of Humla with Tibet, a delegation from this mid-western frontier district has decided to show resilience and stay back in the capital till the government shows concern for their cause.

Speaker Taranath Ranabhat, former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had given words at different times to construct Simikot-Hilsa road which, according to Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, president of Humla District Development Committee, could make a revolutionary change in their lives.

"People had high hopes that the government would earmark substantial amount for the construction of the road in the current fiscal year’s budget, but the road has not been included in the yearly plan of the government. The whole of Karnali has been neglected," Shahi told The Kathmandu Post.

Humla DDC puts construction of Simikot-Hilsa road as its dream project which could transform one of the poorest and remotest district’s economic and social condition. In this process, the district has shown its preference to link with the north rather than the south. In its district council meeting two years ago, local representatives unanimously decided that the Simikot-Hilsa road construction was their priority number one.

Noted geographer Dr Harka Gurung finds the DDC’s decision pragmatic. "The concept of building road from south to north has become outdated now though it was sensible two decades ago. Now Tibet holds a greater prospect for trade and commerce. From now onwards, roads should be constructed from north to south," he said.

Twenty kilometre section of the road has already been surveyed by the DDC and works are going on to expand the road.

The delegation from Humla led by the DDC president has already met the prime minister and other higher officials of the ruling Nepali Congress party and other government officials-but so far all they have received is "assurances".

"PM Koirala has assured us that he will soon ask the authorities concerned to earmark the fund, but we will not return to the district until we get a letter stating that the fund has been allocated," Shahi said.

NGOs may come forward to help once the government allocates funds, hopes Shahi. He believes the road will transform this belt of Karnali zone. "Indians visiting Kailash Mansarovar will pass through this route in large numbers. Apple, medicinal herbs and vegetables which grow in plenty in Humla will have access to the international market and consequently, food-grain can be imported, thus eradicating hunger for ever in this district which faces shortage of food every year.

Dr Gurung says that road construction will help save fragile ecology of the region. "Kerosene will be easily available once the road is constructed, trees will not be destroyed once people have kerosene and environment in this area will eventually be preserved," he says.

People of the district believe that it will be easy for them to go and transport goods to Humla from Kathmandu via Tatopani and the Chinese territory.

National Planning Commission member Dr Jagadish Chandra Pokharel said construction of Simikot-Hilsa road falls on the priority list of NPC. "The road should be widened with the local level initiative and it should be handed over to the Roads Department for its upgrading, he says.

"As this road is of vital importance for managing the northern border points, enable people to go to Mansarovar and uplift the living condition of the people, preparation is going on for earmarking about 2.5 million rupees under the special area development programme," Pokharel said.

(With inputs from Jaya Bahadur Rokaya in Humla)

MP seeks sacked staff back

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, July 17 - A lawmaker of the ruling Nepali Congress today demanded that the government immediately reinstate the staff of the Mahakali Irrigation Project dismissed last week.

"The process used by the Irrigation Department and the Minister for Water Resources to announce the dismissal is itself illegal and contrary to the decision reached by the cabinet in March," NC’s Ramesh Lekhak told the House of Representatives during the Special Hour.

Lekhak said that it was not appropriate to dismiss them at this point since these people were hired through the process of Public Service Commission and that the work was still going on the project that was just recently allocated Rs. 32 million budget and another pledge for Rs. 90 million for another phase.

"The staff of the project have now stopped work and are protesting the sudden move by the Department. The cabinet in its decision had said that since the Mahakali Irrigation Development Committee had been dissolved, the entire staff would be moved under the project," he said. "This move clearly clashes with the decision of the cabinet."

The Irrigation Department on Friday had notified the project that it was dismissing all the staff in the planning department. This decision would affect at least 122 permanent staff members and scores more temporary and wage workers.

In retaliation, reports from the area say that the project staff have begun a campaign seeking reinstatement of their dismissed colleagues.

Boy accused of bestiality hangs self

By a Post Reporter

HETAUDA, July 17 - A 19-year-old boy accused of having sex with a buffalo hanged himself to death on a tree in Sukoura VDC, about 35 kilometres north-east of here, hours after the cattle-owners tied him and beat him up.

Kedar Bhujel, son of Indra Bahadur Bhujel of Sukoura VDC-9 was reportedly beaten up severely by the cattle-owner Kul Bahadur Adhikari and four others throughout Thursday night.

Father Indra Bahadur said his son was found dead on a tree in a nearby forest the next afternoon. He added the Adhikaris had caught his son on Thursday afternoon accusing him of having sex with their buffalo and tied him up.

While Bhujel’s family members suspect he was hanged by the Adhikaris after he died during the course of beating, police and locals assert he could have committed suicide due to inferiority complex and shame.

Bhujel’s body was taken for post-mortem here Sunday. District Police Office, meanwhile, has taken Kul Bahadur Adhikari, Ram Bahadur Adhikari, Chandra Bahadur Adhikari and Badri Shankar Pyakurel for investigation.