Our Pride

Heritage is what gives us an identity, a connection to our roots. As a country which loves to be identified as the birth place of Buddha, Nepal has all the more reasons to preserve its heritage. The hints recently, by the chairperson of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee that it might recommend to put heritage sites of the valley in the list of World Heritage in danger at the WHC gives rise to a fresh cause of concern. It is shameful that, we, who rely on tourism for our economy to run, pay so little attention towards preservation of our treasured heritage. For us it is not only a question of pride that we may bask in our rich legacy, but something that is directly related to our bread and butter. Our heritage is not only our history, but also the key to our economy and prosperity. This realisation should bring more initiatives form the native inhabitants of the city at community level as well as the government. However, at this stage Prime Minister Koirala’s commitment to protect heritage and develop Kathamndu valley into a tourism city does bring in some hope. Prudent steps at urban planning even now will help the matter, as all is not lost yet. In fact, we should not always be looking outwards for grants and donations for preservation, but harness our own resources to preserve our heritage sites. A general awareness about how precious our heritage is, may make the inhabitants of this city balk when they feel this urge to litter, write signs or encroach upon the heritage site area. At government level, preserving heritage should be made a priority. If the people at community level and the government organisations join hands, it should not be an impossible task to preserve what our ancestors built for us. The responsibility to take care of our heritage and hand it over to the future generation intact lies with us.

Training For Kamaiyas

DEPUTY Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel distributed identification certificates to Kamaiyas in Geta village of Kailali district the other day and said that the government is working out plans and programmes for providing Kamaiyas with skill and income generating training in order to enable them to live dignified life in the society. Addressing the function Deputy Prime Minister Poudel said that the Kamaiya system (bonded labour) was abolished and Kamaiyas were liberated from bondage as per the democratic policies and ideals of the Nepali Congress government. It is true that Kamaiya system existed in the country for long as one of the vestiges of feudal and slave system and they had long been demanding liberation and abolition of this exploitative system. The government also took a bold decision to abolish the Kamaiya system and liberated thousands of Kamaiyas. The decision of the government to liberate Kamaiyas is, no doubt, a laudable step. But a new problem came up following the abolition of Kamaiya system. Soon after their liberation, Kamaiyas were evicted from their places as they were living and working in landlord’s land and houses. They have no land to live and no skill to work for their survival. In view of this, the government decided to launch programmes for skill and income generation of Kamaiyas and other activities for their welfare. But there are possibilities of misusing these facilities by some other clever people in the name of Kamaiyas. Thus, the government decided to distribute identification certificates to them and launch programmes for their welfare and development. This would help support only the needy and genuine Kamaiyas. As the government has taken bold and historic decision to abolish the system and liberate Kamaiyas from the condition of bondage, it needs to take similar action in order to rehabilitate in the society. Kamaiyas are illiterate, landless and backward people and their only skill is labour. They need to be provided with skill training and other income generating activities to enable them to live dignified life in the society. As democracy and constitution have provided equal opportunities to all sections and communities of the countries, special programmes also need to be launched for Kamaiyas so that they can participate in all fronts of the society equally. The most important thing is education and employment. The government, thus, needs to give due attention to education and employment opportunities for Kamaiyas.