Dalits in Governance

Dev Raj Dahal, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

The system of Dalits in South Asian nations has historical roots. Caste culture and religion, as dominant ideologies, tended to legitimize the subordination of Dalits into social hierarchy and social immobility. The cost of their exclusion from key structures of governance has neither been adequately documented nor have the impacts of the reform measures of the past on their lives been brought under critical scrutiny for the legislation of basic change.

 Vision

 The recent Reform Agendas articulated by the government, opposition forces and civil society of Nepal aim to rectify the historical disequilibrium of state- society relations and redress the plight of Dalits. These reformist goals can be achievable if political consensus on the reformist agendas conforms the social interests of people. Only in democracy, each individual irrespective of caste, class and gender distinction can deliberate and decide political matters of general concern. The historical and the existential experience of Dalits can be expected to unify them for collective action and seek the achievement of human development—liberation, entitlement, equal opportunities and equal outcome. Suffering of Dalits can be overcome by an educational process of critical self-learning and self-transcendence by themselves.

 Basic Questions

Why the application of reason, science and democracy could not emancipate the life of Dalits in Nepal? Are unwritten social values sacred and above the political conception of equal citizenship defined in the Constitution? If human knowledge, needs and constraints are socially constructed, how democratic politics can help to satisfy the needs of Dalits and remove the barriers on the way to their empowerment? How are Nepal’s international human rights commitments, constitutional vision of creating a just society and the principles of subsidiarity inherent in Local Self-Governance Act are translated into the idea of Dalit empowerment?

These questions are intrinsically related to structure of governance in Nepal. As governance concerns with legislating, maintaining, enforcing and evaluating rules and resolving latent and structural conflicts, its effectiveness lies in eliminating all forms of racial and social discrimination and securing equal justice to all the citizens. A genuine solution to the denial of Dalits from the superstructures of governance lies in making political power in Nepal proportional to its representativeness of the social diversity and social identities.

Democracy evokes the desires of every citizen to have greater say in local and national affairs and enables them to seek to apply knowledge and skills to control over the institution of governance by means of political interest, participation and representation. Consistency between development policies and development programs is needed to maintain a balance between the political integration and social integration of all subsidiary identities including Dalits.

 Skewed Development

 The general rationalization about the allocation of public resources indicates that money has been spent more on advocacy than improving the livelihoods of Dalits. The official policies also indicate that there is a lack of coherence among District Development Committee (DDC) plan, Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). That the development performance of the governance below the target indicates an asymmetry between the public order and social justice. Another problem appears in effective monitoring, accountability and transparency of development outlays.

But, the system of monitoring of the projects for Dalits in Nepal is very weak. Devolution of power to the people, granting them ownership in projects and making them accountable have also remained as challenging tasks. These indicators are nevertheless keys to empowerment. Sovereignty of people means political power should spring from bottom-up. Evidently, Village Development Committees (VDCs) and Ward assemblies genuinely represent the social mosaic of the nation. But, at the District Development Committees (DDCs), parliament and other institutional resources of the state representation of Dalits and marginalized remains highly skewed. Why is this so?

First, political power still operates under trickle-down formula. Second, there is less social control of people over the political leadership despite periodic elections. Third, the knowledge competence through which societies develop is also monopolized by those in power and, therefore, knowledge is not utilized to solve the problem of majority of population including Dalits. Lack of requisite consciousness among the bulk of Dalit population has lent them to accept a condition of fatalism where past determines their future. The conscious Dalit elites, however, have begun a process of contestation of the basic values and institutional mechanism of governance and contributed to a sort of reformist social movements steering towards substantive social transformation.

 Problems of Collective Action

 Dalits of Nepal face the problem of organizing themselves into a solidarity group for collective action. Their ability to demand and obtain a voice and visibility in the decision-making process largely depends on the participatory practical knowledge for re-socialization and collective action. If the allocation of national budget mirrors the political weight of powerful constituencies cannot Dalits constitute a potent political force and influence the allocation pattern? Obviously, they can, if diverse organizations of Dalits can forge a coalition, get support from non-Dalit sympathizers and effect collective action.

The collective identity of Dalits does not imply the homogeneity of their condition, ideas and orientations and effective communication among them. Their interests are uneven, layered and heterogeneous which has posed a problem in collective action. How can they produce desired change when their movements are buffeted by organizational fragmentation, rivalry and multiple orientations? The opportunities created for their interest mediation are also uneven. Association of laws with the urban, corporate and privileged interests and non-actionable and non-justiceable character of international human rights instruments, manifest a yawning gap between ideals and practice of Nepalese policy making. In such a context, the ability of Dalits to develop their inherent ability to acquire power through their own efforts and develop access to and participation in the state, political parties, economic institutions and all the intermediary associations called civil society is central to raise their participation in governance and making it just and democratic.

A Brief Note on the Temporary Migrant Nepalese Workers in Delhi

Govinda Neupane

The Nepalese villages, more particularly in the mid-western hills are heavily affected by the civil war. The Maoist fighters and the government army have been involved in fierce battle. Due to the effect of war, people in the rural areas, have been migrating to other places. The areas they migrate include the southern plains of Nepal, cities and towns inside the country and India. They were coming to India for jobs in the past too. Therefore, for many youths, migration to India became their first choice. Not only for jobs but also sense of insecurity further motivated them to migrate. Most of the people from western hills used to come to Delhi. So, the majority among the new migrants also entered Delhi and the adjoining cities including NOIDA, Gaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon. As Delhi is a large metropolis, it absorbed them in its labor market. Although, they do not earn that much and are involved in difficult jobs, but they got shelter and food and also had a saving to remit home.

The Nepalese migrants are of two types. Either they come for fairly longer time period and work in organized public, private or government sector, or they work as seasonal laborers mostly in construction activities. The old and New Delhi restaurants employ Nepalese migrant youths. They can be seen in industries too, more particularly in NOIDA, Okhla, Gaziabad and Faridabad.

It is difficult to talk about the exact number of Nepalese migrant workers in Delhi in absence of any reliable data. The estimated numbers vary. The number which is quoted by many and sounds some sort of average of several estimates for the year 1997 was between 50 and 60 thousands. There was the large inflow after this year as the war situation deepened in the hill areas of the mid-west. There is no reliable data on the number of the workers. One Nepalese embassy official shared his estimate which was between 100 and 110 thousand. The participatory appraisals in different places suggested the following estimated figures. The figures have been agreed upon by most of the interviewees too.

Although, there could be several reasons to migrate, there are four primary reasons.

1. Economic, more particularly unemployment at home.

2. Deteriorating security situation at home. The workers are highly critical of the political players.

3. History – due to parents or brothers or neighbors working in Delhi.

4. Youthful romantic feelings and attraction of Delhi life as seen in other Lahures. The returnees with new dresses and money attract others.

Still, primary motivation is to getting employment but security concern also is contributing for the new influx. The political instability and the war situation have been accelerating the flow.

The situation of the migrant workers could be summarized in the following points. This is the outcome of a series of discussions.

Mutual help among Nepalese in Delhi is minimal.

· Bihari work force is replacing Nepalese workers as they are ready to work at a lower wage. Nepalese are a bit extravagant in comparison to Bihari. So, they are losing in the competition.

· Some of them are acquiring new skills through experience. They go home back and start utilizing that skill by opening a small income earning activity.

· Most of them know many Nepalese associations associated with politics. But many of the workers see them not so credible. They have no idea if there is any cultural association which is functioning well among the Nepalese community.

· Most of them do not know if there is any business enterprise run by a Nepalese professional or a businessman. Although, there are a few.

· Most of them do not know about the availability of a Nepali newspaper in Delhi.

· Most of them have no idea about any Nepali TV channel in Delhi. Although, Nepal One is there and is quite a good channel.

· The image of the Nepali community is badly affected more recently. This is partly a few people have done wrong. The other is that the Indian Nepalese from Assam, Darjeeling and Uttaranchal do something bad and the Nepalese from Nepal has to face the consequences.

· The embassy is not refuting the general allegation that keeping Nepalese workers as domestic help is full of risk. More recently, Delhi police circulated such information in the newspapers but the embassy had not put forward its views. The Nepalese workers expect more proactive role and support from the embassy.

The skilled workers, such as drivers, get a higher salary. That is five thousand Indian Rupees monthly on an average. The domestic helpers, dishwashers and other non-skilled workers get around 1200 a month. They also get food and lodging facilities. The security Guards get 2500 Rs on an average. They enjoy the respect also compare to other jobs. The higher level skilled persons such as Computer Operators, Mechanics etc get around 8000 a month. Those who are employed in any government offices and undertakings or organized sector enterprises get other benefits too.

Some attempts have been made to calculate the monthly expenditure. The monthly approximate expenditure as percentage of their income is 20% on room rent, 35% on food, 25% on clothing and other small expenses. They save 25%. The average saving for the workers of all categories could be around Rs 1000 per month. Seeing their large number, in reality, the Nepalese workers remit considerable amount back home.

I knew that a few Nepali women and men are involved in the act of selling and buying sex. Gambling is not that common but is present very much. Drinking alcohol in an unaffordable way is one among the major problems. Also, Tuberculosis is very common among the migrant workers, especially among the ones who work as daily laborers.

Usually, the workers participate in political activities, though their level of awareness on political events and processes is nominal. The leaders of "Pravshi politics" do not make them aware rather they treat them as parrots who can repeat what they tell them. In general, the leaders themselves are not critically aware. They also are not well informed. Once, I participated in a demonstration in Jantar-Mantar. The demonstration was organized by several Nepalese groups to show solidarity with the ongoing anti-regression movement in Nepal. There were many banners of several organizations. It sounded to me that the banners were raising the voice effectively but the number of participants was not that great. Anyway, that was my first encounter with any demonstration that was organized and participated in by Nepalese people in India for a Nepali cause.

I met a member of a "Pravashi organization". He does not feel weak as he is a member of an organization. He criticized very strongly the policy of the Nepalese and Indian governments regarding their attitude towards Nepalese migrant workers in India. Also, he criticized strongly the policy and actions of the political parties other than his own. He believes they have been responsible for the deteriorating security situation in Nepal. He does not consider other parties have been making any contributions. The feeling of intolerance and aggressive opposition of anybody are strange Nepalese leftists' characters for which he was offering further evidences.

The migrant workers face multiple problems including economic, cultural, social, emotional and physical. Their perceptions, quality of life, balancing acts between emotional (self, family, cultural ethos), social (community, society) and survival (physical, professional, competitive positioning) aspects make them all the time vulnerable. Still, they are a very hard working lot. They over come difficulties giving their survival need the first priority. They feel happy knowing their sons and daughters are attending the school at home, a new plot of land has been purchased, a new house is being constructed and so on. Perhaps, their developmental needs are also taken care of. Answering my question that why they do not like to settle in Delhi permanently, many of them replied that the affection of the family, community and the nation reminds them every day going back home. I found them very much patriotic, much better than the political leaders who think that they have the dealership of patriotism. The nation should be proud of its sons and daughters who work so hard, who love their motherland so much and above all they are the most loyal citizens, the common men and women who neither claim nor receive any privileges from the Nepalese state.

The author can be reached at: govin <govinda_neupane@yahoo.com>

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