Through my volunteer work at CSRC I was recently able to interview a
number of Haruwa/Charuwa (mostly Dalits), who were in Kathmandu to advocate for
their rights with policy makers. The
group included four men and five women, primarily with the last name of Ram or
Sada from VDC’s in Saptari and Siraha Districts. The majority of the group were illiterate due
to lack of educational opportunities, circumstances related to discrimination,
land-poor and lack of funds.
The International
Labour Organisation
(ILO)
Convention Nos.29, 105 and 182 prohibits
forced and bonded labour including child-bonded labour.
The
Government of Nepal
has ratified
ILO
Convention Nos. 29 and 182 and has
passed its own legislation. However,a
substantial numberof
rural individuals and families are still compelled to
works as semi-bonded labourers.
Lack of capabilities
and access to
alternative sources of livelihood,
children deprived of a school education due to having to take over their family’s
generational debt, debt bondage at exorbitant interest rates, allowing
no possibility for payback and lack of citizenship papers are just some of the
issues which perpetuate
poverty and the practice
of a bonded agricultural
labour
system. Most of the Haruwas have no land and have settled on a landlord’s land, which is another reason as to why they have
remained as bonded.
The Government of Nepal formally
abolished the Kamaiya Labour System on 17
July
2000 and had enacted the
Kamaiya
Labour (Prohibition)
Act 2001 to prevent
and
rehabilitate bonded
labourers under
the Kamaiya system in
agriculture.
This Act includes
agricultural labour
systems,
e.g. Haliya,
Haruwa, Hali, Charuwa,
etc. under “Kamaiya Labour”. Haliya/Haruwa
and Charuwa are very poor people who are Dalits. They are the most marginalised people with the majority
being landless,
traditionally considered as “untouchables”. Often
entire families
are bound to work
as unpaid labourers to
a landlord
as the father is engaged
as a Haliya/Haruwa.
Today there are approximately 69,000 Haruwa/Charuwa families[1] in
the eastern region of Nepal.
The number of
Haruwa/Charuwas has been gradually reduced but there are still families working
to pay off debt. Most of the
Haruwa/Charuwas (approximately 90%) are forced to pay 60% interest to local
landlords or money lenders for their survival needs. Wage payments are mainly
in-kind (rice) and the cash value is only 50-60 percent of the minimum wage
declared by the government. Endemic poverty, wage exploitation, and access to
land, health and quality education continue to be major problems.
Siran Sada, 55, Badagama VDC, Saptari told me that his grandfather
became a Haruwa, by taking a loan and that his family is still working on
paying off this debt, although he didn’t know how much remained. In light of the fact that the landlord was
charging exorbitant interest rates there is probably little personal hope of ever getting out of poverty. Siran has a home on public land on a river
bank. He has had opportunity for daily
wage jobs, which hardly pays more than 5-6 kg of rice/day, but that the
landlord is pressuring to work their land.
Siran was given four kathaland, which is insufficient to grow food for
the full year. He has also taken a loan
from his landlord. Siran has had few
options for educating his children and the life of a Haruwa has now been passed
down to a fourth generation, through his son. Siran’s family is one of the
fortunate few among the group in that his son brought home a mobile phone from
India.
Latar Sada, Sishawani, 63 VDC, Siraha discussed how educating the young
might be able to eliminate the Haruwa system, but he also said that he has
insufficient resources to send his children to school and that he doesn’t have
enough food for his family. He indicated
that children have to leave school early due to discrimination, e.g. non-dalits
were provided with new books, while Dalits were given old books, or the fact
that Dalits had to sit in the back of the classroom. But it is also a question of having the money
for exam fees and stationary items and although schools are advertised as free,
in fact, there are costs.
Sonawati Sada, 34, Hanuman Nagr, Siraha
had borrowed NPR 4,000 from her landlord, but has had to borrow more
than NPR 40,000 from six money lenders who charge 60% interest rates for
medical treatment for her and other family members. If the family doesn’t pay anything they will
get evicted but some of the male family
members have gone to India for temporary work in order to pay something towards
the loan. Sonawati has three daughters,
with the oldest, 12, taking care of the family home meaning that she is no
longer in school and will have little livelihood opportunity.
Rajaya Debi Sada, 44, Madhupati VDC, Saptari,lives on village
government land in a family of nine members.
Rajaya was married at 17, neither she or her husband attended school,
her father was a Haruwa and she married a Haruwa. Rajaya has four grandchildren, her son was 18
when he was married and his wife was 16.
In total all felt that being a Haruwa/Charuwa was not fate, that it was
man-made. When I asked the group how to resolve the
issue some talked about the government exempting the loan and providing social
security for medical purposes. Gulab
Debi Ram, 45, Haripur Saptari told me that the government should providing land
for housing about one katha plus additional land based on family size in order
to grow 12 months of food.
How does the question of
elimination of Haruwa/Charuwa truly get addressed, in order to provide
opportunities and get people out of poverty and into the mainstream? How do we ensure that children are not born
into a life without much hope, only because they were born to someone with the
surname of Sada? Why can’t land be
distributed, based on generations of tilling and also paying a fair wage for a
fair day’s work? Why is it that some
must remain impoverished and not share in what we all hope and dream for?
Although Haruwa/Charuwa has
been organised by CSRC and the National Land Rights Forum (NLRF) which has
included demonstrations, rallies, sit-ins, submission of demand letters, and
meetings, a number of times with high government officials, there has been no
proper response.
At some point in the distant
future the vision of CSRC, A Nepali society where everyone enjoys a
secure, free and dignified life, might become reality, but until
that time we need, even in small ways to give hope to people like Rajaya,
Siran, Latar, Sonawati and Gulab and their families. It is up to all of us, government, civil
society and corporates to work collaboratively in making a bright future for
all Nepalis.
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