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No More Remnant of Slavery, But...
-Hemlata Rai
The July 17 government announcement abolishing the
system of virtual slavery known as kamaiya came as a sudden
surprise. No one expected the movement to free the bonded
labourers that began on 1 May, the International Labour Day, to
come to a denouement so soon. Thirty-six kamaiyas and
bukrahis (women kamaiyas) from Geta Village Development
Committee of Kailali District had chosen the day to start a
struggle for their own freedom from the debts they were into since
generations. This fight for an end to an exploitative form of
labour contract is a huge leap towards social transformation. The
exploited and downtrodden themselves declared a war against
“shackles” that bound them for generations into a perpetual debt.
A kamaiya is an
agriculture-bonded labourer who is required to stay with and serve
a single Kisan (landlord) until the debt acquired is fully repaid.
A Kisan requires the kamaiya to bring along other
family members, notably his wife who is popularly called
bukrahi, to work for the employer.
Available statistics reveal
that out of the total landholdings across the nation,
approximately five per cent hire permanent labourers for farming
and animal herding. The kamaiya form of permanent labour
relationship is in practice in five mid and far-western Terai
districts of Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kanchanpur and Kailali.
The government announcement
came as a backlash to the powerful landed class from the western
Nepal Terai where the practice is entrenched. The rich farmers
(known rather innocuously as Kisan, or farmer) who relied on their
pool of bonded labourers suddenly found themselves without workers
in the middle of a farming season. But for the dozens of jubilant
kamaiyas who snag and danced their way through the
Kathmandu streets that was the least of their concern.
“Once you are a Kamaiya, you and your
family is bonded forever. You can never be relieved,” Hira Devi
Chaudhary, who was married to a Kamaiya some eight years
back and consequently had become a bukrahi, had said before
the 17 July announcement.
The announcement
affects thousands of kamaiyas concentrated in the five
western districts and scattered around other neighbouring
districts. A 1995 government study estimated the kamaiya
population in Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur to be
25,700 from 16,400 families. Three quarters of them were bound to
their landlord by perpetual debt. Under this system the burden of
debt repayment shifts automatically to the eldest son after the
death of the head of the family.
Raj Dev Chaudhary’s grandfather took a saunki
(loan taken by a kamaiya) of Rs. 3,000 from his neighbour
Shiva Raj Pant and worked all his life to pay back the loan. But
he failed. After his demise, the debt burden shifted to his eldest
son, Raj Dev’s father. He too was unable to pay back the loan and
after his death the responsibility transferred automatically to
Raj Dev. Since as long as he can remember, Raj Dev and his wife
worked arduously in the fields of Shiva Raj Pant. His six
children, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren also followed
them into the fields.
They worked 24-hour and around the year to fulfil
all the labour requirements of the Pant household. Yet, the
four-generation-old loan, instead of being paid off gradually,
accumulated to the amount of Rs.3,696. In case of Raj Dev’s death,
the burden of repayment would have been automatically transferred
to his eldest son.
Non-governmental organisations’ estimation on the
population of kamaiyas is much higher than what the
government figure shows. They estimate the number at closer to
200,000. According to Backward Society Education (BASE), a
grassroots organisation which has been in the forefront in the
campaign to free kamaiyas, 98 percent of them are indigenous Tharu
people.
Researches have
found that kamaiya system evolved soon after the
in-migration of hill people from naya muluk (the Nepalese
territory returned to Nepal by the then British Raj after its
temporary occupation), commonly referred to Banke, Bardiya,
Kailali and Kanchanpur, began some half a century back. “The
Kamaiya problem is basically an ethnic problem generic to the
Tharu community of mid and far western Terai,” reads a 1998 study
conducted by Dr. Shiva Sharma. Tharu the single largest tribal
ethnic minority in Nepal, are indigenous to plains in southern
Nepal and are considered to be the oldest surviving settlers in
the area. Historical studies show that this ethnic group
originally comes from Dang valley with glorious history of
affluence and prosperity.
Shiva Sharma points out that eradication of
malaria in the early 1960s that brought flow of migration from the
hills and provision of state awarding land grants to civil
servants and military personnel as reward for their outstanding
service that resulted in eviction of the original inhabitants and
lack of legal property rights of Tharus over their land are some
of the major reasons for Tharus to lose their rights over
agriculture land.
“The supply of labour was limited. Evicted from
their traditional rights over land, Tharus gradually accepted work
with masters and the masters had every intention of ensuring
labour supply on continual basis,” Sharma explains about the
evolution and continuation of the system.
The under payment and provision for heavy fines
for failure to work are the key reasons for perpetual debt that
binds kamaiyas for generations. A study conducted by BASE
reveals that Kamaiyas earn around Rs. 25 to Rs. 36 for a
day’s wage but required to pay around Rs. 50 to Rs. 70 as fine for
failing to work for a day. The fine thus accumulated is added to
the amount of Saunki (the debt).
Dothe Ram Chaudhary from Kailali has horrifying
tales to tell. “I was kept hungry of 15 days for falling sick and
thus not being able to work in the fields,” he recalls. Dothe Ram
has a sauki of Rs. 4,428 that was transferred to him from
his father. A kamaiya’s backbreaking labour earns his
family a very low wage, making the repayment of saunki
impossible and thus the perpetual debt continues
to chain the kamaiya
family to its Kisan.
According to statistics
available, a married kamaiya with his wife working for the
household of his master is paid in kind that ranges from 8 to 12
quintals of paddy with about 10 to 15 per cent of this annual wage
paid as lentils and other edible items. Under arrangement of this
kind of payment kamaiya and his family eat their own food
from their own homes. In some exceptional cases kamaiyas
are paid in cash that ranges from Rs. 3000 to Rs. 4000 annually.
Under this arrangement food is supplied by the master’s family and
the kamaiya lives on employer’s premises. The services
provided by the wives and children are non-payable.
A survey conducted by BASE calculates that a
family of kamaiya (consisting of four members) needs about
Rs. 45,000 annually for a subsistent living, but in actual, a
kamaiya earns only about Rs. 9,000 to Rs. 14,000 per annum. As
against, annual earning of Rs. 17,340 an unskilled labourer makes
who works 298 days a year and eight hours a day (as fixed by the
government). Kamaiyas are not entitled to any vacation and
are forced to work for some 12 to 18 hours a day. Kamaiya
was recognised officially as a bonded labour system some decades
back. Various programmes and activities were implemented by both
the governmental agencies and non-government organisations in an
attempt to put the practice to an end. But it took active
involvement of the kamaiyas themselves to finally outlaw
the system. Though his master initially agreed to allow him to
attend informal education classes regularly, Madhav Chaudhary of
Bardiya had to put extra effort to remain with the class. He was
forcefully taken for work by his master’s brother who is a
government employee posted in Dang from Bardiya. He was confined
inside home. But, the boy somehow escaped the confinement and
reached his home to rejoin the informal schooling initiated
jointly by International Labour Organisation,
GEFONT, a trade union and INSEC, an NGO. The awareness among the
kamaiyas about their basic rights gradually increased after
various agencies got involved. However, lack of income generation
alternatives made their escape from bondage difficult.
The depth of poverty
prevalent among Tharus is the biggest challenge against breaking
the vicious kamaiya system. According to the Nepal Living
Standard Survey 1995/96, the incidence of poverty among Tharus is
48 per cent as against the national average of 45 per cent.
Moreover, illiteracy is the handicap that is preventing Tharus
from obtaining alternative income sources to alleviate poverty
among them. The literacy among them is only 27 per cent as against
approximately 38 per cent among non-Tharu communities in the naya
muluk districts. In Nepal, slavery was officially eliminated by
the then Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher some 75 years back. The
Panchayat governments were reluctant to acknowledge the kamaiya
system as inequitable and exploitative labour relationship. Only
after the release of various research studies and extensive
campaigning, an after-the-restoration-democracy government
recognised bondage under kamaiya system. The governments
thereafter started allocating budgets to make arrangements for
settlement of kamaiyas and to train them on different
skills. In 1995, the government announced a Kamaiya Debt Relief
Programme for the first time.
“When the government declared to pay off their
liabilities by government money, many of the kamaiyas were
forced to sign fake documents with high claims of saunki,”
a trade unionist Hem Raj Regmi, who is working to unionise
agriculture workers in Banke and Bardiya, makes an observation.
Soon after the celebrations of the government announcement, the
harsh reality of an uncertain future loomed large. Thaga Chaudhari
of Kanchanpur was exultant that his 35-year ordeal as a kamaiya
was finally over, but before leaving the capital he said: “Now we
appeal to the government to make arrangements for our housing.
“Rehabilitation of kamaiyas may prove difficult, especially
since the kisans are likely to resist the government ruling
that allows up to 10 years’ imprisonment for keeping bonded
labourers. They are particularly agitated since the freed
kamaiyas have also been released from all debt obligations
that bind them to their ‘masters”. The landlords have recently
taken the matter to court and the Kailali District Development
Committee. They are demanding that the saunki should be
repaid by the government. Neither the government nor the NGOs
campaigning for the kamaiyas seem prepared to meet the
challenge of rehabilitation. “The announcement was so sudden that
nobody knows what exactly to do next,” said an NGO activist
involved in the kamaiya freedom campaign. So far, the only
relief has been announced by BASE, which has made arrangements to
support freed kamaiya families with one month’s house rent
and food-supply for ten days.
Action is needed urgently, says BASE member Yagya
Raj Chaudhary, a former kamaiya himself who helped
kick-start the kamaiya freedom campaign in Kailali
district; helped the125 bonded labourers, including 18 married
couples of Kamaiyas and bukrahis and their unmarried
children, working under Shiva Raj Pant household of Kailali to
unionise and file a petition with Kailali District Administration
Office demanding freedom from bondage. Shiva Raj Pant was the
Forest Minister of Nepal’s first democratically elected government
under the premiership of B.P. Koirala. Yagya Raj Chaudhary says
that the government should mobilise local administrative bodies to
identify kamaiyas and for relief distribution and
rehabilitation processes. “But first the kamaiyas should be
issued freedom certificates, then government should provide them
housing facilities and fund essential for their rehabilitation,”
he added.
Two days after the historic
announcement, the Land Reform and Management Ministry introduced a
bill in Parliament proposing to outlaw the bonded labour system
and ensure the welfare of freed kamaiyas. But activists
doubt if the government will act with the same alacrity in
rehabilitating them. The lack of reliable data on kamaiyas
is sure to pose challenges for one. The studies carried out till
the date concentrate only on the Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and
Kanchanpur, where the Kamaiyas are concentrated, whereas
Kamaiyas scattered in Kapilvastu, Rupendehi and Nawalparasi
are overlooked.
Krishna Raj Adhikary at the
Land Reform Ministry said work has started updating the statistics
on kamaiyas ,
but added: “But we will be able to work for kamaiyas
welfare only if we receive additional funds.” The Finance Ministry
has not announced any assistance for the kamaiyas so far,
and the National Planning Commission admits to being caught
“rather unprepared”. Following the five-year-old tradition, this
year too the government allocated funds to train about 1000
kamaiyas with different skills. But the Rs. 14.1 million meant
for pre-planned activities are painfully inadequate, now that
landlords have already begun evicting kamaiyas off their
lands. “The wrath of the kisans against the kamaiyas
was anticipated. The government has to mobilise the local
administrative bodies to protect kamaiyas from being
displaced from the land where they have built their homes,” Prem
Parajuli of Kamaiya Concern Group, a grouping of NGO and
government representatives observes.
All the freed
kamaiyas’ need is some support initially. “We will work hard
for wages, but the government has to provide us shelter for our
sustenance,” said Asha Ram Bangaura, who took part in Kathmandu
sit-in. Economist Dr. Meena Acharya believes that the labour
market has plenty of opportunities to offer the kamaiyas:
“Their sustainability depend on how promptly and effectively the
government delivers them immediate relief in terms of food and
shelter.”She may be wrong there. The Terai’s job market has
already reached a point of saturation, as a 1997 study of
International Labour Organisation pointed out. Inter-regional
migration and pressure from workers from across the border has
already lowered the wage rate to the minimum. In this situation,
the younger generation of newly freed kamaiyas who opt for
jobs outside agriculture are likely to become vulnerable to
exploitation all over again.
(Hemlata Rai is a
journalist, who is closely monitoring the Kamaiya issues.)
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