|
Kamaiya
update from the field-Sept 28
The
landlords in Kanchanpur and Kailali have been showing their political
strength in the past week. They have managed to have several VDCs declare
that certain NGOs are banned from working within their area. They also
locked up a BASE office in Kanchanpur. Monday they called a bandh in the
two districts to pressure the central government to follow their demands.
The most basic demand is that they should be compensated for their lost
investment in the Kamaiyas. It is fairly clear that VDCs' declarations and
certainly the claim to repayment are outside of the law. Villagers in some
areas have sent protest letters, but the most basic issue -- that the law
is not with the landlords -- is not really considered. People expect the
arbitrary use of power by local landlords.
Meanwhile,
the spirit in the Kamaiya camp in that I visited in Dhangadi seemed pretty
good. The camp had about 250 families, living in makeshift tents. The
conditions were tight, but the camp seemed fairly well organized. The
people there meet every morning for a meeting and discuss their problems
and issues. They were getting some food through the food-of-work program.
They had to go argue with the DDC every morning to get it, but that they
got the food none the
less. When asked, most said that they preferred life there to that of the
landlords houses, because they didn't have to work from early morning to
late evening anymore.
Most
of the people I spoke to in the camp had not been registered under the
government's survey of Kamaiyas. The survey and the results it is
producing is being questioned by everyone. The survey teams are too small
and have too little time. They are relying almost exclusively on what the
local VDCs members (many of whom themselves keep kamaiyas). The kamaiyas
themselves are cannot speak up, and in any case no serious effort has been
made to involve them or the NGOs. The need for reliable data and
registration if the rehabilitation program is to be successful is still
clear.
The
question of available land is also a pressing one. The government is
considering the distribution of one katha per family, which is woefully
inadequate for a family's survival. The NGOs say as that as a minimum 10
katha should be given. This would still require the families to work on
others land to feed themselves, but they would then be in a position to
bargain for the minimum wage. There are large tracts of unregistered land
in all of the districts out here. But, of course, much of this land is
already being used by some one even though it is not registered. The real
land situation, including available forest and marginal land, is not
clear.
|
