Fourteen years down the line, things have not really changed for many ex-Kamaiyas. The government proclaimed the freedom of Kamaiyas in western Nepal, but it did very little to rehabilitate them into society. 

Several programmes announced for the rehabilitation and resettlement of freed Kamaiyas have not been implemented, claimed Des Raj Chaudhary, a freed Kamaiya from Kanchanpur, at a press conference  organised in the Capital on the occasion of 14th anniversary of Kamaiya emancipation on Saturday. “If you monitor the situation of the Kamaiyas, you can see that the government has not treated us with entire dignity.”  Chaudhary and four other representatives of freed Kamaiyas from Banke, Bardiya, Dang and Kailali districts had come to the Capital to press the government into addressing their concerns.

According to them, many families of ex-Kamaiyas have been residing on riverbanks and barren plots of land under poor living conditions. Where they live, employment opportunities are rare, and most of them cannot afford to send their children to school.  

“Unable to eke out a living,” Chaudyary said, “many ex-Kamaiyas have returned to their masters.” Chaudhary and his fellow ex-Kamaiya friends have demanded the government raise their entitlement from the existing Rs 10,000 to least Rs 50,000. 

Human rights advocate Dinesh Tripathi said the government should work towards ensuring substantive equality to the freed Kamaiyas. “Fourteen years is a long time, but no significant achievement has been made so far. It’s high time the government took a concrete step to address the concern of freed Kamaiyas.”  

Lawmaker Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, who had led the struggle in western Nepal for Kamaiya freedom, warned of a protest if the government failed to rehabilitate the freed Kamaiyas.  “This is not the problem of one group. It is the nation’s problem,” he said.

Minister of Land Reform and Management Dal Bahadur Rana pledged to solve the problems relating to identification, resettlement and rehabilitation of freed Kamaiyas within the next two years.

“The government is determined to address their concerns,” he said.