Once the Badis obtain identity cards, they get all facilities that the government pledged to provide in a 26 points agreement signed in 2007 with Badi Struggle Committee, including free education up to 12th grade for the Badi students. On Monday, MoPR asked officials of the Ministry of Education (MoE) as well to arrange free education for the Badi students. [break]
A meeting held on Monday by Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Rakam Chemjong with high-level officers of MoHA decided to provide identity cards to the Badis without finalizing guidelines.
"As the government has already pledged in writing to provide identity cards to the Badis, we asked the Home Ministry to start it without further delay," Bishnu Prasad Nepal, joint secretary at MoPR, who was present at the meeting, told myrepublica.com.
According to Nepal, District Administration Offices (DAOs) do not need guidelines for the distribution of identity cards as MoPR has cleared ambiguous points mentioned in its agreement struck with the BSC, which came into limelight after spearheading a nonstop agitation for 48 days in August and September of 2007.
Despite the delivery of identity cards to some districts inhabited by the Badis, DAOs have not distributed them, citing ambiguity in the deal. Chief district officers (CDOs) entrusted with the task of distributing identity cards have been sending back the Badis empty-handed until now.
According to Uma Badi, BSC coordinator, all CDOs say that they are confused about whether to provide identity cards to an individual or a family.
"Recently, some of our people approached the CDO in Dang. He, however, did not issue cards on the same pretext," she said. However, according to Nepal, the ambiguity in the agreement no longer exists as MoPR has decided to provide identity cards to an individual.
According to a recent sample survey conducted by the government, almost 9,000 Badi people live in various 11 districts in the mid- and farwestern regions alone. In 2001 census, the number of Badis throughout the country was 4,711. "The total number may increase further as Badi people live in more than 11 districts," Uma said.
However, Uma, who stunned everyone in 2007 by partially stripping off in front of the Singh Durbar Gate during BSC´s street struggle, is not completely assured by the government´s decision of immediately starting the distribution of identity cards.
"The government has betrayed us many a time in the past," she told myrepublica.com. "We, therefore, can believe only when the government really starts distributing cards."
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