Addressing a meeting of the subcommittee formed under Parliamentary Committee on Women, Children and Social Welfare in Singh Durbar on Sunday, Minister Adhikari said, “Please bring a concrete proposal suggesting what the government can do to address their problems. Budget can be allocated accordingly,” he said. [break]
Adhikari urged the subcommittee to focus on what can be done to immediately address the problems of Badis, freed Kamaiyas, Haliyas and Kamlaharis.
Subcommittee members had complained that freed Kamaiyas and others are left in lurch owing to government apathy. Many freed Kamaiyas still do not have their own land and Badis, Haliyas and Kamlaharis are facing social stigmatization.
Altogether 8,341 Badis are said to be living in various parts of the country. The Badi women, who are mostly singers, dancers and musicians -- have traditionally earned their living as sex workers due to poverty.
According to the subcommittee Coordinator Binod Pahadi, the government has largely failed to implement the agreement it inked with Badi and other communities back in 2007. Then government in October 15, 2007 had agreed to implement the recommendations of a report prepared by a study committee headed by then secretary at Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction Janak Raj Joshi to address the problems of these communities.
Speaking at the meeting, a subcommittee member Malamati Chaudhari said though many of the freed Kamaiyas are provided with land, they are yet to be given land ownership certificates. She added that many genuine Kamaiyas are denied identity cards.
“The government must take fresh census of freed Kamaiyas,” she further said. Likewise, some members of the subcommittee said that many Kamaiyas are yet to get a land and for them the government´s monetary incentive to start animal husbandry has become useless.
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