The bill proposes a jail term of up to seven years for those who try to engage in the practice of bonded labor.[break]
Speaking at a program organized in Dhangadi on Tuesday to collect suggestions for the proposed bill, all the participants voiced a positive approach regarding the bonded labor (control and rehabilitation) bill.
As per the bill, one cannot keep laborers without paying wages or on low wages. If someone is found keeping bonded laborers, he or she will face a jail term of three years to seven years, informed Balaram Bhattarai, an advocate.
The bill is being proposed with a view to accommodating all bonded laborers, including Haliya, Kamaiya, Haruwa and Charuwa.
The participants, however, stressed the need for incorporating a provision in the bill on the rehabilitation of bonded agriculture laborers within a definite deadline.
Chairman of the Kamaiya System Abolition Society Basanti Chaudhary said the suggestions collection program was held so that all the rights of bonded laborers could be addressed in the bill.
"The bill should have a clear provision on land for bonded laborers," said Sitaram Chaudary, a participant in the program.
Even though bonded laborers have been emancipated, they were left in the lurch in the absence of a rehabilitation package, said the stakeholders.
The proposed bill is into its final phase. "As there is no parliament now, the bill should be passed through ordinance," opined advocate Bhattarai.
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