Janakpur, May 1: Organizations working for the rights and interests of the former bonded labourers and herders have requested the government to end the practice of Harwacharwa stating that it is a remnant of slavery system. They have urged the government to end all kinds of problems faced by the agricultural workers.
On the occasion of International Workers’ Day today, the National Harwacharwa Rights Forum and the National Dalit Network Nepal issued a joint press release, calling for an end to all forms of labour exploitation and complete rehabilitation process for the people who formerly worked under the Harwacharwa, Kamlahari, Haliya and Kamaiya bonded labour system.
In the same way, the joint press release called attention of stakeholders has been drawn to the fact that despite the declaration banning the Harwacharwa practice, it is existing in eight districts of Madhesh province, even the preliminary work for restoration has not been carried forward so far.
“We demand that rehabilitation work should be carried out targeting the more than 100,000 pastoralist families who are contributing to the prosperity of Madhesh province by investing their labour and skills in various fields of labour including agriculture and services, supported by data collection, verification and scientific classification.
To change the condition of agricultural workers, let the International Workers’ Day, inspire everyone to move towards ensuring labour rights including right to decent work, fair wages and social security,” said the statement signed by Adhikar Manch President Dashanlal Mandal and RDN President Mohan Od.
