A decade and a half have passed since the rehabilitation of freed Kamaiyas was completed in Kanchanpur. Many of these freed families have Lalpurja in their hands but no land. The former Maiyas are confused as they have not been able to identify the land in their possession as per Lalpurjab.
Purbaka Maiya says that the land in Lalpurja has been earned by others. They have been making a living by earning wages as they have not been able to get land even after getting a red card.
Ghasiram Rana, chairman of the Mukta Kamaiya Samaj District Committee, Kanchanpur, said that many families had to live a miserable life as they could not identify their land even after searching for land in the area.
"The address and settlement are written in Lalpurja," he said. "The lot number and land area are also mentioned." Others have cultivated the land. Many families are deprived of rehabilitation as they cannot arrange for Amin to identify the land.
According to him, the number of families who have not been able to recognize the land even though they have red cards is around 150. He complained that the local level has not shown any interest in assisting the freed Kamaiyas in identifying and rehabilitating the land on the basis of a map and lot number.
"We should also work for the rehabilitation of 250 freed Kamaiya families who are included in the data but are deprived of land," said Durga Devi Khunna, a former member of the Constituent Assembly.
It has been almost 21 years since the announcement of the Kamaiya liberation. Still, the freed Kamaiyas have not been able to get even 35 cubic feet of timber provided by the government for the construction of houses along with employment. Since the timber could not be provided at the rate of Rs.
Out of 4,505 rehabilitated Kamaiya families, only 882 families have understood that the government will provide Rs. With the declaration of liberation in 2057 BS, the government had decided to provide land and wood to the freed Kamaiyas.
As per the announcement, only one thousand families were provided wood for house construction. Two thousand 623 families are still deprived of money for building houses and wood.
Freed Kamaiya leader Binadevi Chaudhary says that the government's plan to pay Rs 55,000 per family for roofing is limited on paper. "Many families are deprived of wood and money to build houses," he said. "Even the money for roofing has not been provided yet."
Although many family members have received skill-based training for employment, they have not been able to run the business according to their skills due to a lack of funds. A revolving fund of Rs. 1 million had to be set up in each settlement to run the business. Otherwise, arrangements should be made to take a loan by keeping the land as collateral in the bank as collateral for rehabilitation, 'said Chaudhary.
Another problem for freed Kamaiyas is a river crossing. The freed Kamaiya families who have been rehabilitated in the riparian areas of the river are being displaced every year due to the problem of erosion and drowning. Some families have become homeless as the river has washed away their land.
Although the government has rehabilitated some families whose houses and lands have been washed away by the floods, more than 100 families have not been rehabilitated yet and have been forced to build huts along with community forests and roads. Jaganidevi Dagora says that the families displaced due to the river should be rehabilitated.
According to him, the children of freed Kamaiyas have been forced to drop out of school due to a lack of funds as they have not been able to get scholarships for higher education.
The freed Kamaiya leader says, “In the freed Kamaiya settlement, along with the provision of clean drinking water, irrigation and electricity, one Kamaiya, one employment, and skill-based training should be provided and unconditional loans should be provided. At the same time, along with the representation of freed kamaiyas at the decision-making level of the state, fair wages of free kamaiya workers and free health care should be provided.
'On 2 July 2057 BS, the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba announced the liberation of Kamaiyas. Coincidentally, Deuba is still the Prime Minister of the country. Citizens of the region have high hopes for him as the promises made at the time of his liberation have not been fulfilled even after two decades. We demand that the promises made at that time be fulfilled, "said the freed Kamaiya leader." The day of the declaration of liberation should be declared as Free Kamaiya Day and arrangements should be made to grant leave.
