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Nepal

Bold and the Beleaguered

By Ekram Kabir
when the government tn Kathmandu announced the abobt ion of bonded labour. The government*s announcement, expected to be Implemented with immediate effectris a"big victory for the agitating workers. human rights organisations and social activists who have been backing the campaign, which started two months ago in Kailali. west of Nepal, where the practice is concentrated, and reportedly spread to four other neighbouring districts.
The practice of bonded labour had been going on for decades, but this was the first time that the bonded labourers took to the streets demanding freedom. "People who were forced to work as bonded laborers will be free from today (Monday)." Nepal's Minister for Land Reforms and Management Siddha Raj Ojha was quoted by Reuters.
Under the system, which has been prevalent, for decades in the five districts in west Nepal, poor people are forced to work for landlords or moneylenders because of indebtedness. They receive far lower wages than the 25 US cents fixed by the government as dally 'minimum wages for farm labourers. The wages are never enough to repay the loan and the labourers remain trapped in the vicious debt cycle.
Anyone found guilty of employing bonded labour, as reported in The Kathmandu Post.
It must have been a taste of freedom for 36.000 people in Nepal could be imprisoned for up to 10 years under the provisions of the Public Offence Act. The government had set aside 14.1 million rupees ($199,000) in fiscal 2000/01 (July 16-July 15) for training and other activities to support the labourers
Nepal's constitution prepared in 1990 prohibits slavery, serfdom or forced labour but the practice remained in absence of adequate attention from the government. But the latest move is indeed a good news as the Nepali Congress party has vowed to fight and end the practice.
Moreover, this agurs good for the region that has often been criticised to have denied rights to people, especially the children. Women are often lured into the sex industry, children are becoming victims of war, trafficking of people and child labour and abduction are going on unabted etc. And yes, young children are found doing hard work in countries of South Asia. This is a litany of violations suffered by children in South Asia - often at the hands of the authorities.
A quarter of the world s children live in India, Pakistan. Afghanistan, Nepal. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Children here experience widespread deprivation. whether in state custody or with their families. According to a recent Amnesty International report, nearly 5 million children under the age of five die in South Asia every year from preventable, curable diseases like diarrhoea. As well as ill health, children are suffering at the hands of governments
and armed opposition groups, who are said to be abusing and ignoring their human rights on a wide scale. Abuses include arbitrary detentions, punishment and torture by police and other state authorities.
There are numerous instances of children being forced to join rebel groups, or sold into ?restitution or bonded labour, he use of child labour in dan-geroqs and. unhealthy environment's is also criticised. Girls face particular disadvantages. Gender-selective abortions, acid-throwing, honour killing and infanticide are still commonplace.
These violations, however, stem from the lack of economic and social rights in the region. Urbanisation, poverty and the breakdown of family structures have left millions displaced or forced to fend for themselves on the streets, where they are vulnerable to violence and exploitation.
Though governments in the region have launched initiatives to improve the situation, but much more needs to be done. There are many systems -- injurious to human development in the region -• need to be abolished or overhauled. We need to care for the interest of the majority who are poor and of course, who are also citizens of this region. Unless we take bold initiatives to emancipate the peoples of the region from various inflicting woes, we woun’t be able to stand up, like other places in the world, as a regional power.
Nepal has done something highly praiseworthy Others should follow suit in their own ways.