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Kamlari freedom a fiasco
GULARIYA, MAY 28 -
Though the government is all set to declare Bardiya a Kamlari-free zone on June 12, many former Kamlaris (girl child labourers) of the district are returning to their “masters” after they failed to land themselves secure jobs and live a respectable life in society.
The government proclamation will mean very little to these girls who have no option but to resume their old profession. More than 500 of the girls, rescued by various NGOs working for Kamlari liberation in the district, have returned to their keepers in and outside Bardiya district.
More than 20 girls are working as domestics in Bardiya’s district headquarters Gulariya itself. According to them, authorities concerned failed to keep their promise of rehabilitating them in society.
“I am left with no option but to return to my former master as I was unable to get a job to support my family,” a former Kamlari girl said.
Some Kamlaris complained that they were not given free-education as announced by the government. Aarati Chaudhary, a former Kamlari, said the school she was enrolled in charged her Rs. 1,200 for a year. Chaudhary, including 600 other Kamlaris, go to the Kanthapur-based Bidhya Jyoti Secondary School.
Some Kamlari students said they were not admitted in the class for not wearing the school uniform. “The NGOs assured us a proper respectable life when they rescued us from our previous life; but we are now left high and dry,” said Rekha Tharu.
Fakala Tharu of Friends of Needy Children, an NGO working for the rights of disadvantaged children, claimed that many Kamlari girls are returning to their old profession due to mistreatment and pressure from family members as well.
Posted on: 2010-05-29 08:20
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