10-point Bardibas Declaration calls for enforcement of rights of Freed Harwa Charwa

Janakpurdham: The Madhesh Provincial Dalit Rights Conference concluded on Sunday with a 10-point ‘Bardibas Declaration-2083’ calling for climate justice, social inclusion, and land and forest rights of the Freed Harwa Charwa community.

The Conference held in Bardibas, Mahottari, was organised by the National Dalit Network Nepal with the support of the Dedicated Grant Mechanism (DGM) for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Nepal.

The declaration demands that the government implement the rights related to real identity, verification, social inclusion, and climate justice of the Freed Harwa Charwa or former bonded labourer community in practice.

Similarly, the declaration demands that the Harawa Charwa Data Collection, Verification and Identity Card Distribution Directive-2080 be published in the Gazette and implemented immediately, that land should be scientifically identified for landless and homeless families, systematic settlement arrangements should be made, and that a data collection and identity card distribution campaign should be launched in all eight districts of Madhes Province.

The declaration states that separate budgets should be allocated for citizenship, education, health insurance, social security and decent employment for the former bonded labourers, that legal arrangements should be strengthened to free the community from high-interest loans from moneylenders, and that income-generating opportunities should be expanded through cooperatives and agricultural businesses.

It also includes demands to ensure at least 50 percent participation of Harwa and Charwa women in policy-making, monitoring committees and decision-making processes, and to give priority to settlements affected by climate-related disasters such as floods, inundations and droughts in local adaptation plans and disaster management programs.

The declaration also proposes to form a joint monitoring mechanism comprising representatives of the provincial government, relevant ministries and communities to regularly review the implementation of the commitments mentioned in the policy and program of the Madhesh Province government for the fiscal year 2083/84 and the demands of the declaration.

According to a study conducted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2013, there are more than one hundred thousand Harwa and Charwa residing in eight districts of Madhesh Province.

Although the Government of Nepal announced the liberation of Harwa and Charwa practice in Shrawan 2079 BS, the conference has emphasised its practical implementation, saying that most families are still landless, stateless and deprived of basic services.

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