Despite the passage of 22 years, 76 former Kamaiya families living in Omanagar Freed Kamaiya Camp on the land of the Rehabilitation Company (TCN) in Kailari Rural Municipality–3 have yet to be rehabilitated. Due to the lack of rehabilitation, the freed Kamaiyas have been deprived of basic services and facilities. Nearly 22 years after the government declared the Kamaiya system abolished, many freed Kamaiyas continue to live in hardship while awaiting proper resettlement.
In 2004, 105 freed Kamaiya families occupied 10 bighas, 7 katthas, and 10 dhurs of land belonging to the Rehabilitation Company (TCN) in Kailari Rural Municipality–3 to pressure the state to ensure their systematic rehabilitation.
According to community leader and freed Kamaiya Ramu Kumal, many families eventually left the occupied land due to various hardships and shortages. However, the remaining 76 families have continued to reside there since 2004, enduring numerous challenges and deprivations.
Kumal said, “After years of protests, sit-ins, interactions, discussions, and pressure campaigns, the District Land Reform Office decided in 2009 to allocate the 17.36 acres of TCN land to the freed Kamaiyas. Since the available land was insufficient, the authorities promised to provide land ownership certificates for five katthas each to those who had received Kamaiya identity cards and to provide another five katthas elsewhere to the remaining families. Accordingly, the District Land Reform Office distributed land to only 38 freed Kamaiya families, while assuring the remaining 38 families that land would be arranged at another location. However, no land has been provided to them to date, creating disputes among the freed Kamaiyas themselves.”
At present, the Omanagar Kamaiya Camp is divided into two groups: 38 families who received land ownership certificates and 38 families who did not. The division has become so severe that social relations between the groups have deteriorated. The two groups even elect separate community leaders for social affairs. Families with land certificates insist that they should be allowed to clear and use their land, while those without certificates refuse to vacate the area until alternative land is provided. According to Kumal, this disagreement has repeatedly led to conflicts between the two groups.
The ongoing dispute has also hindered local development initiatives. Because of the conflict, development projects from the rural municipality have ceased to reach the settlement. A school building has not been constructed, forcing young children to attend schools located far away. The camp also faces shortages of electricity, drinking water, and irrigation facilities. Kumal stated that residents are unable to install electricity poles and are therefore compelled to purchase electricity from a nearby village at a high cost.
Chainpati Chaudhary, leader of the group of 38 families who received land ownership certificates but have been unable to use their land, expressed frustration that they have still not been able to enjoy possession of the land despite having received ownership certificates years ago.
He said, “In 2009, 38 Kamaiya families were provided with land ownership certificates, while the remaining 38 families were promised land elsewhere. Since those families have not been relocated, we have been unable to use our own land. We pay land taxes, yet other people continue to reside on the land.”
Chaudhary stated that they have long pressured state authorities to ensure the proper rehabilitation of the 38 landless freed Kamaiya families, but the lack of response has left both groups suffering.
He also complained that despite submitting memorandums every year requesting the rural municipality to resolve the dispute and bring development projects to the settlement, their concerns have not been addressed.
Although legal provisions exist through the Bonded Labour (Prohibition) Act, 2002, the provincial bill on the management of freed Haliya, Kamaiya, and Kamlahari communities (2021), and local procedures for the rehabilitation of freed bonded labourers, local governments have shown little interest in implementing rehabilitation measures. As rehabilitation efforts remain stalled, the daily lives of freed Kamaiya families continue to become increasingly difficult.