| Geographic coverage | Siraha, Saptari and Dang |
| Project duration | 1st June 2019 – 30th March 2022 |
| Budget | Euro 2,58,931 |
| Funding partner/s | European Union |
| Target groups | Bonded/Potential/Forced/Debt Bondage Labors and Vulnerable Women and Children |
Introduction
Bonded labour are used diversely in agricultural sectors, they can be seen exploited in agricultural land, barn, home, cattle grazing, ploughing, harrowing, husking etc. Age and gender too are factors that play into the nature of the task; male adults are used to plough the field and in harrowing while adult females are generally provided the task to pulverize the mud, clean the agricultural site and reap the harvest. Likewise boys are engaged in herding while girls are usually assigned the role of a helping hand in kitchen; garden, for washing clothes, fetching water etc. The origins of the system of BL in Nepal are in the Tharu practice of Kamaiya in the western region; for generations this was sustained as a patron-client relationship and was relatively non-abusive, yet exploitative. After the banning of Kamaiya labour, landlords moved towards share-cropping. Money is required to meet the cost of bulls, tools and other resources which is often taken in the form a loan and deducted from the shared crop (neo-bondage called Zirayat). The eastern region of Nepal including Saptari and Siraha districts and Dang in western Nepal have seen the rise of new forms of bonded labour in share cropping. Close to 95 per cent of Haruwa-Charuwa households and 94 per cent of Haliya households in this region are affected by forced labour. Ten per cent of all adult males; six per cent of adult females and one-quarter of the Tarai Dalits were in forced labour. Landlords and moneylenders often force them to pay 60 per cent interest on their survival needs. Wage payments are mostly in-kind and the cash value is only 50-60 percent of the minimum wage declared by the government. Endemic poverty, wage exploitation, and access to land, health and quality education continue to be major problems. Due to high rates of interest and low wages, there are few chances to exit the debt bondage that has been established.
Objective:
To promote and ensure effective systems and mechanisms for prevention from bondage and access to human rights and entitlements through social mobilization, economic empowerment and rescue and rehabilitation of BL in the agriculture.
Expected Result:
