Kathmandu, June 23:

The demands of Nepal’s Adivasi Janajati movement centre mainly on issues of governance and political representation, a report by Department for International Development (DFID) has said.

According to Unequal Citizens, published by the DFID, the main issue is the need for constitutional reforms; to remove discriminatory provisions and make provisions for equitable representation. The report said the janajatis also seek greater equality in linguistic rights, and guaranteed access to common property and resources.

Nepal originally prepared a schedule listing 61 Janajati groups, which was later

reduced to 59 in the law and there are various complexities involved in compiling a definitive list, the report said.

Among the groups in the current list, 18 are from mountain regions, 24 from the hills, seven

from the inner Tarai and 10 from the Tarai.

The 2001 Census enumerated only 43 of 59 Janajati groups and reported a population of 8.27 million or 37 per cent of Nepal’s population. The 16 ‘missing’ groups were not counted.

Many disparities are found even among the different Janajati groups. The Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) reports that 10 of the 59 Janajati groups are ‘endangered’, 12 ‘highly marginalised’, 20 ‘marginalised’, 15 ‘disadvantaged’ and two ‘advanced’ or better off.

Nepal’s constitution explicitly uses the term Janajatis and acknowledges both their presence and their relative social and economic deprivation, the report said, adding that use of Nepali as the only official language is discriminatory.

Constitutional reform is both an overarching demand related to many other issues, and an affirmation that the Janajatis want a wholly reformed contract with the state, it said.

Equitable representation through different measures, including “restructuring of the Nepali state” by changing the electoral system and affirmative action measures, are other key demands as is access to common property resources once communally owned by certain Janajati groups, the report further added.