DADELDHURA: Though there has been electricity in the neighbouring village for more than a decade, twenty-five families of Amargadhi Municipality-7 in Khanmadaka, a Haliya Basti, a settlement of bonded labourers, are living in the dark. Local Haliya Loke Parki said that they were unable to afford electricity in their households. “We are living a miserable life though we were freed from our masters after serving them for generations,” he said. He said that paying for electricity was out of the question when they were having a hard time just to manage their everyday meals. He informed that no Haliya family had electricity in their house.

Another Haliya Bhuje Parki said that they could not think of any luxurious facilities when they were struggling to manage their bare necessities. “It is very difficult to manage even a proper meal through our daily wages,” he lamented. Haliyas of the settlement complained that they were also deprived of drinking

water and health facilities. Local leader Raghubar

Bhatta said that Haliyas were living a miserable life.

There has been no improvement, though there are different organisations said to be working for the welfare of the Haliyas.

Bhuje Parki said that they had to sometimes live without food for days if they didn’t get work. Haliyas said that the government had failed to provide effective programmes for their resettlement. Another Haliya leader Chakra BK said, “We will be compelled to return to our master’s house if the government fails to address our problems.” He said that it was better to stay as a Haliya, than to stay without food.