MAHENDRANAGAR: Even after the government a decade ago decreed that Kamaiyas (bonded labourers) to be freed and waived their loans, these have-nots have been helped far too little in other aspects of life as yet.

Tularam Chaudhari, 18, one of their ilks, has been living a life of misery in Doda camp, which shelters as many as 253 families. The orphaned teenager, during his stay of two-and-a-half years in the camp, spent countless nights without food. He does not know when his long wait for the government allowance of land will be over.

“It’s hard to for me to manage bread and butter even though I toil every single day,’’ he sighs.

Born in Bhimdutta Municipality, the youth holds a faint memory of his parents. He later reared the cattle

for a family in Pipladi

VDC for four years.

He managed to study till the third grade during his service as a Chekwar for the master. All else he got in return was food and accommodation. He however, regrets his life as a free individual. ‘’I used to get something to eat, at least.’’

With the emancipation of Kamaiyas in 2000, Kamlari, Bukhari, Chekwar, Bhekwar also demanded land with

the government. Regrettably, the lives of the other groups of people are hardly better — numerous concerns of

these people are yet to be

addressed.

‘’The government has been apathetic towards our problems,’’ said Chandralal Chaudhari. ‘’We have more been troubled than facilitated in the camps. The government is attempting to chase us away.”

The forest office pulled down their huts on November 18. Bista Devi Chaudhari, a Kamlari, said, “We need

action, not commitments merely.’’

The government agreed on November 27 last year to form a high-level land reforms commission but the problems of these downtrodden people remain unresolved yet.