Land Reform minister Pandey pledges to address freed Haliyas' problems

KATHMANDU: Minister for Land Reform and Management Bikram Pandey has pledged to prioritise problems of the freed Haliyas (liberated tillers who had earlier worked as bonded labourers for landlords).

Speaking at an interaction, Pandey said, "I will not let their hope for a change in their life end into disappointment."

On the occasion, contributors of the freed Haliyas movement including Kopila Nepali, Ramesh Koli and Ishwor Sunar informed that Haliyas living in 12 districts of far-western and mid-western Nepal are facing various types of problems.

Chairman of the Discipline Commission of the CPN-UML, Amrit Kumar Bohara, on the occasion, stressed the need to treat freed Haliyas’ problems as that of labourers.

Likewise, CPN Maoist Centre lawmaker Karna Bahadur BK also shared the same view regarding the matter.

Also, Nepali Congress lawmaker Nar Bahadur Chand emphasised the need for commitment from all political parties to solve the matter.

Freed Haliyas are currently agitating, demanding that the government should come up with a substantive plan for their proper rehabilitation.

The government had declared emancipation of Haliyas on September 5, 2008.

A total of 19,059 families of freed Haliyas have been verified by the government while it has floated an action plan to rehabilitate 8,888 freed Haliyas within two years in two phases.