JAJARKOT, OCTOBER 19
People from Badi community living on the banks of the Jhupra rivulet at Birendranagar Municipality-11, the capital of Karnali Province, have not been able to celebrate Dashain for the past 36 years.
Eking out a living by sifting sand from the banks of the river for construction purpose, Badi people have not enjoyed the festivals like Dashain, Tihar, among others, to the fullest. Although the country has seen many big political changes over this period, the economic condition of the Badi settlement has not improved till date. Nearly 150 families are living in huts and shanties on the banks of the Jhupra Khola.
Lalpara Badi from Badi community had come to this place when she was 19 years old to work as a labourer. An RCC bridge was being constructed over the Bheri River at that time. She is now 55. At that time, she sifted sand and broke stones for producing pebbles for the construction of the bridge. Employed during the period of the construction, many families like hers became jobless with the completion of the bridge. They moved on to the banks of the nearby Jhupra rivulet.
"During those years, dozers were not used for mining sand from stream like these days. That means we had employment," said Lalpara. She said the sand and pebbles they collected fetched good price at that time. However, in recent years, dozers have been employed by contractors for mining sand, displacing them from employment.
This means that Badi families have lost their major source of income, pushing them into poverty. Moreover, Birendranagar Municipality has banned sand mining in the monsoon months, making their life even harder.
Sharing that a five-point deal was signed between Badi community and Karnali Province government three years ago, Chhabilal Badi informed that forwarding different programmes for uplift of Badi community has been mentioned in the agreement. The agreement has not been implemented yet, he said. "Karnali Province government had signed a five-point deal after the people from Badi community arrived from different districts of Karnali on February 2021 and staged a sit-in for 18 days before the Office of the Chief Minister. But the agreement has not been implemented yet," said Chhabilal.
A committee was formed under the coordination of Secretary of the Office of the Chief Minister Anand Saru, to submit the report for the uplift of Badi Community within two months. It had submitted the report to the then Chief Minister Jeevan Bahadur Shahi. But the provincial government has not initiated any activities except preparing the report. Also the coordinator of agreement implementation committee, Saru shared that the programmes recommended by the report were in the phase of implementation. Saying that the federation and local levels have to do more work to resolve the problems of Badi community, he mentioned that necessary coordination with the ministry was under way for the same.
"An arrangement of budget for marginalised community has been made through social development ministry of the province," he stated, adding that work for the construction of hostel for Badi students was under way.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 20, 2023, of The Himalayan Times
