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KATHMANDU (AFP) — Nepal's Maoist-led government vowed Monday to end slave-like conditions for around 150,000 bonded labourers in the far west of the country who have been paying off debt for generations.
Under the "Haliya" (land tiller) system, children inherit debt accrued by their parents and grandparents and have to work in the fields for moneylenders and landlords.
"This practice will be scrapped after a committee we have appointed submits its report," Krishna Bahadur Mahara, the Maoist government spokesman, told AFP.
Nepal officially abolished all forms of slavery in 2001, but the Haliya system -- which traps people in a cycle of debt -- lives on in remote areas, said activists.
"It has continued in our region because landlords forced poor people to continue with this age-old tradition," Gorak Sarki, a Haliya from Doti district, 440 kilometres (275 miles) west of Kathmandu, told AFP.
"When we complained the authorities just ignored us, and we were compelled to stick with the tradition to survive," said Sarki.
Haliya labourers say they want a minimum wage and an allocation of land.
"We have high hopes of the new Maoist government. They have promised revolutionary land reforms so we hope they will address our issues," Dambar Bishwokarma, another Haliya activist from Doti district, said.
Nepal's Maoists are now leading the country after signing up for peace in 2006 following a bitter, decade-long insurgency.
They emerged victorious in landmark polls in April for a body that abolished the unpopular monarchy and is now due to write a new constitution for the world's newest republic. Sphere: Related Content
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