Godavari, Sept 26 -Eight years after the government declared the Kamlari free, the former female bonded labourers have not been able to get government identity cards. As a result, they have been deprived of various government services.The government had declared Kamlari free on June 27, 2013. However, more than half of the freed Kamlari have not been able to get identity cards so far, said chairperson of the Free Kamlari Development Forum Kailali, Bindra Chaudhary. The living standard of the former Kamlari has not changed much since then.

Chaudhary said that they are still deprived of food, shelter, education, health and other basic necessities. The government has been giving Rs. 150 and Rs. 180 as schools to students from the community. But the scholarships is limited to Grade 12 and not been for higher education. The state should support the freed Kamlari even for higher education, Chaudhary said.In Kailali, out of 4,074, only 2,500 freed Kamlari have received government identity cards, according to the forum. A total of 1,574 people in the district are yet to get identity cards.

According to the Forum’s Central Office in Dang, 7,835 freed Kamlari in Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur have not been able to get identity cards. Their total population in these five districts is 12,769. (RSS)