NEPAL: Discrimination continues against Dalits
Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN
Dalits are still regarded as "untouchables"
KATHMANDU, 24 December 2010 (IRIN) - Dalit communities, the lowest of
the 100 caste groups in Nepal, continue to be marginalized, despite
the fact that caste-based discrimination was abolished in 1963,
activists say.
"Untouchability and discrimination were legitimized by the state over
a century ago," said Bhakta Biswakarma, national head of the advocacy
group, Nepal National Dalit Social Welfare Organization (NNDSWO).
"Today we see the state doing little to change the situation.
Discrimination against the Dalit as the untouchable caste is still
practised so rigidly - especially in the remote areas."
The 1854 Civil Code, introduced by the Rana regime, explicitly
declared the Dalits untouchable, the lowest status within the Hindu
social hierarchical structure.
This imposed strict regulations on where the Dalit were allowed to
live (they could not enter temples or use the same tap water as higher
castes), forbad them from education and from participating in
community festivals.
Those who defied the law of untouchability were punished; the state
imposed the practice of discrimination on society, said Suman Poudel,
an official with the Dalit NGO Federation (DNF).
Little has changed for the estimated 23 Dalit communities in the
country's hill and Terai regions, despite the propagation of legal
rights.
Impoverished and neglected
Dalit communities have the lowest human development rankings in the
country: 49.2 percent live below the poverty line compared with a
national average of 31 percent, according to the World Bank.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) says discriminatory labour
practices persist in the Terai, where the majority of Dalit live.
During annual harvest seasons (March-May and September-November),
high-caste landlords reportedly continue to use debt bondage to secure
unpaid labour from Dalit labourers.
In the Terai, many Dalits are landless and live on less than US$1 a
day, Poudel said, while UNDP assessments reveal that their annual per
capita income is less than half that of higher castes ($764 to $1,848)
across the rest of the country.
With a literacy rate of less than 33.5 percent above grade six
(against 67.5 percent among higher-caste Brahmins), and high rates of
school dropout, improving the social condition of Dalit communities is
a challenge.
Weak implementation
And while caste discrimination was officially abolished in 1963,
experts say the government has been weak in enforcing the ban.
"There are a plethora of policies and laws that have been drafted to
protect the Dalit," said Oxfam's Robert Sila, a social inclusion and
civil society expert. "But there is no seriousness on the government
side when it comes to implementing these policies."
One of the pillars of the government's poverty reduction strategy for
a long time has been social inclusion, but there is little evidence of
that, Sila says.
However, Sudha Neupane, under-secretary for the gender equality and
social section of Nepal's Ministry of Local Development, says the
government is focusing heavily on combating discrimination.
"The government is very sensitive to the issue of discrimination
against the Dalit," Neupane said.
A starting point would be addressing the controversy over population
size. Government statistics show that the Dalit make up nearly 13
percent of the 29 million population, although the Dalit put that
figure at more than 20 percent.
"A government cannot effectively address the needs of a population if
it doesn't have their exact numbers. It should do a fresh census to
determine the real numbers," said Sila.
Nepal's last national census was done in 2001 and a new one is expected in 2011.
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