ILO Study Report: Dalits and Labour in Nepal: Discrimination and Forced Labour, 2005
A report of the study, “Dalits and Labour in Nepal: Discrimination and Forced Labour” first published in 2005 is now available in pdf format.
This study was commissioned by International Labour Organization (ILO) Office in Nepal, acknowledging that caste-based discrimination is a socio-economic and cultural problem. Discrimination in employment and work is perceived by Dalits as the most important factor preventing them from improving their current situation. Discrimination needs to be eliminated both from the workplace and from society at large so that Dalits can live and work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and dignity. This goal can be achieved only through increased social awareness of both Dalits and non-Dalits, and through the enhancement of their ability to function and to engage, as well as to influence and hold accountable, the institutions that affect them. The ILO, as the leading international agency responsible for setting labour standards, believes that the State and employers can and should take measures to end caste-based discrimination within the workplace. ILO Convention No. 111 on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation can be instrumental in preventing caste-based discrimination at the workplace. Nepal has ratified both Convention No. 111 and the Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100), which are among the ILO’s fundamental Conventions.
”One of the key factors that perpetuate poverty is social and economic exclusion through discrimination. In Nepal, the issue of social and economic exclusion occupies a vital position in many development agendas that aim at reducing widespread poverty in the country. Dalits, one of the most marginalized groups in Nepal, are still facing several forms of discrimination in all sectors, including the workplace. As a result, Dalits today stand at the bottom of most indicators of socio-economic development..” says Leyla Tegmo-Reddy, Director, ILO Office in Nepal in the foreword of the report.
Full text of the report: Dalits and Labour in Nepal: Discrimination and Forced Labour
Executive Summary
A. Study Objectives
1. This study deals with the extent of discrimination prevalent against Dalits in Nepal in the world of work, forced labour and child labour, as well as the gender relations within the Dalit communities, in relation to the existing constitutional and legal provisions as well as the relevant United Nations (UN) and International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions ratified by the government of Nepal.
B. Methodology and Coverage
2. The study employed a multi-method strategy. The household survey incorporated major Dalit groups and covered 1,454 households in 33 clusters of 11 districts: three from the mountain region, four from the hills and four from the terai, and is, therefore, spatially representative of Nepal.
C. Sample Population
3. The total Dalit population taken in this study was 8,433: 4,638 males and 3,795 females. About 41.7 per cent of the sample population was below 15 years of age.
D. Nepalese Society and the Caste System
4. Although the Nepali society is multiethnic, multi-religious, multicultural and multilingual, the Hindu religion and the all-pervasive caste system have a hegemonic hold on it. The caste system, which has its roots in the ancient religious texts, codes and traditions derived from them, was formalized by the 1854 Civil Code. Although it was legally abolished by an amendment of the old Civil Code in 1963, the caste system, including untouchability, is still practised in the Nepali society.
E. Demographics
5. The exact population of Dalits in Nepal is not known largely due to the absence of a generally acceptable definition of Dalits. The total population of the 10 Dalit groups enumerated in the 1991 census is 2,201,781, or 11.91 per cent of the total population.
F. Socio-cultural, Economic and Political Exclusion
6. Socio-cultural exclusion of Dalits can be seen in a variety of socio-cultural settings, particularly in those areas where they have to be in close physical contact with ‘upper caste’ people or touch water and food items: funeral or birth rites, wedding ceremonies, community feasts or cultural programmes, community meetings and training, non-formal educational classes and income-generating activities.
7. Income-earning white-collar jobs—clerical or professional—are largely unavailable for Dalits mainly because of their relatively low educational status, apart from their ‘untouchable’ status.
8. As a result of the low participation of Dalits in socio-cultural and economic processes, among all population groups, Dalits possess the least awareness of different interventions of socioeconomic uplift and fare the worst in virtually all conceivable indicators of socio-cultural and economic participation. Similarly, they have the lowest annual per capita income, expenditure, savings and investment. The magnitude of exclusion of Dalits is reflected by all indicators, including the Human Development Index (1996), which is the lowest for Dalits among all listed groups.
9. As opposed to Bahuns and Chhetris, who dominate all major political parties, Dalits have the least political participation at various levels. An overwhelming majority of Dalits (86.56%) are not members of any political organizations. In the 1997 election for VDC chairpersons, Bahuns/Chhetris (54.42%) and Janajatis (39.86%) constituted the majority, whereas Dalits constituted a mere 1.63 per cent of the 735 VDC chairpersons.
10. The low socio-cultural and economic participation of Dalits at the local level is also reflected at the national level. Dalits are excluded from leadership positions in civil society organizations and political parties, as well as in trade, industry, science and technology. They have hardly been able to make inroads into the apex of political institutions in terms of holding central-level leadership positions of political parties. They are excluded from all institutions of governance, and from academic and professional leadership in the education sector. There was not even a single Dalit among the chief district officers and secretaries in ministries until 1959 and so is the case in 1999. Similarly, the Dalit presence is nil in the Supreme Court. The representation of Dalits among police officers and in the armed forces is quite negligible.
G. Occupations
11. The Dalit respondents still practised their traditional occupations such as blacksmith work, tailoring, leatherwork, goldsmith work, copper/bronze work, earth-digging, sweeping and cleaning, ploughing, musical instrument playing, human waste disposal and carcass disposal. These occupations were performed on an ad hoc basis and did not contribute much to the household’s livelihood.
12. Many Dalits groups embraced activities in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors when traditional occupations did not bring expected returns or when they could not compete with factory-produced goods. Non-traditional occupations were diverse, and included agricultural wage labour, regular job or service, farming, retail store, hotel/restaurant and construction businesses. Occupational mobility towards more gainful jobs was, however, limited.
H. Access to Resources
13. Caste hierarchy in the Nepali society broadly corresponds to the economic position of the particular caste group. ‘Lower caste’ people tend to be poor also because of their reduced access to both material and non-material resources. Being born into a ‘lower caste’ household implies much greater likelihood of reduced access to resources and thus falling into the poverty trap as compared to being born in an ‘upper caste’ family.
14. Dalits possess the least amount of land, which is, apart from being the most important means of production, an important determinant of social status in agricultural countries, like Nepal. Again, they exhibit the lowest household income among major caste and ethnic groups. As a result, their consumption and thereby health and productive power are quite low.
15. Around 44 per cent of all respondents had borrowed loans from various sources, including local moneylenders, commercial banks and relatives. Around 15 per cent of those who had borrowed loans had to render additional services to those from whom they had borrowed
loans, indicating a link between credit and labour exploitation, as well as the high transaction cost of borrowing for Dalits.
I. Discrimination in Labour
16. Although legal provisions prohibit discrimination on the ground of caste, institutional exclusion of, and discrimination against, Dalits is widespread. Discrimination in employment is one of the most important areas of discrimination perceived by the Dalits themselves. Only a negligible number of Dalits are employed in the government bureaucracy, including in the armed forces, the police, government corporations and establishments.
17. Discrimination in employment has both direct or intentional and indirect aspects. For example, the low employment rate of Dalits in the government sector can largely be attributed to their low level of education, which again is related to their Dalit status in society. This form of
discrimination can, therefore, be seen as indirect discrimination. At the same time, it also has elements of direct discrimination in the sense that the government sector is dominated by ‘upper caste’ people, who tend to favour candidates belonging to their own castes when the matter concerns hiring or promoting personnel.
J. Forced Labour
18. Apart from direct compulsion to do forced labour, Dalits are also engaged in indirect forced labour. Many poor and landless Dalits continue their traditional caste-based occupations no matter how humiliating they may be, such as Balighare, Haliya and Hali. In addition, they are asked to perform casual and irregular jobs with little or no wages. In many cases, they have to work for ‘upper caste’ households and/or also send their children to work to repay their loans.
19. They are often told to carry out odd jobs or run errands at the beck and call of ‘upper castes’. Quite often they are not paid for such work and even if paid the wages are minimal.
20. Dalits experience the threat of exclusion, such as denial of access to labour, exclusion from social gatherings, rites de passage, festivities and other community as well as religious activities, at the hands of ‘upper caste’ groups for resisting the prevalent forced labour.
K. Wages and Salaries
21. Although around 63 per cent of the respondents were engaged in those occupations that brought quite low returns, they had no alternative other than to continue with them. About 19 per cent of them believed that ‘upper caste’ people received higher returns from the same job; around 23 per cent felt that their current jobs were linked to their caste status; and around 71 per cent believed that even if they got some jobs in the informal or private sector, they would be paid lower wages and salaries than their ‘upper caste’ colleagues. These perceptions were validated by the finding that Dalits received on average Rs96 for a day’s work: around Rs78 for a female and Rs99 for a male worker. The mean market wage for the same kind of job was around Rs105: around Rs88 for a female and Rs111 for a male worker.
L. Work Allocation
22. Hindu scriptures reserve certain coveted occupations for ‘upper caste’ people, while ‘lower caste’ people are relegated to perform occupations that are considered dirty and impure, and require brute physical force to be done. The latter have to engage in these occupations even if they do not like. So, if ‘upper caste’ people are involved in socially prestigious work, Dalits find themselves in socially the most detested physical work. Thus, today, ‘upper caste’ people are dominant in all sectors of employment, whereas most Dalits earn meagre living from traditional occupations and wage labour.
M. Conditions at the Workplace
23. Discrimination against Dalits is common at workplaces throughout the country’s rural areas. Dalits have to maintain physical distance from their ‘upper caste’ colleagues. They can neither eat with them nor drink water from the same pitcher. However, today this is not usually the case in an urban setting or at workplaces involving large numbers of workers from different places who are not known to each other, unlike in a typical village setting.
24. Lack of contractual arrangements often empowers employers to demand doing of jobs at odd hours. The caste system, which has rendered Dalits politically and socially weak, denies them the opportunity to negotiate appropriate prices for their skills and products with their ‘upper caste’ clients. Dalits themselves have not been able to forge a collective force to bargain and negotiate. Fulfilment of immediate needs rather than receiving delayed benefits through proper contractual arrangements is more important for Dalits.
25. Direct and intentional forms of discrimination in labour, based on Dalits’ perceived untouchable status, are still rampant in the informal sector in rural areas. In contrast to the direct forms of discrimination, indirect forms of discrimination, largely due to the historical legacy of the caste system, as manifested in the Dalits’ low socio-economic and political status, as well as subsequent low employment in the organized sectors, are seen to be important.
N. Child Labour
26. Although the Children’s Act 1991 prohibits the employment of any child in any enterprise, around 18 per cent of the Dalit children were involved in their traditional occupations such as sweeping and human waste disposal; leatherwork and midwifery; earthwork and soil-digging;
and laundry washing. Child labour was more prevalent in the terai than in the hill region. Around 8 per cent of all Dalit children are victims of slavery or slavery-like practices. Children also worked to pay back their parents’ debts or helped their parents in cultivating the land of ‘upper caste’ households in return for food or shelter, or both. Dalit children were involved in hazardous and arduous jobs such as picking and collecting rags, metal scraps and glasses; disposing of carcasses; cremating dead bodies; disposing of human waste; portering; working in coalmines, etc.
O. Escaping Strategies and Coping Mechanisms
27. Dalits employ various strategies and mechanisms to escape caste discrimination. Migration, changing of surname and religious conversion can be seen as escaping strategies, whereas efforts to get better education and skills, sanskritization and political extremism can be seen as
coping mechanisms.
28. Migration is one of the strategies for escaping from a situation where caste discrimination is still a pervasive phenomenon. A majority of migrants choose ‘abroad’ (59.7%) as their destination, with ‘India’ as the most important destination within this category, followed by ‘nation’s capital-city’ (23.6%) and ‘urban areas’ (13.1%). One of the contemporary escaping strategies is adopting non-traditional surnames, which does work when they migrate to urban centres. Similarly, change of religion is another escaping strategy.
29. Higher education is an effective coping mechanism, though not many Dalits in Nepal can afford higher education. Similarly, skill development helps the Dalit labour force to escape from discrimination in the labour market.
30. Education, religion and adoption of ‘upper caste’ surnames can be seen as some of the aspects of sanskritization.
P. Policies and Programmes for Reducing Labour Discrimination
31. The right to enjoy human rights without discrimination is one of the fundamental principles underlying the Nepalese legal system. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 explicitly guarantees equality in the legal system, and calls for moral and legal sanctions to protect the human rights.
32. Among legislative provisions, the Civil Liberty Act 1954 prohibits any restrictions on any citizen on the grounds of religion, race, sex, caste or any of these in any appointment to the civil service. The Act also provides grounds for affirmative actions in favour of socially and economically backward communities. The Citizens’ Rights Act 1970 guarantees that no person shall be employed or forced to perform jobs against his or her wishes. The Legal Aid Act 1998 seeks to apply the principle of equal justice for the socially and economically underprivileged and other disadvantaged groups such as Dalits, women and ethnic groups by providing necessary legal aid for these people. The Local Self-Governance Act (LSGA) 1999 seeks to institutionalize the process of development through wider participation, including that of the Dalit communities. It requires local bodies to undertake activities for the benefit of women, backward communities and differently able persons.
33. The Eighth Plan (1992-1997), for the first time in the history of the country’s periodic plans, spelt out some policies and programmes for Dalits, but they were neither designed with the concept of decentralization in mind nor formulated and implemented with the participation of the beneficiaries. The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) contained a separate chapter outlining the objectives, policies, strategies and programmes for Dalits and other disadvantaged groups. The plan provided for separate treatment for Dalits, which indicates evolution of concern for Dalits in the Government. The Tenth Plan (2002-2007) deals specifically with the issues pertaining to the uplift of the living standard of Nepal’s Dalits, and lays down a long-term vision for the promotion of empowerment and self-esteem of Dalits by mainstreaming them. It explicitly spells out a programme for incorporating Dalit problems, untouchability and the existing caste ethos in textbooks to create awareness of these issues.
34. The implementation and enforcement part of these domestic and international legal provisions, as well as government policies and plans, is, however, very weak. As a result, these have not been able to substantively reduce labour discrimination in Nepal.
Q. Dalit Civil Society Movement
35. The DNF and the ILO conducted a collaborative study, entitled ‘The Dalit Mapping Study: A Joint Research Venture’, in 2002 to ascertain how and where Dalit NGOs (DNGOs) are working and what steps need to be taken to assist them in the fight against caste discrimination.
36. There were around 600 DNGOs operating in Nepal. Most of the DNGOs were concentrated in accessible areas, especially in Kathmandu valley. They were involved in the development of Dalit children and women and in the affairs of the differently able, Kamaiyas, Badis and the landless. Their activities encompassed advocacy, education and skill-enhancing vocational training. However, their approach was ad hoc rather than need-oriented. The vast majority of DNGOs had inadequate resources in terms of qualified personnel and money.
37. The study recommended that the capacity and skills of DNGOs be built to enable them to effectively serve the needs of their target communities. Similarly, how exactly these organizations are operating and which are the specific groups that are the beneficiaries of their activities should be assessed. DNGOs should consider the development issues of the whole Dalit community. Furthermore, development programmes should consider the wider social context in which these problems exist, and explore ways for breaking down the social barriers that have caused Dalits to be oppressed for so long.
R. Recommendations
38. A consensual approach to the definition and identification of Dalits is needed to facilitate the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes, as well as future research works on Dalits in Nepal.
39. The government should review the implementation status of relevant UN and ILO conventions as well as the domestic laws pertaining to discrimination in labour, forced labour, child labour and the worst forms of child labour. Also needed is the creation of a monitoring unit to see that enforcement is taking its due course.
Submitted to nepaldalitinfo by:
Suman Paudel