Socio-Economic and Livelihood Status of Freed Kamaiya (A Case Study of Suryapatuwa VDC, Bardiya District)

Abstract

The study on "Socio-economic and Livelihood Status of Freed Kamaiya in Suryapatuwa VDC of Bardiya District" is carried out with the objective of assessing the socio-economic status and livelihood options of freed Kamaiya. The Kamaiya system was in practice in five western terai districts of Nepal namely Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur. The word Kamaiya is derived from Tharu word‘Kam’ that refers to ‘work’. In a Tharu parlance, the term is used as a synonym for hardworking hired farm labour. The study is based on both descriptive and exploratory method. Both primary and secondary data has been used in the study.Primary data are collected using household survey, interview and observation. The study site is selected purposively and out of nine wards of the selected VDC five wards are selected using simple random sampling method In total 70 households of freed Kamaiyas' are selected. The collected data are compiled and analyzed by using statistical package SPPS Version 12.0. The highest proportion of population is found in the age group 25-30 years while the lowest is in the age group 50-55 years. The total dependency is 45.7 (young dependency-45.7 and old dependency-10.6). The illiteracy is prominent in the community. Moreover, about 91 percent of the literate people are below SLC level of education. The main occupation of the people is daily wages plus agriculture. The highest proportion of total population aged 10 years and above are found married. Females get marriage at younger age than the males. Most of the households 93 percent are found to be involved in share cropping. The crop productivity is not so much gorgeous. The source of irrigation is channel. The total annual income of the households from selling crop products ranged from NRs. 1500.00 to 15000.00. The major livestock reared by freed Kamaiyas are cow, ox,buffalo, goat and sheep. Most of the households 73 percent do not have enough food grain production to feed their family round the year i.e., the production lasts for less than 3 months. The average annual income per household is NRs. 38,650.00. People used to go for seasonal migration in the cities for work and the average duration of migration is 4.5 months. Most of the households are found to take loan to managetheir livelihood and the source of loan is mostly Mahajan. The interest rate is quitehigh up to 20 percent. The findings of the study reveals that early marriage, low levelof literacy, high dependency ratio are major demographic factors influencing the vii socio-economic status of the people. The low land holding size, lack of cropdiversification, low crop productivity and production, lack of attractive and reliable source of income, low total annual income, outstanding amount of credit, low number of livestock, poor livestock management, lack of profitable enterprises, lack of skills and knowledge and high vulnerability to crises are the important factors hindering the livelihood of the freed Kamaiyas.