Karnali Badi community complains of state neglect

By Rajani Yogi, Surkhet, May 27: The Badi community in Karnali Province said it has been neglected by the state after the provincial government failed to implement agreements made with the community.

Members of the Badi community living in Karnali had staged a 17-day protest six years ago, demanding various rights and support measures. Following the protest outside the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, the provincial government signed a five-point agreement with them. The movement was later withdrawn after the government provided written assurances.

However, despite years passing since the agreement, none of the commitments has been fully implemented, according to community members.

Coordinator of the Badi Struggle Committee, Hikmat Badi, said the province had failed to introduce concrete programmes for the upliftment of the Badi community. He said the community is now planning to travel to Kathmandu to draw the attention of the federal government to the condition of the Badi people in Karnali.

“As the provincial government has shown no sign of fulfilling our demands, we are now being forced to focus our efforts in Kathmandu,” he said.

Hikmat Badi, who is also coordinator of the Badi Concern Committee, said the community became more hopeful after the government led by Balendra Shah came to power. 

He added that although the community had previously raised its concerns with the federal government, no meaningful action had been taken.

The community said provincial government policies, programmes and budgets for marginalised groups in both the previous and current fiscal years show little concern for their issues.

Hikmat accused the provincial government of failing to support programmes aimed at making the community self-reliant.

In the past, agreements between the Karnali government and the Badi community included requests to the federal government for land allocation, formation of a three-member task force to prepare a realistic report on the community’s upliftment within two months, and income-generating programmes under the “Food, Clothing and Shelter” initiative.

He said the provincial government had implemented none of the agreed-upon points.

The provincial government, however, stated that income-generating programmes for the Badi community would be operated under the “Food, Clothing and Shelter” programme.

According to the Ministry of Social Development, only one of the five points in the agreement falls directly under the ministry’s responsibility. Chief of the ministry’s Planning Division, Subarna Khadka, said procedures had already been prepared to implement that point.

He also said programmes had been launched across the province to improve access to education for children from the Badi community.

The Badi community had also demanded support from the provincial government to secure cultivable land. The Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives said it had already written to the federal government regarding the issue.

The community, which has long demanded proper arrangements for food and shelter, said it has repeatedly been disappointed as written agreements made with the government have remained limited to promises.