Hard Work
Bote families go hungry when women do not crush stones
By VISHNU PRASAD SHARMA
Throughout the day, women of the Bote community crush stones on the banks of the Kali Gandaki and turn them into gravel used in construction. Their children are with them in their work. They say that the whole day's hard labor is barely enough for survival of the family. The family goes hungry when the gravel they put together does not sell. Meanwhile, the men stay home idling their time by the whole day, only to enter the bhatti, or local pubs, in the evenings.
the job of finding gold using a sieve to separate fine sand from the courses on the river banks. They are hardly aware that they are bleeding through raw wounds on their fingers while breaking large stones into pebbles. They shovel out sand from the river daring to go waist deep in the water risking life itself. These courageous women put their babies to sleep on the piles of gravel they have accumulated and go on hammering down more rocks into small pieces throughout the day, all this just to resolve their hand-to-mouth problem.
It becomes unbearable for them only when the months of hard labor, the piles of gravel and the separated sand, does not sell and they have to go hungry. It is then that hunger haunts them. It is not just themselves and their children; they will have to look after their husbands as well. This is a place where men live on the earnings of women even today. This is the story of women in the Bote community who live by the Kali Gandaki in Maldhunga near Baglung.
These women come out at the break of dawn in search of stones and sand. They do not know whether their wares processed in the midst of the mid-day sun and pouring rains will sell at all. Their routine is to eke out a living on the river banks with bloody fingers, blistered palms, empty stomach and dried lips. Extreme poverty has come in the way of their social, education and mental development, but what is more, the utter neglect and irresponsibility thus exhibited by the concerned authority and the state itself means that they are excluded from so many aspects of human freedom.
Anyone visiting their settlement can easily witness their plight. Dozens of huts made from branches and leaves of trees patched up with mud line up the settlement. The small huts that allow in the sun's rays, rainwater and even dewdrops made to accommodate three persons have to house in seven or eight persons of a family. "This is a compulsion," says 61 year old Sunkali Bote. It is difficult to meet their basic needs. In fact, they have been habituated to go to bed hungry on days when they cannot sell their broken stones. "We eat if the stones sell, otherwise go to bed hungry," says Sunkali in a serious tone, "Still, it might just sell."
Most of those living in the settlement are middle-aged. The youth have left for jobs elsewhere but they do not know where. The men at home have not taken up any income generating activities because of lack of education and awareness. It is their women they order to work day and night.
Whether it is the freezing morning cold or the mid-day sun on the banks of the Kali Gandaki, women look busy hammering stones to little pieces. Due to lack of awareness and the means to send them to schools, the Bote children accompany their mothers in the hard work. The government's school enrolment campaign has not even touched the Bote children. When asked about the enrollment campaign, they did not know if it was fish or fowl. But the District Education Office claims to have included children of all deprived and backward communities in the campaign. The Maldhunga women say that they had to take up the occupation since nine years ago because of sheer poverty.
"We buy rice, pulses and salt with the earning from the day's work to barely make a hand-to-mouth survival. We have to feed the children and the husband first even if we have to go half hungry" says Majrad Bote while hitting a stone with her hammer. They say that it is easier to do the work early in the morning in an empty stomach. "We get a maximum of 18 rupees for the whole day's work, if the gravel sells," says Gauri Bote. "From that that we have to pay two rupees along with two kattha of the gravel to the contractor."
It is when the stones do not sell after months of hard labor with bloody fingers that they become frustrated. "We do not know when it will sell--sometimes we have to wait for months," says Deusari Bote. Borrowing gets them through their survival needs during such long and arduous waits. They pay back only when they are able to sell. But fate plays a dirty trick on them when festivals like Dashain and Tihar arrive, when spending is a must for various festive activities. They only dream of having good food and wearing new clothes even during Dashain. The Bote who survive on fish, herbs and wild tubers settled here around 1992 after the Pokhara-Baglung highway was constructed. They were living in Khaniyaghat and Adubari of Parbat prior to this. They arrived here on the river banks after they were displaced from the earlier settlement by the Malfhunga-Beni road. They have nothing but the shacks made of branches and leaves in their name today.
The Bote women face huge problems for lack of appropriate means of earning. "How can families be raised with only women working stone," they ask? The sale of their products has declined this year making it even more difficult to take care of their families. "Last year we sold sand at 30 rupees per kattha, this year no one is buying it even at 15," says 21 year old Nauli Bote.
The government’s behavior towards the women and children of this disappearing community, which remains ignorant of the state's social, political and economic policies, makes the narrow political culture in the country quite obvious. If the state continues to ignore the basic social, economic and political rights of these people the Bote community is destined to exist only in history. They are uneducated, have little social awareness, and have not developed their faculties enough to distinguish between right and wrong. The concerned authority must come up with social awareness and income generating activities to free them from their oppressive conditions and their all round development.
It is necessary educate the Bote men, dependent on their women, regarding independence and self-confidence. The urban oriented school enrollment campaign needs to focus its attention on the children of the excluded, oppressed and the poor. The numerous government and non-government organizations set up in Baglung to uplift women's status have not worked to raise the awareness of the Bote women so far.
If the government does not take initiatives to elevate the lifestyle of the Bote women, it will prove to be an unpardonable crime. And, ultimately, the slogans of equality among genders and races will remain mere slogans. Only when the Bote women and children are on a path to all round development can the country cross the Rubicon of equality and equity.
(Courtesy Sancharika Samuha’s Feature Service)
FNCCI Urges For Promotion Of Industries
The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has urged the government to concentrate on promoting the domestic industries rather than reducing custom tariffs.
At a press meet on Saturday (January 7), FNCCI has urged the government to bring in industry-friendly policies. FNCCI vice president Diwakar Golchha said that the country could prosper if industry, rather than trade, flourishes. He urged the government to take care not to affect domestic industries when reducing tariff rates as per WTO obligations.
“The upcoming economic ordinance should concentrate on industry promotion, export increase and employment growth,” FNCCI states. It has urged the government to provide tax holiday for 15 years to industries set up in remote regions. Likewise, it has asked the government to reduce tariff of raw materials required for domestic industries. “The tariff rate of these raw materials should be at least one level below that of finished goods,” Golchha said.
The federation has asked for some waiver on income tax to retail entrepreneurs. Other demands include giving VAT waiver to agro-based industries; complete waiver of export tax on products where there is more than 20 percent value addition; and tariff of maximum 2.5 percent on the import of machineries.
Earlier, Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), too, had urged the government not to reduce custom tariff that could hurt domestic industries. The confederation - referring to news reports that the government was likely to announce substantial reduction in custom tariffs in imports in the upcoming economic ordinance – has said the move could be counterproductive for the country’s economy. It even alleged that such move was being planned in collusion with vested interest groups.
