Kanchanpur - Over 2,000 freed kamaiyas in Kanchanpur have made up their mind to return to their old profession. They are willing to accept lifelong servitude to local feudal lords because government programs to rehabilitate them have failed. The government had pronounced all kamaiyas free five years ago, and introduced rehabilitation programs and exemption from debts taken from their 'masters'. Two thousand of the 4,000 kamaiyas in Kanchanpur have begun to go back to their former landlords' farms. Many say they would be back where they started out from by mid-January.

"My father died before receiving compensation. The administration refused to give me the certificate of an ex-kamaiya," says Prem Lal Choudhari. He has no other way to feed his family of five. Kamaiyas who were provided with cash and land by the government do not seem be happy. They may be free, but they say the plots are too small and the government has failed to rehabilitate them properly. (Nepalnews.com Translation Service)