The Karnali province government and the Badi community people – who have been demanding land and shelter for the past two weeks – inked a five-point memorandum of understanding.
Since 22 February, the Badi community people have been staging a sit-in before the Office of Chief Minister and Council of Ministers with the demand for cultivable land and shelter.
The memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed by the Secretary of Karnali Province Ministry of Land Management and Cooperatives, Rajendra Mishra and Hikmat Badi on behalf of the Badi Struggle Committee.
As stated in the MoU, the Province government would request the Government of Nepal to provide land to the Badi community with its cabinet decision and also carry out necessary coordination to that end.
According to the agreement, the provincial government would form a three-member task force within two months to prepare and submit an objective report for the uplift and development of the Badi community and allow the community to operate the additional programme in the current fiscal year under its clothing, food and shelter support programme.
The province government has also agreed to include programme related to education, health, employment, art and culture, skill-based training and income generation in the upcoming year's policy and programme for the development of Badi community people. Likewise, the Badi struggle committee would withdraw its all programme of protest. The two sides also reached an understanding to arrange a revolving fund and provide loan up to one million rupees with subsidized interest rates.
