As many as 16 previous bonded laborers from Dasharathchand municipality-9, Gwallek of Baitadi jointly lodged a complaint at the district administration office Sunday for alleged irregularities on the money meant for freed Haliyas.
In an outrage, the Haliyas made the complaint against Bir Bhan Koli, a member of the District Haliya Mukti Samaj, for demanding bribe from them.
In a complaint letter, they stated that he (Koli) had demanded Rs 8,000 each from the amount received under the Haliya Rehabilitation Program of the Nepal government.
Birman Mahara, a local Haliya, said that Koli had demanded Rs 8,000 each from the amount received through the District Inland Revenue Office.
The case came to the spotlight after Koli demanded Rs 9,500 from Dukhi Rana on August 2. Rana shared that she registered a complaint against Koli after he demanded Rs 9,500.
Responding to the complaint, CDO Chandra Prasad Gaire pledged to carry out necessary probe into the incident. "Legal action would be taken if he was found demanding money from freed Haliyas".
Likewise, Rajuram Bhul, former central chairperson of Haliya Mukti Samaj, expressed doubt over the misuse of amount meant for former bonded laborers across the district.
However, Koli claimed that he did not receive any money from the previous bonded laborers. He said that it was a political conspiracy to assassinate his character.
It may be noted that a big chunk of money had come for 1,000 freed Haliyas in Baitadi last year under the Freed Haliya Rehabilitation Program.
For each freed Haliya family, the government has been providing Rs 325,000 for house construction, Rs 200000 for land purchase and Rs 125,000 for house maintenance.
The data reveals that Baitadi alone has 2022 freed Haliyas.
