Kathmandu: Dalit community has witnessed meager number of candidates in the House of Representatives (HoR) member elections to be held on coming March 5.

Nepali Congress (NC) has fielded its assistant general secretary Prakash Rasaili Snehi as a candidate of Dalit community from Bajhang.

CPN (UML) has presented Chakra Snehi from Dadeldhura and Bimala Biki from Bardiya-2 (UML).

Likewise, Nepali Communist Party has given tickets only to Padam Biswokarma from Syangja-2 and Man Bahadur Sunar from Kanchanpur-3. Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has nominated Khagendra Sunar from Banke-3.

Padam Sundas, a leader of the Dalit movement and former ambassador, has noted that the major political parties have always treated the Dalit community as a vote bank but have consistently deprived them of political opportunities.

He commented, “The contribution of Dalit leaders within the party is equal to that of other communities, but they do not get tickets during elections. Discrimination is being practiced while allotting tickets though Dalit holds 13 percent of total population”.

Bindu Pariyar, President of the Association for Dalit Women’s Advancement of Nepal (ADWAN), opined that the democratic legacy party NC, which has repeatedly fought for change, and Nepali Communist Party and UML, which claim to struggle for the rights of marginalized, have proven to be insensitive towards Dalits.

She noted that by not directly giving tickets to the Dalit community, their representation in parliament is seen meager.

Just like the constitutional provision requiring 33 percent women in Parliament, there should also be a mandatory provision for Dalits, she argued.

In the House of Representatives of 2022, there were 15 Dalit representatives (5.81 percent) while in the 2008 Constituent Assembly, 50 Dalits (8.32 percent) were present.

There were 40 Dalits (6.65 percent) in the 2010 Constituent Assembly, and 20 Dalits (7.27 percent) in the House of Representatives of 2018.

Looking at these numbers, the representation of Dalits in Parliament is seen to be decreasing consecutively.
Out of 59 members of the National Assembly, only eight are Dalits.

Although Article 42(1) of the Constitution has stated that socially disadvantaged individuals shall have the right to participate in state agencies based on the principle of inclusiveness, its practical implementation has not been achieved.