Far Western Regional Haliya Freedom Society (FWRHFS) has said it will present an 11-point demand to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the PM’s office, Singha Durbar, on Wednesday calling upon him to take initiatives to abolish Haliya system in the country.

The organization said a delegation of the Society will also call on State Minister for Labor and Transportation Ramesh Lekhak, parliamentarians and leaders of the Civil Society in a bid to free themselves from the long running ‘haliya’ tradition.

Haliyas are those people required to volunteer their work for the creditors for the loans their fathers and fore-fathers reportedly borrowed long ago.

According to FWRHFS, there are around 15,000 families and more than 100,000 forced to work as a ‘Haliya’ in the country. The FWRHFS has initiated its struggle for freedom of ‘Haliyas’ since 2002.

Speaking at an interaction programme organized at the Reporters Club in Kathmandu on Tuesday, President of the Nepal Bar Association Shambhu Thapa said that a special law was needed to free `Haliyas’ from their debt.

Similarly, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Damannath Dhungana, said that the new constitution must address the problem of all the exploited communities in the country including Haliyas.

Likewise, journalist Shyam Shrestha said the problem of Haliyas should be addressed by the new law and the new constitution should be able to address similar problems.

Human rights activist, Sushil Pyakurel, said that it was not enough to formulate laws and rules. What is needed is their effective implementation, he added.