Minority Kayat Community Deprived Of State Facilities


A minority Kayat community in the district has been deprived of state facilities as the state is yet to recognize their ethnic identity. The government has been providing quotas in various sectors like education, health and job opportunities based on the identity of various communities.

An issue of providing ethnic identity to the community has landed in the parliament two years ago. However, no progress has been made so far to that regard.

“The government has provided ethnic identity to over 100 ethnicities. But we have been left out. Our demand has not been addressed so far. Capable people from the community have lagged behind as a result,” said Bishwas Kayat. The community is on the brink of disappearance without their conservation, he said.

Kalyan Kayat rued the government’s ‘apathy’ towards giving them ethnic identity. “We have been deprived of state facilities without our identity. The government should identify us as minority,” he demanded.

There are around 70 Kayat families in Dhorpatan Municipality. They have also formed a Kayat unity society working for the upliftment of the community. Those representing the minority community have failed to draw the attention of the state, thus resulting in this problem, said the society chairperson Min Bahadur Kayat.

Some have argued that the community falls into indigenous nationalities group while others have refused it reasoning that the community lacks its language, origin and culture.

Former lawmaker Dr Surya Pathak two years ago took up the issue of ensuring social security to minority communities by providing them their ethnic identity, in the State Management and Good Governance Committee under the dissolved House of Representatives.

“Commissions were defunct when I took up the issue. Now the Indigenous Nationalities Commission has got a full shape. I am at work continuously on providing minority communities their ethnic identity. The process will move ahead once the Kayat community files an application in the Commission,” he said. A deliberation on the registration of a proposal to amend the Bill related to social security had taken place in a bid to ensure social security to the Kayat community by enlisting it on a community on the verge of disappearance, he said.

Following this, the parliamentary committee asked the concerned authority to manage social security to the community after establishing their ethnic identity.

Chief District Officer Suresh Neupane said they were at work to provide the community their ethnic identity.

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