Nepal introduces bill to criminalize Kamaiya and Kamalari child labor

The government of Nepal has registered the Children Related (First Amendment) Bill, 2026 in Parliament to address legal loopholes that allow the continued exploitation of children through Kamaiya and Kamalari practices.

Presented by Sita Badi, the Minister for Women, Children, Gender and Sexual Minorities and Social Security, the bill proposes amending Section 66 of the Act Relating to Children, 2018. Under the new provisions, keeping a child as a Kamaiya laborer or a Kamalari domestic servant would be a criminal offense, punishable by up to three months in prison and a fine of up to Rs 100,000.

Although the Kamaiya system of bonded labor was abolished in 2000 and the Kamalari system, involving young girls as domestic laborers, was abolished in 2013, reports indicate these practices have persisted in various districts of western Nepal. The Supreme Court has previously directed the government to implement effective measures against these practices, noting they violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child.