Kathmandu-  Dalit women have a very minimum participation in the State’s decision-making levels, data shows. Their representation in executive (government), legislative (Parliament) and judiciary (Courts) is found to be very low. Dalit women who face multiple discriminations based on gender and caste have been continuously waging struggles for their rights since 2003 BS. But since then, it took a long time (six decades) for the country to see their presence in the parliament with six Dalit lawmakers having their representation first in the 2063 BS interim parliament and the number rose to 25 in the subsequent 2008 parliament/first Constituent Assembly.

But, contrary to the expectations, their parliamentary presence had shrunk to 22 in the second CA (2013- 17) and to 14 in the 2074 BS (2017) House of Representatives. Now the existing HoR has the representation of just eight Dalit women. Vice Chairperson of Nepal Samajbadi Party (Naya Shakti) Durga Sob said this is an outcome of deprivations of their access to resources and political sphere, though the Constitution has guaranteed the proportional representation of Dalit, women, Madhesi and marginalized community in the legislature.

Towards the Province Assembly, there were a total of 24 Dalit women members from all seven provinces in 2074 BS (2017) and the number surged to 27 in the next 2079 BS (2022) elections. Looking at the executive branch, Dalit women have had limited opportunities. Kalawati Paswan served as Assistant Minister for the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Construction in 2066 BS. Other Dalit women, including Rajani Ram, Dhana Maya BK, Bimala BK, Asha BK, Sushila Sripali Thakuri, and Rupa BK, have served as Ministers of State. In the province governments, Sita Nepali was appointed Minister for Internal Affairs and Law in 2078 BS, and Sita Kumari Sundas became Minister for Economic Affairs in 2069 BS. To date, four Dalit women have served as Ministers of State at the province level. At the local level, Dalit women have mostly been limited to roles such as Deputy Mayors or Vice Chairs.

In the 2074 BS (2017) local elections, 21 Dalit women were elected to these positions, but this number dropped to 12 in the 2079 BS (2022) elections. Additionally, five Dalit women have been appointed as Deputy Chiefs in District Coordination Committees, with a total of 89 Dalit women members serving in these bodies. Similarly, 6,630 Dalit women were elected as ward members in the same year. Thirteen women from Dalit community were elected to the post of mayor, 229 as deputy-mayor, 12 women chairperson and 335 women as vice-chairperson of rural municipalities in 2079 BS. Likewise, a total of 69 women were elected to the post of ward chairperson while 6,594 women as ward members in 2079 BS. In the context of representation of Dalit women in political parties, there is representation of four Dalit women in the Nepali Congress’s central working committee, five in the CPN (UML), 18 in CPN (Maoist Centre), two in Rastriya Swatantra Party, one in Rastriya Prajatantra Party and six in CPN (Unified Socialist). The Nepal Samajbadi Party (Naya Shakti) has only one Dalit woman as its central office-bearer. A study conducted by WOREC Nepal shows that of the total population of Dalit women, seven per cent of them become victims of rape cases. Participation of Dali community in civil service is 2.8 per cent. Of it, representation of Dalit women is very minimal. Sita Pariyar, a Dalit woman became the Chief District Officer of Humla 66 years after the civil service was started be managed through the Civil Service Act. As per the census 2078 BS, the population of Dalit community is around 14 per cent of the total population. There is minimum participation of Dalit women in the executive, legislature and judiciary at the federation, province and local levels, in the constitutional bodies, and in public corporations, departments, commissions and authorities. Chairperson of Nepal Feminist Dalit Upliftment Association, Bindu Pariyar, expressed the view that the state should practically implement the policy formulating it to increase participation of Dalit women in state’s policy-making level.