Many freed Haliyas (agricultural bonded laborers) have returned to their erstwhile profession for want of any reliable means of livelihood. With no means at hand, about 79 ‘freed haliyas’ of Pachanali VDC-6, Kotgaun have relapsed to their old profession. “Six years have passed and the government has done nothing to realize its professed mission of rehabilitating us,” said Nanna Sarki, a freed haliya, who works for his local master Tika Malla. “At least when we were working for our former masters, we could fill our bellies,” said another freed haliya Mata Nepali. “Why accuse our masters? They did not ditch us like the government which distributed loads of assurances but never fulfilled them,” she added. According to National Haliya Freedom Society Doti program coordinator Gorakh Sarki, there are around 400 freed haliyas in Doti, who have returned to serve their old masters. “They can not just let themselves and their families die,” Sarki asked. The government had declared the end of haliya system in 2008.