In the Kabuliyati Forest of Musedhap, Manhari Rural Municipality-4, Makwanpur District, 92 Bankariyas reside in 21 houses. This is the only village in Nepal where one of the most endangered ethnic groups in Nepal lives. For most of their history, Bankariyas used to live in forest dens and huts, but now they are socialising to a considerable extent.
The community, which once kept its distance from others, has now opened its doors to visitors through homestays and has even established a soap factory. Emphasising the importance of education for both children and the elderly, they are striving to foster social change. Leading this effort is 29-year-old Santoshi Bankariya.
No one ever thought that a girl who used to run away from people and was afraid to go to school could lead a community towards prosperity. Here we present her story of how Santoshi Bankariya brought change within her community.
Life in the unknown
This village settlement does not boast a long history. The dense forest of the Chure Hills acts as a barrier between Madhesh and the inner Madhesh region. Initially, they resided in the Chureghacha forest, situated approximately 22 kilometres south of Hetauda. According to one of the senior members of this community, the late Thule Bankariya, the history of the Bankariya community remained unknown until they settled in Chureghacha in 1983.
“In 1994, journalist Mahendra Shrestha from Nepal Television, Pusphahari Camparai along with me, went to Chure Ghaan in search of Bankariya community for the news. After the news, their existence was discussed for the first time in the country,” said journalist Pratap Bishta, the author of Chheliyeka Anuhar based on Bankariya’s life. According to him, nobody had enquired about them before that.
However, the Bankariya community, with its obscure history and uncertain present, has now found its footing, largely thanks to the efforts of Santoshi Bankariya. Her tireless struggle has been instrumental in elevating the community’s lifestyle and prospects. Her journey, marked by numerous hardships, serves as a poignant reminder of the resilience and determination required to effect meaningful change.
Santoshi Bankariya, born in October 1995, has seven siblings. She first went to school in 2006, where she encountered initial nervousness as people viewed her differently.
“I was a Bankariya and there I was stepping into the unknown,” she says.
She was the eldest among her classmates and did not even know how to hold a pen.
“It was embarrassing,” she says.
As time passed, the school became more manageable for Santoshi Bankariya, and in 2016, she passed the Secondary Education Examination (SEE), becoming the second person from her community to do so. Pampha Bankariya had been the first person to pass SEE in 2015. Following her success in the SEE, Santoshi Bankariya continued her educational journey and successfully passed the exam for Junior Technical Assistance (JTA) in crop science, equivalent to grade 12. With this achievement, she made history as the first woman in the Bankariya community to pass the JTA exam.
Soaps, homestays and adult literary classes
The Bankariya community, traditionally reliant on the forest for sustenance, is now charting a course towards self-reliance by diversifying into three key areas: the soap industry, hospitality, and education. Santoshi Bankariya has been the driving force behind these initiatives, spearheading efforts to establish these ventures within the community. Through her leadership and vision, the community is gradually transitioning from dependence on the forest to economic independence through entrepreneurship and education.
The soap factory is being led by Santoshi and has 25 women from the Bankariya and Chepang communities who work under her. They make bath soaps and mouthwash using locally available herbs which are usually wasted in the village such as titepati, neempatta and ghyukumari.
Soap-making has emerged as a viable alternative source of income for members of the Bankariya community who do not rely on agriculture for their livelihood. In the past year, the National Indigenous Women Forum provided soap-making training to the women of the community. Inspired by this training, and under the leadership of Santoshi, the Bankariya Chepang Women’s Soap Industry was established. This initiative, with a paid-up capital of Rs 1 million, was registered with the Small and Cottage Industries Office.
“We learned how to make soap during the training, and now we produce and sell soap worth Rs 4,000 to 5,000 daily,” says Santoshi. She further disclosed that she recently sold soap worth Rs 25,000 at the Manahari Mahotsav festival.
In 2019, a homestay project was initiated in the Bankariya community with the support of the Manhari Rural Municipality. Santoshi took the lead in organising this as a homestay was established in her own house, funded by an investment of Rs 800,000 from the municipality.
The Covid pandemic, however, affected the homestay operation as Nepal and the world went under lockdown. A from Switzerland was coming but had to cancel. To encourage the community, former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai spent a night there.
“We made a homestay but no one came to stay except for one or two groups. That is why, now we have started the soap industry,” said Santoshi.
The introduction of the Social Security Allowance played a significant role in catalyzing positive change within the Bankariya community within a remarkably short time. With a monthly allowance of Rs 4,000, women in the community began engaging in vegetable farming and animal husbandry, utilizing the savings from household expenses.
According to local resident Suntali Bankariya, the women began saving their monthly allowances and deposited them into the local cooperative. Despite lacking formal education and financial literacy, Santoshi’s guidance in adult literacy classes on the importance of saving prompted them to take action.
“After Santoshi taught us about saving our money in a cooperative in the adult literacy class, we went to the cooperative,” says Suntali.
Santoshi’s classes also educated the locals about the importance of seeking medical care at hospitals when they fell ill. This practice discouraged people from consulting shamans when they were sick. Notably, Pampha, a member of the community, works as a technician at a laboratory.
Since she was 15, Santoshi has been providing free education to local children. However, realising that her efforts alone were insufficient, she initiated adult literacy classes. It was through these adult literacy classes that many women, like Suntali, have transformed their lives.
To date, six individuals from the Bankariya community have successfully passed the Secondary Education Examination (SEE), and 15 children regularly attend Pashupatinath Secondary School.
“Pratap sir used to warn me that if I stopped studying and got married, he would involve the police. I pursued my studies out of fear. Now I understand that it was for my own good,” says Santoshi.
Among those educated by Santoshi, some have pursued journalism while others have enrolled in technical schools.
“Previously, most of them would opt for work, but now many are prioritising education. Some have even ventured abroad,” she says. “I have realised that there is nothing more empowering than education in life.”
A changed settlement
The way of life of the Bankariya community has upgraded. Their thatched roof huts have transformed into temporary buildings with zinc sheets on the roof. Now, they grow their food through farming and animal husbandry.
“I survived eating yams and berries/fruits from the forest. I had not seen rice until I was 10,” says Santoshi. “As we lived in the forest, no one knew about farming and growing crops and vegetables. Only after we came to Musedhap, we started farming by turning the river bank into a field.”
She understands the importance of farming which is why she completed an 18-month course of JTA. After that, she worked as a volunteer in the Rural Municipality in 2019.
“After studying JTA, even if there was a job opportunity, I did not want to leave the settlement. I stayed in the village to do as much as possible for my community,” she says.
Although Santoshi Bankariya could have personally benefited from leaving her community, she felt that leaving meant abandoning her community. What helped her say was regular funds given to her by various organisations to stay and help the community grow.
In the past, integrating the Bankariya community, who relied on forest resources for their livelihoods, into agriculture was a challenging task. Additionally, they faced risks due to the presence of a nearby national park. Santoshi Bankariya took the initiative by bringing seeds to the village, cultivating them, and distributing them among the community members. She provided agricultural training to village women, resulting in increased agricultural productivity. Now, the community can sustain itself with the produce from their fields for approximately seven months.
When asked about the next challenge, Santoshi highlighted that no one in the Bankariya community owns land. Despite a government programme aiming to construct houses for marginalised tribal communities, including theirs, they have yet to receive these homes. Despite continuous allocation of funds over several years, houses have not been built due to procedural issues that hinder progress.
“We had already tried to build a house but the law does not allow us as they do not own the land,” said Ekraj Upreti, outgoing chairman of Manhari Rural Municipality.
In 2005, the government allocated 10 acres of Kabuliyati forest to the Bankariya community for cultivation, with the agreement set to expire in April 2026. With only two years remaining, Santoshi expressed concerns about the community’s future, stating that if the Parsa National Park demands their departure after the agreement ends, they will have no choice but to return to the forest.
In May 2022, Santoshi, accompanied by local representatives, visited Kathmandu seeking a resolution. Then Minister of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation, Shashi Shrestha, pledged to address the issue at the ministerial level. However, despite assurances, no progress has been made. Santoshi emphasized that with support in education and enterprise for the community, they could develop their community and livelihoods.
”Hopefully we can find some way to solve this issue,” she says.
