Backward Society Education
A Nepali nonprofit organization working with Tharu communities on literacy, freedom from bonded labor, and social development in Western Nepal.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
Backward Society Education, commonly known as BASE, is a nonprofit nongovernmental organization based in Nepal that works primarily with Tharu communities in the western part of the country. Its activities have focused on literacy, community education, social mobilization, advocacy, and support for people affected by the Kamaiya system of bonded agricultural labor. The organization emerged from grassroots organizing among Tharu farmers and developed into one of Nepal’s most prominent civil-society groups addressing bonded labor and exclusion. The organization’s roots can be traced to a group formed by Dilli Bahadur Chaudhari known as the 4-H Club. The group initially provided a forum for Tharu farmers to discuss agricultural practices, with funding channelled through intermediaries associated with USAID. Its meetings broadened into discussions of caste-based oppression, landlessness, illiteracy, and the exploitation of Tharu laborers. In 1991, the organization was formally established under the name Backward Society Education. The name reflected the founders’ emphasis on education as a means of challenging social and economic domination, including the belief among some landlords that education could undermine the Kamaiya labor system. BASE became particularly influential through its campaign against Kamaiya bonded labor. Under that system, families could become tied to landlords through debt and be compelled to provide labor under exploitative conditions. Chaudhari and BASE initially pressed the government through lobbying and public advocacy, but later organized demonstrations and broader community protests. In July 2000, following sustained pressure from affected workers and domestic and international organizations, the Nepali government formally prohibited the Kamaiya system. BASE subsequently helped communicate the decision to communities across western Nepal, visiting households and assisting former bonded laborers in asserting their newly recognized freedom. Legal abolition did not immediately resolve the practical problems faced by former Kamaiyas. Many families lacked land, stable income, housing, or access to education, and some continued to experience exploitative working conditions. BASE therefore expanded its work beyond abolition itself, supporting freed laborers and communities that had limited means of self-sufficiency. Its literacy and education work became a central part of this effort. Sources have described BASE as operating hundreds of schools or education initiatives in western Nepal, including classes serving people who had previously been trapped in bonded labor. The organization’s educational work has been associated with individual cases of former laborers acquiring literacy and new opportunities, although broader reporting has also noted the persistent poverty and insecurity affecting many freed families. BASE’s international profile grew during the 1990s. Dilli Bahadur Chaudhari received the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1994, an event that increased public attention to the organization and helped it attract grants from international nongovernmental organizations. In 2002, Anti-Slavery International awarded BASE its Anti-Slavery Award for its work against the exploitation and bonded labor of Tharu people. Development reporting from the same period highlighted the scale of its literacy activity, describing it as an unusually extensive, and at the time exceptionally distinctive, literacy campaign in Nepal. The organization has also operated in a difficult political and security environment. During Nepal’s civil conflict, Maoists attacked BASE personnel and detonated a bomb at its office in Dhangadhi, temporarily interrupting operations. In 2006, Maoists reportedly threatened the organization over control of a local radio station at Ghodaghodi Tal. These incidents illustrate the risks faced by community organizations working in politically contested areas. BASE’s public identity is therefore rooted less in commercial branding than in community organization and human-rights advocacy. Its principal areas of work are literacy, local education, support for former bonded laborers, social inclusion, and the strengthening of Tharu communities. The organization’s website indicates an ongoing institutional presence, but the available reference material does not provide a reliable current staff list, budget, legal structure, or detailed account of present-day programs. Its current operating status is consequently recorded as active on the basis of the supplied organizational website, while many contemporary operational details remain undocumented here.
History
Backward Society Education developed from grassroots Tharu organizing in western Nepal. Its eventual founder, Dilli Bahadur Chaudhari, first established the 4-H Club as a forum where Tharu farmers could discuss agricultural techniques. Funding was channelled through intermediaries associated with USAID. The group quickly became more than an agricultural discussion club: meetings addressed caste discrimination, illiteracy, labor exploitation, and the subordinate position of Tharu communities. In 1991, the organization was formally created under the name Backward Society Education, abbreviated BASE. The name expressed the founders’ conviction that education could challenge entrenched power relationships. It also reflected the political sensitivity of educating workers tied to landlords through the Kamaiya bonded-labor system. BASE’s work combined education with community mobilization and advocacy, allowing literacy programs to serve as a foundation for broader social action. During the 1990s, BASE increasingly concentrated on the Kamaiya system. Families affected by the system could be bound to landlords through debt and compelled to work in highly exploitative conditions. BASE initially pursued government lobbying, but later turned to public demonstrations and mass mobilization. Chaudhari’s receipt of the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1994 brought international attention to the organization and contributed to the acquisition of grants from overseas nongovernmental organizations. Large protests in July 2000 helped create pressure for the Nepali government to prohibit Kamaiya bonded labor. BASE was identified by contemporary reporting as one of the organizations that helped drive the movement. Following the government’s decision, BASE conducted outreach in western Nepal, visiting households to explain that bonded labor had been prohibited and helping former laborers assert their rights. The legal change was significant, but implementation remained incomplete. Many freed families did not receive promised or expected land, and a substantial number continued to live in poverty or entered other insecure labor arrangements. BASE consequently maintained a focus on the transition from legal freedom to sustainable livelihoods. Its work included support for former Kamaiyas, community education, and literacy. Development agencies and press accounts described the organization as running hundreds of schools or literacy initiatives in western Nepal. These programs served both general communities and people released from bonded labor. Although individual participants achieved important educational gains, reporting also emphasized that former Kamaiyas continued to face serious economic barriers years after emancipation. The organization received the Anti-Slavery Award from Anti-Slavery International in 2002. The award recognized its role in combating bonded labor and the exploitation of Tharu people. Around the same period, DANIDA characterized BASE’s literacy work as uniquely extensive within Nepal. This recognition reinforced BASE’s dual identity as an education provider and an anti-slavery organization. BASE operated amid the violence and political instability of Nepal’s civil conflict. Maoists attacked its workers and bombed its Dhangadhi office, resulting in a temporary suspension of activities. In 2006, Maoists also threatened the organization in connection with a local radio station at Ghodaghodi Tal. These incidents demonstrate that BASE’s community work, communications activities, and local institutional presence were conducted under significant security pressure. The available material does not establish a complete account of BASE’s recent projects, leadership, finances, or organizational structure. Its current website provides evidence of an ongoing public presence, while the historical record most clearly documents its contributions to literacy, Tharu community mobilization, and the campaign against Kamaiya bonded labor.
- 2006
Threat connected to local radio station
[1]Maoists reportedly threatened BASE over control of a radio station at Ghodaghodi Tal.
- 2002
Anti-Slavery Award
[1]Anti-Slavery International honored BASE for its work against bonded labor and exploitation.
- 2000
Kamaiya bonded labor prohibited
[1]Following demonstrations and advocacy by affected communities and civil-society organizations, Nepal formally prohibited the Kamaiya bonded-labor system.
- 1994
Founder receives Reebok Human Rights Award
[1]Dilli Bahadur Chaudhari received the Reebok Human Rights Award, increasing international attention to BASE and helping it attract foreign NGO grants.
- 1991
Formal establishment of BASE
[1]The earlier 4-H Club organizing effort was formally established and renamed Backward Society Education.
Products and positioning
A grassroots human-rights and education organization serving Tharu communities and people affected by bonded labor in Western Nepal.
Education
Community literacy programs
BASE’s best-documented service is community-based literacy education in western Nepal. Reports describe hundreds of schools or literacy initiatives, with programs intended to reach communities that had limited access to formal education. The work has been especially associated with Tharu communities and people formerly tied to the Kamaiya labor system.
Human-rights support · 2000
Former Kamaiya support
After Nepal prohibited Kamaiya bonded labor, BASE helped inform affected households about the legal change and continued working with people who lacked land, income, or other means of supporting themselves. The service is best understood as advocacy and community support rather than a commercial product.
Human-rights advocacy
Anti-bonded-labor advocacy
BASE has used public education, community mobilization, lobbying, and protest to oppose the Kamaiya system and related exploitation. Its advocacy helped place the conditions of Tharu laborers on the national and international agenda and supported efforts to enforce the legal prohibition of bonded labor.
Marketing campaigns
- 2000Campaign against Kamaiya bonded labor
Western Nepal
BASE organized and supported advocacy, public demonstrations, and community mobilization demanding an end to the Kamaiya bonded-labor system. After the government prohibited the practice, the organization conducted door-to-door outreach to explain the decision and help affected workers claim their freedom.
Outcome. Nepal formally prohibited Kamaiya bonded labor, although landlessness, poverty, and insecure employment continued to affect many freed families.
- Western Nepal literacy campaign
Western Nepal
BASE developed a broad literacy and community-school effort serving Tharu communities and people affected by bonded labor. Development reporting described the campaign as exceptionally extensive in the Nepali context.
Outcome. The campaign produced documented individual educational successes, while many former bonded laborers continued to face socioeconomic hardship.
Brand decisions
2000
Shifted from lobbying to protest mobilizationStrategyBackground
Earlier efforts to persuade the government to free Kamaiya laborers had not produced the desired result.
Action taken
BASE supported large public protests and broader mobilization by people affected by the bonded-labor system.
Aftermath
The government prohibited Kamaiya bonded labor, after which BASE focused on informing freed workers and supporting their transition.
1991
Adopted the Backward Society Education nameStrategyBackground
The earlier agricultural discussion group had expanded into a movement addressing education, caste-based exclusion, and labor exploitation.
Action taken
The organization was formally established under the name Backward Society Education, or BASE, emphasizing education and international visibility.
Aftermath
BASE developed into a recognized grassroots organization working on literacy and the abolition of bonded labor.
Recent events
- 2006
Threat over control of a local radio station[1]
Other
Maoists reportedly threatened BASE if it did not hand over control of a local radio station at Ghodaghodi Tal.
- 2002
BASE receives Anti-Slavery Award[1]
Other
Anti-Slavery International recognized BASE for its work opposing the exploitation and bonded labor of Tharu communities.
- 2000
Government prohibition of Kamaiya bonded labor follows sustained activism[1]
Regulation · Campaign
After protests by people affected by the Kamaiya system and pressure from civil-society groups including BASE, Nepal formally prohibited the bonded-labor practice. BASE then worked in western communities to communicate the decision and support enforcement.
Maoist attack temporarily disrupts BASE operations[1]
Other
A bomb attack on BASE’s office in Dhangadhi forced the organization to suspend operations temporarily during Nepal’s civil conflict.
Sources2 sources
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