The participants of a program said that Dalit community journalists have to overcome all-round challenges to advance through journalism. This was said by Dalit journalists who participated in a program held on Friday in Siraha's Mirchaiya. At the same time, they claim that problems such as caste discrimination and untouchability have hindered their work in an environment where the economic situation is weak. They say that it is difficult to sustain in this profession due to the non-Dalit custom of not considering a person from the Dalit community as a journalist.
The participants in the 2-day capacity development training organized for officials of the Dalit journalist network under the USAID Civic Society with the implementation of The Asia Foundation and the technical support of Dalit Sarokar Manch Nepal's Media Activity in Madhes Province.

The participants of the training also complained that even the local government did not give them any support for capacity building, on the contrary, even when they went as journalists, they were discriminated against and the practice of not even giving information was developing. In addition to the lack of capacity, they also said that they could not work as non-Dalit journalists due to the lack of necessary equipment for journalism such as computers, mobile phones, and cameras.
During the training, the participants raised questions such as whether the Municipal Corporations did not comply with the Act 2076 issued by the Madhes State Government to regulate Dalit empowerment and the provisions mentioned therein. They also mentioned that they felt the need to report on the recurring incidents of caste discrimination and ineffective implementation of the law.
On the occasion of the training, the officials of the Dalit Journalist Network from all 8 districts of Madhes Province said that on the one hand, they have to find opportunities to develop their journalistic skills and on the other hand, they also have the responsibility to expose the incidents of oppression of their community.
During the training, the trainer Dr. Vijay Prasad Mishra informed about the activities that journalists should adopt to increase their capacity and the help that will facilitate the profession. During that, Mishra identified the strengths and weaknesses of Dalit community journalists and suggested how to turn them into opportunities. Another instructor, journalist Raghunath Lamichhane, spoke about the ways of identifying, angling and presenting the problems of the Dalit community through writing/journalism. Also, he suggested that only truthful, balanced and reliable journalism can ensure the real protection of journalists.
Bhola Paswan, the executive director of the organizing, Dalit Sarokar Manch Nepal, said that such a capacity development training program was organized for officials of the Dalit journalist network to make them active in areas such as planning of the municipality, budgeting, local caste discrimination and untouchability monitoring committee formation and making them effective. He informed that the main objective of his organization is to activate Dalit executive members, officials of Dalit fraternal organizations of political parties, leading journalists of Dalit community and officials of Dalit civil society.