E/C.12/NPL/CO/2 page 4 15. Although certain harmful traditional practices have been prohibited by law, the Committee expresses its continuing concern about the persistence of such practices that violate the rights of women and girls as deuki (dedicating girls to a god or goddess), badi (widespread practice of prostitution among the Badi caste), chaupadi (isolating a woman during menstruation because she is considered to be impure), marrying child brides, and witchcraft,. In this regard, the Committee regrets the lack of information contained in the State party’s second periodic report about the full extent of such practices and the efforts being made to eradicate them. 16. The Committee notes with deep concern the harsh conditions of women living in rural areas, especially those whose conditions have been exacerbated by the conflict, including Tharu women who have found themselves widowed as a result of the death or disappearance of their spouses during the conflict. 17. The Committee is concerned about the reportedly high rates of unemployment and underemployment. In this regard, it regrets not having received the information requested in its list of issues about the situation, level and trends in employment, unemployment and underemployment for particular categories of workers, which is essential for an assessment of compliance with article 6 of the Covenant. 18. The Committee is concerned that, in spite of the abolition in 2002 of the system of bonded labour, there are still significant difficulties faced by the freed bonded labourers regarding their access to work and livelihood and appropriate education for their children. The Committee is also concerned that the lack of employment opportunities in the State party hinders the advancement from feudal relations to relations based on equality, particularly for ex-Kamaiyas and ex-Haliyas, many of whom have returned to the same condition of bonded labour from which they were supposedly freed. 19. The Committee is concerned that despite the efforts of the State party to abolish the worst forms of child labour, the prevalence of child labour remains high, particularly in hazardous conditions of work in agriculture and in manual crafts and in industrial work, domestic work, and ragpicking. The Committee notes with grave concern that children continue to work in conditions of bonded labour. 20. The Committee is concerned that the official minimum wage has been set at a level too low to enable workers and their families to enjoy an adequate standard of living. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that the official minimum wage is applicable only in the formal sector and is not applied to the agricultural sector, in which three-quarters of the labour force is employed. 21. The Committee is deeply concerned that, in spite of the State party’s progress made in its Ninth Development Plan to reduce poverty, there remains a high level of poverty in the State party where over 30 per cent of the population lives under the official poverty line. The Committee also regrets the absence of detailed annual data on the incidence and depth of poverty, disaggregated by gender, caste, ethnicity and region, as requested in the list of issues prepared by the Committee in relation to the State party’s second periodic report.