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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 'After elections, netas treat us like dogs if we ask them for work' by Sandeep Mishra

'After elections, netas treat us like dogs if we ask them for work' by Sandeep Mishra

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published Published on Nov 14, 2010   modified Modified on Nov 14, 2010

Neither celebrity nor politician, Sita Murmu, is extraordinary because she is the great survivor of that `other India'. She is not a beneficiary of the job guarantee scheme MGNREGA and doesn't have a BPL card. In her 60s, she lives in a Bhubaneswar slum and describes herself as a tribal widow without any land, regular income or schooling but "surviving —that itself is enough". Railing at the false promises of fickle politicians, she tells Sandeep Mishra what it takes to stay alive on the margins of 21st century India. Excerpts:

How do you make a living?

I don't have a regular source of income. In my younger days, I used to work as a daily wage labourer, but am unable to do hard physical work now. After my husband died about 10 years ago, I have been selling handia (rice brew), which is consumed mostly by tribals. I earn on an average Rs 30 to Rs 40 on days when I can prepare and sell it. It's not an everyday affair. I have a daughter and son-in-law, but I don't stay with them. I live alone in a shanty in a slum. They occasionally visit me and extend some pecuniary help.

Have you or your children ever been to school?

No, I am illiterate. I had once or twice thought of sending my daughter to school but that didn't happen because when she was a child, both my husband and I used to go out to work. My husband was also a daily wage labourer. Nobody told us to send our daughter to school and we did not consider it important.

Do you have a BPL card? If not, how do you manage?

I don't have a BPL card, but for the last five years, I have had an Antyodaya Anna Yojana (central scheme for food-based assistance) card, with which I get 35 kg of rice at Rs 2 per kg every month. I also get four litres of subsidized kerosene and two kg of subsidized sugar a month. I don't starve— if nothing else, at least I have rice to eat. Other than this I have never got anything from any government agency or NGO all my life, not even a sari. People from the government and NGOs come and promise a lot of things, but in reality they give us nothing.

Did you lose your land or did you never have any?

We never had any land. We left our village in Khunta block of Mayurbhanj district years ago (I can't remember when exactly) because in times of natural calamities like drought, there was no work and we had to go hungry. We heard from other villagers that we could get work in Bhubaneswar and hence came here. We built a shanty on government land, which was then forested. Now it has grown into a big slum.

Do you know of people —family, neighbours —who were displaced by government or big business projects?

Yes, I know of people who have lost land to different projects, including mining. I don't know what compensation they got and what they did with it, but all I can is they too are living miserable lives like us.

The government has promised land to the landless. Did anyone tell you that?

I have heard of such schemes, but have never tried for it. We are poor, illiterate people. Who can we approach and who will listen to us? Rather, we have occupied government land on our own. If the government evicts us, then we will go somewhere else.

Has your life become better or worse in the last decade or two?

Our living conditions have deteriorated. The slum is unhygienic and unsafe. When I visit my village, I am treated like a guest because I own no house and stay at relatives' place. The only difference is because of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, I am getting subsidized rice from the government. But on the whole, we are where we were. My husband and I worked as daily wage labourers all our lives and now my daughter and her husband are also doing the same. So, where is the improvement? Earlier, we had community bonding in our village, but now who bothers? We are surviving; that itself is enough.

Is there any Maoist (Maovadi) activity in your village?

Last year, when I went to my village I heard people talking about Maovadis visiting the place.

What do you think of them? Are they fighting for people's rights?

I have no personal experience about their activities. But people say they are fighting for the poor and tribal people like us. Government or Maovadis, whosoever rules does not make any difference to us. Whosoever comes to power, loots the country. There is no guarantee that Maovadis will not repeat what the rulers have so far been doing. But what is the harm in giving them a chance?

Has any politician ever asked how you are and how they can help you?

Netas come only during elections. They make tall promises, but disappear after the polls, only to resurface when the next round of elections come. In the interim, if we go to them for work they treat us like dogs! How can they have time for us when they are so busy eating away the country?

Have you ever voted in an election?

Yes, I have on several occasions. On the poll eve, the whole neighbourhood gets together and the community leaders advise us whom to vote. Whatever the netas give (read money) is distributed amongst us. Accordingly, we all vote.

Over the years, have you seen any change at all in the weather, perhaps of your village, especially in terms of rainfall?

Rain? Where is it? This year my village is reeling under drought conditions. The weather has become very unpredictable; now it's hot in winter and dry in the monsoon season. You cannot trust the weather anymore, just like the netas who play hide-and-seek when you need them the most.


The Times of India, 14 November, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/After-elections-netas-treat-us-like-dogs-if-we-ask-them-for-work/articleshow/6922623.cms


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