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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Chhattisgarh's Gond tribals have never voted in past 50 years -Rashmi Drolia

Chhattisgarh's Gond tribals have never voted in past 50 years -Rashmi Drolia

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published Published on Nov 2, 2013   modified Modified on Nov 2, 2013
-The Times of India


RAIPUR: Call it the unapproachable interiors, fear from Maoist ambush or the inaccessibility that leads to the hilly terrains of the Maoist heartland, there is a section of people in the hills of Bailadila region in tribal Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, who have not exercised their vote for as long as 50 years.

They are these 20,000 people, who, neither have voter identity cards nor has any electoral candidate ever visited them. Bailadila mines area, which comes under National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), have richest deposits of iron-ore. The Gond tribals in about 25 villages want to vote and even contacted electoral officers, but they were told that due to the Maoist presence in these remote villages, it wasn't possible to conduct polls.

Talking to TOI, Laxman Kunjam, 28, most literate in Karka village, who studied till Class XII said, "Raising the issue of public grievances, I wrote a letter to an electoral officer on October 19, stating people in the village do not have voter identity cards and that the place is backward and lacks electricity supply, education, healthcare facilities or roads. I even wrote that 20,000 people from 25 villages have never voted for the last 50 years here, but all to no avail."

Laxman said that there is no visitor all through the year and locals depend on agriculture for their livelihood. "Polling parties do not visit because the place is hyper-sensitive due to Maoist presence. People have been deprived of their right to cast vote, due to unwillingness of the electoral officials to conduct polls here. That's the reason we don't have voter ID cards or any voter list, he said complaining that when polls can be conducted in sensitive places like Abujmad and Narayanpur, Bailadila hills is just around six kilometers from NMDC and isn't unapproachable," he added.

Yashwant Ramteke, a journalist said that many villages like Tumnar, Ghiroli, Edasmetta, Eramgunda, Kawargaon, Muzwandi are among the 25 villages, densely forested, which never go for voting.

Talking to TOI, Mohd Qaiser, deputy election officer and collector, Bijapur, said, "Proposals have been sent to the Election Commission of India for setting up polling booths in areas across Indravati river(near Bailadila range), but, due to its unapproachable interiors and Maoist presence in the area, it is too difficult to reach the place. Besides, setting up polling booths will also require deployment of massive security force in addition to polling parties, which have to be sent there.

"Since they have no voter identity cards, they can simply approach us with any of their ID cards, in order to register their names in the voter list, and cast their vote from polling booths set up in an around Bijapur district," added Qaiser.


The Times of India, 2 November, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/assembly-elections-2013/chhattisgarh-assembly-elections/Chhattisgarhs-Gond-tribals-have-never-voted-in-past-50-years/articlesho


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