Disenchanted forest dwellers in eight Vangrams of Bahraich have decided that they would not vote until political parties assure them of addressing their grievances. Secretary of the Vangram Adhikar Manch, Gita Prasad, a resident of Kailashnagar said that the residents of the Vangrams are miffed about the fact that no political party has worked for their cause.
“We have decided that unless the political parties come forward for our cause, we will not vote for them,” Geet Prasad toldThe Pioneer. He also said that they would not approach any political party.
Bahraich has over eight Vangrams in the Mihinpurwa block which have become human mandis because of the absence of livelihood. The residents of these villagers state that they have no rights and they are living in miserable conditions in the absence of electricity and basic amenities besides facing the constant problem of man-animal conflicts and being in the grip of money lenders. The Forest Right Act has also not seen proper implementation in this area. The residents belong to the Dalit and the OBC category.
The Mihinpurwa block sees Vangrams namely Kailash nagar, Nayee Bastee, Daseya Gauri, Bhawanipur, Bichiya gaon, Butiya Bazar, Tedhia, Dhetiya and Nishatgarh.
Jitendra Chaturvedi, an activist and a homeopath who works extensively for these Vangrams and who has also lived among them for several years helping them understand their rights said that they face innumerable problems.
“I have lived among them since 1991 and have seen them face a lot of atrocities which includes working for no wages. Currently, the forest dwellers are fast becoming human mandis because loss of means of livelihood,” said Jitendra.
He said that there are primary five reasons wherein they have lost all the means of livelihood. “They were earning the livelihood by picking stones from the river Gerwa that enters from Nepal bringing a lot of stones with it and they were also earning a livelihood of loading these stones on the trucks for stone crushing but both this has been stopped after hue and cry by wildlife activists. They used to work on a State Farm which was started by the Agricultural department on leased land but they lost their livelihood after the farm was closed after a review carried out by the Forest Department.
Also they have been stopped from collecting forest produce from the forests. There was also an irrigation canal project which was their source of livelihood which has been stopped,” he added.
The activist said that man-animal conflict looms large over them. “Apart from the leopard which creates problems as they plant sugarcane just adjacent to the forests and suffer animal attacks, wildboar and the bluebull destroy their agricultural produce. The absence of electricity brings in animal attacks in the night which could have been prevented.
“They are severely under the grip of the money lenders,” he said. Jitendra said that Beharaich has even better potentials than the Gujarat but interrelated problems of extremely bad conditions of road and no connection with the broad gauge Railways are the main problems. Flood a bane in Bahraich affects two of the Vangrams. He said that with such a plethora of problems, they are becoming thriving human mandis.
Bhanwati, one of the community leaders at the Vangram and a resident of Nayee Basti said that they are in an abject condition, “We have no rights at all and we are suffering from all sorts of problems. We have become like human mandis wherein our people move to lucknow, Delhi in search of work. These problems have increased since the time the State Farm was closed down three years back and we fought tooth and nail to have it restored,” said Bhanmati.
Gita Prasad said that the political parties have done nothing for them. “They have done not a penny’s work for us. We have no rights and the implementation of the Forest Rights has been poor,” he said.
Sitting MP from Congress Kaushal Kishore says that Vangrams will be on his agenda if he returns as a Member of the Parliament for the second time. He claims that he has done some work for the Vangrams although admits much remains to be done.
Talking to “The Pioneer”, he said, “The main problem that they are suffering from is regarding the land ownership. I have provided them with security and have raised their problems in the Parliament,” said Kamal Kishore.
Savitri Bai Phule, who is contesting from this Parliamentary constituency, is also the sitting MlA, claims that she has raised her voice several times in favour of the Vangram inhabitants who have faced exploitation. “The man animal conflict is intense with attacks happening on these hapless villagers every fifteen days. I have raised the issue several times with the forest officials and the district administration regarding their exploitation. If I am elected as the MP from here I will see that an electric fencing is made and there is provision of roads to access these villages,” said Savitri Bai.