A couple of 10-12 years old school kids enjoying their bicycle rides waving flags of different political parties on the rugged road to Paramvir Albert Ekka’s village Jari in far off Gumla district had perhaps no idea about the crucial Assembly polls beginning in the State on November 25. Their parents though have been made reluctant parties in the ongoing election campaigns despite being grossly disenchanted with the political system and governance.
The land, perhaps remembered more for the martyrdom and valour of 1971 war hero Paramvir Albert Ekka than anything else, appears to be disowned by the State. The Gumla legislative Constituency comprising five blocks has a mixture of all problems that could be attributed to Jharkhand state as a whole.
Apart from poverty, unemployment, lack of basic health and education facilities, it is also infamous for large scale migration, displacement, human trafficking, extremist-related violence among others. The tribal dominated Assembly seat with over two lakh voters is plagued with dearth of human and material resources for development.
“We do not have water for irrigation, industries for employment, educational and technical institutes for vocational training. The land is so arid that we cannot cultivate enough cash crops here. The traditional use and sale of minor forest products is also in the clutch of middlemen these days. So what is there in the region through which we will developIJ,” asks Nand lal a resident of Chainpur.
“The villagers in the area are also being victimized by both Maoists and security forces. Unwilling to accept the extremists’ dominance they have to follow their commands. The security forces on the other hand keep tormenting them without their fault,” he adds.
Political leaders, though do not accept the issue of security in the region as they say it is more an issue created by few local goons to exploit the poor villagers. “I have been working in the far flung areas of the region for long and I know there is nothing like insecurity in the region. Had there been extremists they should have at least once stopped us or asked us where were we going or what were we doing in their area. This is a creation of local goons who do not want people to live peacefully,” says BJP’s nominee from Gumla Shivshankar Oraon.
Congress candidate Vinod Kispotta, on the other hand, fumes at the governments for neglecting the area, while accepting that the constituency has been one of the most underdeveloped areas of the State. “You may call it instability or lack of political will but the leaders have always neglected the area. Be it an issue of poverty, unemployment, health, irrigation or any other thing the government has not been able to reach here,” says the former bureaucrat.
Political blabbering apart, the Gumla Assembly constituency possesses the same old problems it has been witnessing for over two or more decades. It is still in the age where people stand for hours in queues to get an lPG refill while hundreds of their counterparts in remote villages use forest wood to cook their daily meals.
People of Gumla are desperate to feel the winds of change. A much needed change that brings peace, avenues of employment coupled with institutional development to boost the social infrastructure.