perched in the hilly ranges. A trip round the hamlets and cluster of villages inhabited by Khasis, Chakmas and tea tribes along the meandering river, flanked by hills and forests, brings out their agony and anguish. It is a sad commentary on their hardship and everyday struggle to survive. Their dismal and pathetic conditions can well be understood from the fact that like hundreds of inhabitants of these far-flung areas, almost isolated and cocooned, they are deprived of basic facilities of connectivity, potable water, health services, educational infrastructure as well as electricity. After dusk, they have to live in darkness as they have neither the means nor the capability to buy kerosene or candles. The river route is the only way to reach the market place of Phulertal after a one and half hour journey by boat or lunch, a costly affair for them.

The villages and punjis come under Binnakandi Development Block and Dilkhoosh gaon Panchayat but neither the BDO nor the GP President has the time to visit the areas to take note of their problems and resolve them, said Babul Khasi. There is no primary school in the punji inahited by 35 families who have been living here for the last 48 years. Illiteracy is the bane for them, making a mockery of the much hyped Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, he rued. The parents and guardians who can afford it have to send their children to Fulertal or Lakhipur town.

An elderly man of the Narayanji punji, Musabir Paslien lamented, “We have heard of IAY, NREGS, BRGF, BPL rice, but are yet to get the benefits.” There is no one to take up our cause of neglect and deprivation or fight for us. Thomas Khasi added by saying that till date only four of them have been benefited by IAY and one with old age pension. They are however lucky to get a community hall for their assembly and entertainment. After their persistent pursuance, Barak Valley Hill Tribe Development Council has provided them a water tank for storing drinking water from a hill stream. When the flooded Barak spills over, they have no means to go out and have to remain confined indoors for three months or more.

With no other resources, jhum-cultivation is the only means of their sustenance. As their demand for a culvert over a hill stream has remained unmet, men, women and children have a trying time to cross over through a makeshift bamboo pathway.

As one moves to the Chakma dominated Bonkokha cluster of villages, the tale is not in any way different. Chakmas live a gruelling life in stark contrast to all the sound and fury of the media-blitzkrieg of development of Delhi and Dispur. “We are virtually cut off from the mainland as no road exists,” said Budhi Ram Chakma, headman. The hamlets once housed 50 Budhist Chakmas, which now numbers 16 only, as they could not sustain the rigours of a hard life with no prospect of any change in their cursed fate, perhaps born to live in miseries and poverty. Those who continue to live here grope in darkness, resigned to their destiny. No jobs or employment exist for them. They depend on natural resources and work as daily wage earners around the villages. Chakmas have heard of public distribution system and job cards only, but their benefits remain elusive for them. Kalijay Chakma, a middle aged man, brought out their poignancy when he said, “There is no one to share our pain and sorrow”.

A journey upriver lands one at Narayandahar, a tea tribe belt, with a population of 740. One LP school with a single teacher is all that they have as a token of education-progress. There is no primary health centre or sub centre. All that the area can boast of is one matriculate.

Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana is mocking itself with poles lying rusting for the last two years, pointed out Mainak Karmakar. The fate of Rs 499 lakh sanctioned to connect their villages with Bonkokha remains unknown with no semblance of work on the ground. For their drinking water, like other unfortunates dotting villages after villages in all their totters, they have to depend on river Barak.  Most of them work as labourers, casual and regular, in tea gardens.

In the event of urgent medical attention, they have to take the patients down to Phulertal Public Health Centre or Lakhipur Hospital by boat, an expensive affair, pointed out the villagers. They question the utilisation of enormous funds from the Centre for implementation schemes and projects. After ritual foundation stones by ministers, they exist on paper. Or if implemented are left without maintenance. Alney PHE plant is a glaring example of this. District and Sub Divisional Officers are seen once in a blue moon in these areas. Their representative, heavyweight minister Dinesh Prasad Goala, has no time to come and even promise them for a better tomorrow. They are exploited for votes only.

They can’t even raise their voice of protest for fear of harassment by political goons. And their tale of agony drags on.

Jyoti Lal Chowdhury