These people are identified as those deserving reservation and priority; but are kept uneducated, controlled, and alienated.
Br Rohit Noel Philip
A four month long community experience took me to this land of rich history, culture, and languages- Jharkhand. MalomNoatoliis a village in Jharkhand surrounded by rivers, mountains, jungle terrain and many other villages. I reached here at around 8:30 pm; it was dark and cold. I found no street lightsor any signs of electricity in any of the villages that I passed through at that time. As I reached my place of stay I was told that electricity is just a an occasional guest for a couple of hours. As I kept my focus on the light from the headlight of our bike I kept thinking of the challenges people face on an everyday a basis. They may not even have heard of the acha din for which we are still waiting.
During my 4 months stay there, working in a small mission school, I made many acquaintances right from the religious in that area to common villagers - youth, children and adults. Many things caught my attention: they lack rights, they are deprived of knowledge, they are exploited in the name of development, and they are alienatedfrom their values and principles.
The Tribals here, also known as Adivasis, are one of the highly politically exploited communities. They are innocent and are highly victimized and manipulated. This victimisation and economic divide is partially responsible for the birth Maoist/naxalite groups, and consequential violence. Church getting involved in social and economic affairs could be read together with this struggle of the people against exploitation. Their history is filled with stories of struggle; and one of the recent one is of StanswamySJ.
Common amenities like food and water, which are available in abundance indigenously in the region, go scarce at times because of the exploitative trade practices. When it comes to trade they never get their rightful share. The processesthat are complex and ever changing laws confuse the common farmers. The middlemen who monopolize the market make enormous profit the hard-work of the tribals. Those who are elected bu them to help them also deceivethem for monitory benefits.
The mortality rate that I heard of from various quarters, from local newspapers to word of mouth left me dumbfound. The depressing fact is that most of them were due to preventable and curable deceases; but sadly they lack even the basic medical facilities. They are left with no choice but to trust some local quacks. The local hospital is two hours drive from this village; though small clinics with an appointed government doctor is available with 10 to 20 kmsof distance from the village, there is hardly any chance of doctors being available to the people. At times, it is because the same doctor is appointed to multiple clinics.
A case that left me really sad was of a young government teacher,from a local education institution, who fainted due to heat and exhaustion and was declared dead upon arrival at the hospital which was three hours away. The local clinic was unable to treat her due to lack of doctors and facilities. She was one of the few educated people in the place. Now the students are left without a teacher.
Most of the village heads also known as Panchayat heads or Sarpanch, are elected by the people through voting system; but the process is mostly rigged. The whole election in most cases is orchestrated by the local government bodieswho use the candidates as puppets to get their work done. The ultimate losers are the village people. Even if the elected sarpanch has the will and motive, they stand no chance of serving and doing good to the people because of the corrupt and manipulative businessmen and politicians.
Most businesses are controlled by the rich and the powerful; public transport is run by private companies with high travel fare; roads are sanctioned but not built. People have to wait for the visit of a high ranked politician or some extraordinary happening in order to get their roads built. For example the road close to the house I was staying was never built, though it was sanctioned. But recently when an armed forces’ officer of a high cadre expired; and in order to get his body home they built the road which is now a blessing to villagers. People who live there are not counted; and do not matter at all to anybody.
These people are identified as those deserving reservation and priority; but are kept uneducated, controlled, and alienated. Though the government documents state the opposite the actuality is huge violation of human rights and dignity.
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