BHOPAL: A mere walk across Shyamnagar in the heart of Madhya Pradesh’s capital would tell you there is a ‘basti’ of voters who have got nothing in exchange for voting for years. Tarakki (development) and taqdeer (fate) refuse to turn their way, they say.
The over 2,000 Scheduled Caste (ST)/ Scheduled Tribes ( SCs) who have migrated from tribal and remote areas of Madhya Pradesh live only for money or food. And perhaps, voting. Dozens of malnourished and semi-nude children would look at you with one expectation: “Bhaiya kuch khanei ko do ya paisa” (give us something to eat or money)”.
Sitting near an empty iron pillar where a government official comes once in a year to unfurl the Tricolour, Shamuni Devi, 55, coughs and heaves heavily: “40 salo se aajtak ham log takdir ke mare aur vikas se koso dur ek narak jaisa jivan ji rahe hai. Koi nahi ata yanha ham logo ke liy (for 40 years, we’ve been living a hellish life – flogged by fate and deprived of development…no one comes here).”
The Shyamnagar area is located about 100 metres from a row of high-rise buildings. “Do they ever look at us as human beings? They do come here like politicians,” remarks Mithun Dhurvey. He, like many others, doesn’t have jobs and spends time either playing cards or begging. Maheshwari Yeri migrated to Shyamnagar as a labourer from Vidisha decades ago. “We would been dead, had there been no free ration,” he said, adding that most youth surviving as rag pickers or by sweeping in nearby houses or shops are becoming drug and liquor addicted.
“Almost all women and children in this area is malnourished. There is no health check-up centre or a community centre,” says Rupa Bai, 55. Yet most inhabitants have voter I-cards and they say they vote in every election. “ But don’t get anything in return… no school, no health centre and no power connection,” says Monu, visibly drunk. The government has allowed the construction of five new blocks comprising one-room flats for the slum residents. However, none of these five blocks is ready. The construction work stopped after the contractor ran away, according to the residents.
Their belief in god remains. “Our kuldevi (ancestral deity) saves us. In corona no one here died,” said one of them. Maheshwar Yuri, who is the only class 6th pass resident, says the government should recognise them as human beings and make caste certificates for them. “With a caste certificate, our children would get government benefits,” says Maheshwar. Rehman Khan, who runs a small shop at the entry of this pocket, says the residents get only free ration; there are no other facilities.