RAMANAGARA: As half of the state is gearing up for the first phase of Gram Panchayat elections on Tuesday, a large number of candidates are falling back on the age-old formula of offering better basic amenities, like toilets, decent shelter, drinking water and good roads, to garner votes. Despite threats boycotting elections at some villages, voters are looking forward to the elections with hope.
TNIE visited a few villages in Ramanagara and Kanakapura districts to assess the mood on the ground. A small hamlet, Achhalu Doddi, has over 120 voters, who stay in thatched-roof huts. The villagers, who work as farm or construction labourers, want only their basic demands met -- like a house with a decent roof and a toilet. Open defecation is still practised today, putting their womenfolk in danger.
Though they have been staying here for years, they don’t have ownership of the land where their huts stand. Not just here, at many villagers in the surrounding, farm labourers don’t own land of their residence. “We neither have money to buy land, nor have land to sell.
All we live for is today,” said Nanjaiah, a village farmhand. At Yarehalli in Kootagal Gram Panchayat in Kanakapura taluk, villagers have decided to boycott the elections as their demand for better road connectivity to their village has not been met. Asserting their threat, villagers have stuck pamphlets declaring the boycott on the walls of panchayat office and other buildings.
For other villagers the health of their cattle is priority. Ramachandra from Varegerehalli in Ramanagara, who has two cows and two calves, said, “Our life revolves around cattle. We need a better veterinary hospital.” Villagers also demand employment locally which stops them from migrating to cities. Chandregowda from Kallahalli said, “There is a complete mismatch between what the government figures show on MGNREGA and what happens on the ground.
The government releases large amounts of money for these projects, but contractors deploy earthmovers and other machinery, robbing us of jobs and earning opportunities.” Some villagers welcomed the recent amendments to the APMC bill.
Nagaraju from Kailancha Grama Panchayat, who grows paddy, said that he spends Rs 1,000 to transport his produce to Ramanagara APMC, and in addition pays Rs 500 each to two-three labourers to load and unload. But now with the APMC bill, they can sell from their own land. “Also, when I sell at APMC, I have to pay 10-20 per cent commission to middleman. All these costs will be saved,” he added.