COIMBATORE: While exercising one's franchise is hailed as a citizen's greatest service to the democracy, the people of Moonukuttai village are finding out that withholding their vote could be the only way to get the democratic body to pay heed to their needs. Only two of the 129 voters in the village have participated in the local body polls. This, because many petitions and a handful of elections later, the way to their village remains roadless.
Even as the people have had to suffer its consequences over the years, the district administration has only been able to offer reassurances that have not been acted upon yet.
The village -- located 30 km from Karamadai -- is inside the forest and falls under the ambit of the Velliyankadu panchayat. It was slotted for the second phase of the local body polls and the villagers were assigned the polling booth at Aravakkadu. By the end of the day, only two had registered their votes.
The decision to boycott the polls was to draw the administration's attention to the fact that they still do not have a bitumen road connecting their village to the Gopanari area. This development, as expected, brought a team of officials led by Mettupalayam Tahsildar Shanthamani to the village for peace talks.
Despite their many assurances, the villagers stood firm by their decision.
History repeats itself
For this is not the first time the officials have tried to offer reassurances just to get the villagers to vote. "We had decided to stay away from the parliamentary elections in May too. However, the revenue divisional officer convinced us otherwise. It was based on his assurance that we voted in the election then. Seven months later, there is still no road to the village. Hence, we decided to boycott the local body election, particularly given that there has been no written assurance from the district administration about laying roads," a villager narrates.
The villagers have been finding ways to express their dissent over the years; particularly, over the past one month. A day before Christmas, the youth and students there decided to take matters into their own hands and build a path to their village. An incident in November, when medical care for a sick woman was delayed after the jeep carrying her down the hill got stuck in the muddy road, seems to have spurred them on to find their own solutions. Working with the tools they happened to have at home, they set to work to create a rudimentary path. Even as the Forest Department has repeatedly denied permission for a road, given that the village is in the reserve forest, the work of the students led to the Collector to promise that their grievance would be addressed.
When the promise did not translate into work, the villagers hoisted black flags at their houses three days ago. "Shanthamani and Forest Range Officer (Periyanaickenpalayam) S Suresh visited them with the assurance that the road will be laid only next year. However, Suresh refused to give it in writing. Hence, we decided to boycott the local body polls," says another villager.
The hard life goes on
Over the past decade, the villagers have tried their best to work with what they have. Already disadvantaged by the hilly terrain, they have learnt to rely heavily on jeeps and trucks for everyday tasks. Children going to schools and college hire trucks to get off of the hill. The few people involved in agriculture use jeeps to take the brinjals and tomatoes to the market in Gopanari, 4.5 km away. However, even these vehicles are hard to come by in the rainy season. With the hill roads turning muddy and slushy, no vehicle would dare traverse its expanse, explains one villager.
He also points out that there is no power supply to the village. Hence, agriculture too is hard. They end up having to spend enormously on diesel motors, he adds.
Assurances and contradictions
After the visit to the village on Monday, Shanthamani explained that they have sent a proposal for the road to the Forest Department, as the area is in the forest. The road is expected to be sanctioned next financial year, she added.
However, sources in the Forest Engineering Department said that they have received no proposal so far. The department may still decide to lay the road of their own volition or take up a public proposal, they said.
Collector K Rajamani, on his part, said that he received a representation from the villagers only a week ago. He had told them, then, that the district administration will do everything possible to fulfil their demand. It was he who sent Shanthamani to them to convince them to participate in the polls. With that having failed, he said that he will discuss the issue with the villagers after the polls.