COIMBATORE: Several polls have gone by since independence, but for the over 1,000 people living in tribal settlements inside forest in Valparai constituency, the wish to see a candidate in flesh and blood remains an unrealised dream.
Udumanparai, a tribal settlement in Valparai Hill, has around 64 tribal votes. People belonging to Kaadar tribe say they have not seen any candidate visiting the settlement in their lifetime.
S Manikandan (57), a tribal resident from Udumanparai, said, “Political parties do not visit our settlement to seek votes as they need to walk to reach us. On polling day, we travel to the polling booth at Nallamudi Second Division and exercise our vote. To reach Nallamudi, we have to walk up to 3 km through the forest. It will take half a day to return to the settlement after exercising our vote.” He added most voters, including women, never miss exercising their vote unless they are in poor health or have other emergencies.
The settlements lack roads, electricity and proper water facilities. Everyday, they walk for a few kilometres to fetch water for drinking. They say the three solar streetlights, erected in the settlement a few years ago, have also stopped functioning. Now, residents are dependent on kerosene lamps at night.
When TNIE checked about candidates’ visits, it was not just Udumanparai settlement that was skipped. Candidates have also failed to visit other settlements such as Kozhikamuthi, Koomatti, Palankinaru, Vellimudi, Manamboli, Keel Poonachi, Sangarankadi, Paramankadavu and Palankinaru, as they must travel 2-7 km on foot. The settlements have 60 to 180 voters each. M Muthukumar from Nedukundram, a tribal hamlet with around 160 voters, said, “In the previous local body election, a few persons from political parties visited our settlement but not candidates.”
He said people in the settlement have been experiencing severe drinking water issues. They even have roads, electricity and water, but must walk 5 km through the forest to exercise their vote at the polling booth in Villoni.
S Manjunan (65) from Paramankadavu settlement, located 25 km from Valparai Town, said he not seen candidates or political party members’ visiting the settlement to seek votes.
“Five years ago, two solar streetlights were provided to our settlement. They went defunct within a year. We need five litres of kerosene to burn the lamp at night. As only three litres are provided to us, we mostly use theepantham (firebrand) while walking outside the home,” he said. People from the settlement must walk to Nallamudi for three km to vote.
P Paramasivam, Valparai taluk secretary of CPM, said, “It is the hard truth that political party candidates never visit the tribal settlements. Despite this, most of these tribal residents rightly exercise their votes, walking several kilometres to polling booths.”