Expanded PMUY - III

(This is an extreme example of my interactions in that place. All people were not like this. Please do not generalize)

To understand the economics of a big country like India – you need to go to the grassroots and study things minutely. The macro level picture which we study in boardrooms with powerpoint presentations and excel sheets can never give us a feel of the ground reality.

As I present my next posting on this subject, I have to admit that a solution to the real-life issue presented here eludes me.

In the area allocated to me, there are a few forest villages. The geographical area stretches into Bhutan. The international border is at a distance of 10 Kilometers from this village.

Only one house seemed inhabited in the village we went to. Rest of the houses in that cluster were empty. Maybe the people had gone to the church.

As I walked into the sparse courtyard our LPG Distributor Mr. Dinendra Narzary said, “I will talk but you please stay with me”. The reason as I can understand is that – the family is Santhal and there had been communal clashes in that area just a year back. My presence will give some legitimacy to Mr. Narzary who is a Bodo. This mutual suspicion between different communities prevails in many parts of the NE.

The house was very rudimentary with only two rooms. Two men and two women could be seen working outside. One of the women was in the advanced stages of pregnancy. A shed by the side of the courtyard served as a kitchen where something was being boiled in a pot.

A bunch of little children was playing in the courtyard. It was apparent that the family was poor. However, there were no visible signs of malnutrition or disease.

The senior man of the two said he has some papers and went inside to show me. He brought out some papers from an oilskin packet and showed me whatever he had.

He had a caste certificate but no ration card or bank account details. Mr. Narzary asked him whether he had attended the Jan Dhan Yojana camp held a few years back in the nearby village. The man said “Yes”. Mr. Narzary said – “Did they give you any small slip of paper that came out of a machine?” The man was clueless and not bothered. Even if he was given a piece of paper with his newly opened account number he might have lost it.

The man was explained that in case he can submit a few documents and two photos any one of the two women in his house will get an LPG connection. The man was clueless about LPG Cylinders or connections.

Mr. Narzary asked him to come to his distributorship so that he can show him and guide him on the use of LPG cylinders and how convenient it is.

The man asked Mr. Narzary about the location of his distributorship and hearing the name of the village became reluctant. He said it is too far away. The actual distance was about 6/7 kilometers.

The man was purely not interested in having an LPG connection. He said with a degree of comfort that he does not have any problem with firewood. His meager needs are fulfilled by the forest. He said he does not chop trees but the twigs and branches along with the dry foliage are sufficient for his energy needs.

Seeing his lack of interest – we changed our strategy. We said that the LPG connection is just the first step. The government will in future give him far more benefits – such as free education for his children, electricity, etc

The crux of the matter is he did not have a ration card. He was not interested in going to the sub-divisional HQ of Gossaigaon to get his ration card made. He has heard the name of Gossaigaon and has stayed in a refugee camp somewhere near there, during disturbances. He was totally oblivious to the location of these places.

Although polite, he found in our intervention, an unwanted intrusion in his flow of life.

Today while attending the meeting in our state office I felt lost like him. However, I do not know how to find a solution to the economic issues of people like him.

One of my friend and colleague who worked in the state of Meghalaya said to me, “People who had ration cards also had costly SUVs in their front yard. People who lived in one room log houses did not have any documents. At the bottom of the hill in Ratachera, there are two villages. The villagers go to Sylhet in Bangladesh, in case they fall sick. Going to Shillong or even Ratacherra is a herculean task. In case they plan to come to Ratacherra, they have to climb uphill for three/four hours before they can get access to a public transport.”

Before criticising anyone let us understand the immensity of the task. Irrespective of political affiliations let us try to sincerely work on these issues.

Hopefully, the beginning made today will show some results in the future.