Narsinghpur: The Gond tribals in the Binaiki village, who were inspired by Dashrath Manjhi, are cutting through a mountain to make a makeshift (kutcha) road for them. Let alone road transport, the period since independence has not seen any elected representative or person seeking election reaching here.
This village is 25 kilometers from Kareli Tehsil, situated within the area of Naya Kheda Panchayat in dense Satpura Forest. It sees over three hundred tribals of the village still spend their lives as early men.
For be it ration or medicine, villagers narrate about the plight of having to cross seven kilometers of the mountain for even seven decades after independence. They are devoid of basic human rights.
As for the mountain path to nearby civilization, Naniya Thakur narrated of hundreds who have died due to lack of facilities. The villagers also narrate of having taken their problems to everyone from MLA to MP from CEO to Collector, a Panch of the village.
Bhagchand, another resident, informed that every time the authorities give the response that cognizance of their problem has been taken and soon actions shall be taken. But even today, after four months they are trapped in their hamlet.
The government is focusing on initiatives like digital India but probably has forgotten this ‘vote-bank’, a young man said in angst.
People don’t marry their daughters here, therefore, most of the young men of the village are bachelors by fate, Grano Bai said narrating fate of young men in the village.
Probably this is why the residents of the village began digging through the mountain from 7.00 AM in the morning. The district in question (Narsinghpur) also happens to the home district of the speaker of legislative assembly Narmada Prasad Prajapati as also the home district of Prahlad Patel, Union State Minister.
Manoj Thakur, SDM of the division commented that due to such response of the system to problems of tribals their faith in the system is lost and this is how hands that hold a shovel today may hold a gun tomorrow, be it a gun or a shovel both are signs of the apathy and weakness of the system, the village chose the shovel to change their fate and till the state sleeps are helping themselves.
Read: Skilling people, providing jobs in rural & tribal areas should be priority: Gadkari
