Mr. Charku Prasad Mukhya, the leader of the Ghasia tribe living in Raup village of Sonbadra district of Uttar Pradesh state can now hope that his peoples demands will be finally met by the state government. The state government sent its officers to Raup village on July 13, 2007 to promise the Ghasias that they will not be neglected anymore. The administration also constructed a well in the village solving the water shortage which was forcing the villagers to walk for kilometres fetching water.
Fifty five Ghasia families had formed this village in Raup several years before after being forced out of their land from the fringes of the forest. Their stay in Raup was challenged by the state administration as well as the local criminals. Often the criminals found support from the corrupt state agents. The state authorities challenged the Ghasias claiming that they do not have any right to occupy forest land where they had setup their huts. The criminals found that the occupation of land by the side of the national highway by the Ghasia is a threat to their possibility of illegally taking over the land for commercial purposes.
Caught-up between the devil and hell the Ghasia was unable to find any means to earn daily food. Being considered as an untouchable community, the Ghasia could not find any work. The Ghasia families soon were confronted by another issue acute starvation. Several died due to lack of food.
In the year 2003-2004 alone, in a span of four months, 18 Ghasia children died in Raup village. The state administration did not care to do anything for the villagers. It was only after the intervention of a local human rights organisation, the PVCHR that pressure started building up on the government. The intervention of PVCHR also brought in international attention to the plight of Ghasia families staying in Raup village.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) along with several other international organisations intervened in the issue and put pressure on the state administration. In February 2007, the AHRC also unveiled a monument in Raup in memory of the children who died. The monument was erected by the AHRC, PVCHR and the Voice of People.
Finally, after several years of utter neglect the administration responded to the cries for help by the Ghasia. By this time they had lost several of their children to starvation. Many adults are malnourished for several years are now physically unable to do any work. It would take specialist medical treatment to bring them back to normal life.
The state administration has now promised the Ghasia that every family will receive subsidised ration, unemployment pension, annual stipend for school age children for attending school, establishment of an Integrated Child Development Centre, jobs under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and above all an election identity card for every adult member of the tribe. The promises were made by the district administration under the direction of the state government through the officers who visited the village on July 13, 2007.
Promises are the easiest thing for a government to make to the people. Similar promises have been made by several governments in the past in India. The Ghasias have waited enough, so has the local and international human rights agencies working in the village.
It took the lives of 18 children and several adults of the Ghasia and continuous lobbying by the human rights groups to force the government to come to this point. This could have been done several years before, which would have saved several lives. If the government delays implementation of the promises any further, there would not be any Ghasia left in Raup to benefit from the government schemes. The Ghasias do not have any more children to sacrifice to move the government any further.
