Survey to identify Musahars for govt schemes’ benefits
ALLAHABAD: Dubbed a criminal tribe by the British and acknowledged as one of the most marginalised communities in modern India, the Musahars of Uttar Pradesh can now look forward to some better days ahead.
In a bid to ensure that members of Musahar community get benefit of government schemes, the Yogi Adityanath government has decided to undertake a special statewide survey to indentify and enrol them as beneficiaries of those schemes.
“The exercise is to be completed in a month’s time under the supervision of a specially set up eight-member committee in every district that will be led by chief development officers,” said a senior official of state social welfare department.
In a missive sent to all divisional commissioners and district magistrates, chief secretary Rajive Kumar has instructed that the survey as well as enrolment of eligible members of Musahar community in central and state government welfare schemes be completed within the time frame and intimation of the task completion be conveyed through the district magistrate to the state government on priority.
The letter marked ‘time bound’ specifies that the CDO-headed panel is to have district development officer, executive engineer of energy department, executive engineer of Jal Nigam, district probation officer, district supply officer and additional dist officer (finance and revenue) as member besides district social welfare officer as member secretary.
“The survey has been ordered to be undertaken immediately. We have been asked to ensure benefits like housing, ration card, pension benefits, potable water supply and hand pumps besides power connections as part of this special initiative,” said CDO, Allahabad, Samuel Paul.
He said the task would be undertaken in Allahabad in the coming days.
In another missive, principal secretary (rural development) Anurag Srivastava too reiterated the importance of the mission and again spelled out the welfare schemes for which eligible members of the community can be enrolled.
MUSAHARS ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF HELP
At a time when country is making rapid progress, Musahars are still a marginalised community in UP.
“Living in unhygienic conditions with very little benefits from the government, these impoverished members of the Scheduled Caste are overwhelmingly landless, eking out a miserable living by working as unskilled or farm labour,” said Prof Badri Narayan, director of Allahabad-based GB Pant Social Science Institute (GBPSSI) and a noted anthropologist.
He shared that in Uttar Pradesh, though the Musahars are based in a number of districts, including Allahabad and Pratapgarh, their concentration is high in districts like Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Deoria, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Chandauli and Jaunpur.
“Traditionally, the Musahar are bee keepers (honey collectors) and stitch leaf plates for local sale. The Musahar also cultivate land. Some other occupations include wage labour, forestry, fishing, pulling hand carts and rickshaws, working as labourers in brick kilns. Some Musahars are involved in sericulture and pig rearing while a few are employed in government and private services,” he added.
Historian and a professor of medieval and modern history, Allahabad University, Yogeshwar Tiwari says the history of Musahars has been one of chronic impoverishment, subjugation and marginalisation.
“They have struggled to make a living in a society that has classified them as ‘untouchables’. The British branded them as a criminal tribe in 1871. The 1931 census classified them as ‘untouchables’ while in UP they were included in the list of Scheduled Caste in 1950. However with bigger and dominant SC communities hogging the benefits meant for SC, they remain marginalised even today,” he said.
Prof Tiwari says that after generations of shame and rejection, they are still trapped in poverty and ignorance.
“They need help to make use of the government benefits that has already been provided, as well as increased access to education, medical facilities and provision of electricity, clean drinking water and self-employment schemes,” he added.
A TALE OF NEGLECT AND ISOLATION
Jewania Musahar basti (dwelling) of Shivbansi ka Pura Majra village in Meja, around 65 km from Allahabad city, is home to around 250 members of Musahar community.
Mere 18 kilometres from Meja tehsil headquarters, the dwelling lacks most basic amenities. Residents like Panna Lal, Hukum Chandra, Jokhan Lal, Panna Devi, Phoolkali and Usha Devi, all testify how they reside in makeshift shelters and have received no benefits of government schemes including homes.
“Even getting drinking water is tough. If we go to the hand pumps, the villagers chase us away. Just recently, we have got a hand pump that we share,” claims Mithai Lal, a Musahar.
There are 118 voters here as per official records.
“We vote to elect village heads and leaders but no one has done anything for us so far. Most of us reside in shelters made from plastic sheets or our own clothes under the sky with few having mud houses. The present pradhan has informed us that he has sent our names to block office for their inclusion in the list of possible beneficiaries for homes under the Pradhan Mantra Awas Yojna. If approved, we too may get a roof over our heads,” he added.
Recently, a few solar lights were installed in our Basti, said Usha Devi, another member of the community.
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Even getting drinking water is tough. If we go to the hand pumps, the villagers chase us away. Just recently, we have got a hand pump that we share
MITHAI LAL, musahar at Jewania Musahar basti, Meja