Tribals sore at BJP, concrete houses not comfortable enough

BHOPAL: In the last 13 years, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has tried to wean tribals away from the Congress by pumping in money in the state’s tribal-dominated constituencies. The tribals have stuck with him in the last two assembly elections but Chouhan may not get a thumbs-up from them this time.

Take, for instance, the members of the Baiga tribe in Tikaria village, 15 kms from district headquarters in Dindori. They are not happy with the homes constructed for them under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY). They complain of corruption in implementing the scheme and claim that the concrete structures built under the scheme are too hot in summers and too cold in winters, and the locals prefer to stay in traditional mud houses.

Even the village pradhan, Sukarobai, and her deputy, Phulobai, are yet to shift to their new homes constructed under the scheme.

“We are six members in the family. It’s difficult for all of us to live in such a small house,” said Phulo Bai, who uses the new home to store fodder for animals.

Sitting in the village chaupal with other Baiga tribals, considered the most backward tribe in central India, Phulo Bai lists other reasons for not using the home. “From where will we get water for the toilets?” she asks, adding the village women have to fetch water even for drinking.

Sukarobai says the tribals find these two-roomed homes very cramped and highly uncomfortable to live in as they get very hot in summers and very cold in winters. “We prefer our mud homes as they adapt well to seasonal weather changes,” she says.

There are about 0.13 million Baiga tribals living in six MP districts -- Dindori, Mandala, Shahdol, Umaria, Anuppur, Balaghat.

For them, corruption in administration of the PMAY scheme is an election issue. Ramesh Baiga, a tribal from the village, alleges that members of the community have to pay to get instalments under the scheme that are directly transferred to banks.

The next step is to use the money to buy building materials, whose prices are marked up by local traders. This is why his house remains incomplete, Ramesh claims.

Social activist Balwant Rahang Dale said, “Besides the bribe a tribal has to pay to get his own money, he has to pay higher prices for building materials as local traders have increased prices arbitrarily after implementation of PMAY. Hence, he runs short of money to construct his house. Several houses are incomplete.”

However, panchayat and rural development minister Gopal Bhargava disagreed. “I am not aware that the tribals are not living in their houses and they are facing problems like arbitrary hike in prices of building materials by local traders and corruption and that they are not using the toilets. I will look into it.”

State Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta said, “The houses built under PMAY are highly sub-standard and they have been built by BJP governments just for the sake of votes. There should be a special audit of the money spent on the PMAY and quality of the houses.”

The former head of Allahabad University’s anthropology department, Vijoy Sahay, said that the rehabilitation plan for tribals had hardly been successful anywhere in the country given the flawed schemes.

“Schemes for tribals cannot be and should not be made from Delhi or Bhopal without a proper study of their society, climate and local ecology...”