In Modi’s Gujarat, tribals forced to migrate in search of livelihood

This LS contituency is no role model of development; sons of soil find it hard to earn square meal

DAHOD/GODHRA (GUJARAT): It is wedding season in Dahod, a predominantly tribal district along Gujarat’s borders with Madhya Pradesh, and the air is filled with staccato drum beats and lilting wedding songs.

But the season of merriment is short-lived, running through post-Holi till the third week of April.

Just after the season ends, the tribals move out to south Saurashtra or Kutch region in search of livelihood.

The irony is hard to miss: in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, tom-tommed by the BJP as the role-model of development and opportunities, sons of the soil are finding it hard to earn a square meal.

Dahod, a Lok Sabha constituency, is over 200 km east of Ahmedabad and represents “prosperous” Gujarat’s dark underbelly.

With Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in the state on April 30, political leaders are counting who would stay behind to vote.

“They are our traditional voters but they won’t be here on voting day,” said Ishwar Bhai D Parmar, Dahod district Congress spokesperson.

Dahod has a total of 12,09159 voters out of a population of 2,12,7086. 72% of the voters, incidentally, are tribals.

Government figures say that 25% to 30% of Dahod’s population migrates for livelihood, to elsewhere in Gujarat, belying the claims of equal development.

“Those migrating have land but no water for irrigation. Most of the tribals going out of Dahod are either working in road construction companies or going to Saurashtra to work in agriculture sector,” said a senior government official preferring anonymity.

“Migration has gone up in the last 10 years and it is mainly due to lack of irrigation facilities in the area,” said Lalit Bhai Patel (70), a two-time ex-Congress MLA from Dahod and a former minister.

Khem Chekalia, a village of 1,000, is not connected by road nor does it have a primary health centre.

Only recently, a pregnant woman Tulsi Ben l ost her life on way to hospital, as emergency ambulance service is based seven km away at Anas.

Government officials, on the other hand, claimed that “Dahod is not representative of development elsewhere in Gujarat”.

As per a study conducted by a Dahod-based non-governmental organisation, the average land holding of tribal is less than one hectare out of which only 50-70% land is under irrigation. The study said that roughly 70% of the households have at least one person migrating from the tribal households as most of them are marginal farmers surviving on resourcebased agriculture. Nearly 37% of the migrants are women.

In neighbouring Godhra district of Panchmahal parliamentary constituency, infamous for the 2002 train burning incident, also faces a similar problem in Morwa taluka and Gogambha taluka (both fall under Chotta Udaipur parliamentary constituency).

“Nearly 25-25% population from these areas migrate to Saurashtra and Kutch regions leading to low voter turnout,” admitted a district administration official.

However, those associated with RSS and BJP downplay the migration.

“Outward mig ration is in their mindset. They don’t want to labour at home and prefer working outside,” said Bhagwan Bhai Panchal, an old associate of chief minister Narendra Modi since his RSS pracharak days.

District administration sources said that with a view to arrest this migration trend, the state government is developing Halol and Savli as a special investment feature.