Prakhar Dobhal

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Swara Garge

Sarbajaya Bhattacharya

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“You are born with light and we
are born with darkness,” says Nandram Jamunkar, sitting outside his mud house.
We are in Khadimal village in the district of Amravati which goes to polls on
April 26, 2024 in the General Elections. The darkness Nandram speaks about is
literal; the tribal village in Maharashtra has never had electricity. 

“Every five years, someone
comes and promises to bring electricity. But let alone electricity, even they
never come back,” says the 48-year-old. Sitting MP Navneet Kaur Rana, an
independent candidate, came to power in 2019, after defeating Shiv Sena candidate
and former Union Minister Anandrao Adsul. This year, she is contesting the seat from Amravati constituency as a Bharatiya Janta Party candidate. 

In this village of Chikhaldara taluka, the population of 198 families
(Census 2011), is primarily dependent on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee (MNREGA) and a few who own land, practise
rainfed-cultivation, mostly growing corn. Khadimal comprises mostly Scheduled
Tribes (STs) who have always lived without running water and electricity.
Nandram belongs to the Korku tribe who speak Korku, identified as an endangered
language by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in 2019.

“We have voted for 50 years in hopes
of change, but we have been fooled,” says Dinesh Belkar, sitting next to
Nandram and consoling him. He had to send his eight-year-old son to a boarding school
100 kilometres away. There is a primary school in the village, but with no
proper roads and a lack of transport, teachers are not regular. “They come here
twice a week,” Dinesh, 35, says. 



“Many [leaders] come here with
promises of state transport buses,” adds Rahul, “but they disappear after the
elections.” The 24-year-old MNREGA worker had to drop out of college, unable to
submit his documents on time due to a lack of transport. “We have completely
given up on education,” he adds. 



“Education comes later, first we need water,”
Nandram says in a loud voice, overcome with emotion. The upper Melghat region
has experienced acute water shortage for a long time.

The villagers have to cover a
distance of 10-15 kilometres every day to fetch water and this task is
performed mostly by women. None of the households in the village have a tap.
The state government had laid pipes in the area to supply water from Nawalgaon,
three kilometres away. But the pipes remain dry in the long summer months. The
water they do get from the wells is unfit to drink. “Most of the time, we drink
brown water,” Dinesh says. It has also led to an outbreak of diseases like
diarrhoea and typhoid in the past, especially among pregnant women and
children. 



For women in Khadimal, the day
begins at three or four in the morning with a long walk to fetch water. “We
have to stand in line for three to four hours depending on when we reach,” says
34-year-old Namya Rama Dhikar. The nearest hand pump is six km away. With the rivers
drying up, this spot has become a haunt for thirsty wild animals such as bears
and sometimes even tigers from Semadoh Tiger Reserve in Upper Melghat. 



Fetching water is just the first task of the
day. Women like Namya have to perform all the household chores before setting
off to work at an MNREGA site at around 8 a.m. In the evening, after a day’s work of tilling the land and manually transporting heavy construction material, they have to fetch water
again at 7 p.m. “We get no rest. We fetch water even if we are ill, even when
we are pregnant,” Namya says, “even after giving birth, we get to rest for only
two or three days.”

This year, with elections
approaching, Namya has taken a clear stand. “I won’t vote until there is a tap
in the village.”



Her stand is echoed by others in the
village. 



“We won’t vote till we get roads, electricity
and water,” says Babnu Jamunkar, 70, the ex-sarpanch
of Khadimal, “we won’t allow any politician in our village. For years they have
fooled us, but not anymore.”

A neglected village boycotts the polls

گاؤں کی اندیکھی کرنے پر انتخابی بائیکاٹ کا فیصلہ

ఎన్నికలను బహిష్కరిస్తోన్న ఒక గ్రామం

தேர்தலை புறக்கணிக்கும் புறக்கணிக்கப்பட்ட கிராமம்

ਅਣਗੌਲੇ ਪਿੰਡ ਨੇ ਕੀਤਾ ਚੋਣਾਂ ਦਾ ਬਾਈਕਾਟ

ଭୋଟ୍‌ ବର୍ଜନ କଲା ଏକ ଅବହେଳିତ ଗାଁ

അവഗണിക്കപ്പെട്ട ഒരു ഗ്രാമം തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പ് ബഹിഷ്‌ക്കരിക്കുന്നു

ನಿರ್ಲಕ್ಷ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಗಾಗಿರುವ ಗ್ರಾಮದಿಂದ ಚುನಾವಣಾ ಬಹಿಷ್ಕಾರ

सरकारी उपेक्षा से नाराज़ गांव ने किया चुनाव का बहिष्कार

એક તરછોડાયેલા ગામમાં ચૂંટણીનો બહિષ્કાર

‘नेता अब हमन ला बुद्धू बनाय नइ सकेंव’

एगो उपेक्षित गांव कईले बा चुनाव के बहिष्कार

ভোট বয়কটের ডাক দিয়েছে অবহেলায় জর্জরিত এক গ্রাম

উপেক্ষিত এখন গাঁৱৰ নিৰ্বাচন বৰ্জন

दुर्लक्षित गावाचा मतदानावर बहिष्कार

Khadimal, Chikhaldara, Amravati District, Maharashtra, India

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A neglected village boycotts the polls

The village of Khadimal in Maharashtra’s Amravati district has never had running water or electricity. Villagers say politicians only make empty promises every five years, then disappear. That is why they have collectively decided to abstain from voting in the General Elections of 2024

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