On
May 5, 2016, India’s newest voters exercised their franchise
for the first time in
six assembly seats of Cooch Behar, northern West Bengal. They are
the roughly 15,000 dwellers of
the former Bangladeshi ‘enclaves’,
or ‘chitmahals’ in
Bengali, granted Indian citizenship after
the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between
New Delhi and Dhaka last year. Formerly stateless, without any
claim to public services
or administrative help, this was the first time they got to
vote. That was reason to cheer. Yet, having voted, there are
glum faces all around. Why?
Because despite being
enfranchised
citizens, residents of the chitmahals are being denied basic
amenities that state and
central governments provide every other Indian.
For
example, the Bengal government’s promise to deliver rice at
Rs 2 per kg is unfulfilled
here; ration cards to provide subsidised kerosene or milk powder
have not been provided. Jobs
for the poor, guaranteed under the central NREGA scheme are
scarce. The few who have
got enrolled
find all payments delayed,
apparently because of the model code of conduct that kicks
in before polls.
Most have no pattas — documents guaranteeing landownership —
and could fall victims
to land sharks. Roads and
police stations are absent, one year after the LBA was signed.
Kolkata’s
excuse for inaction is to wait
for poll results, due May 19, to end uncertainty about which party
will come to power. This argument is facile.
Indians everywhere get access to state-run programmes,
irrespective of which
political party is in power. Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Rajasthan swap
one set of parties for another every five years, but welfare
schemes run unabated. Unless
enclave dwellers get their dues as citizens now, their
disenchantment with
their new nation will only grow. That would be unfair and unsound. |
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Franchise: ~ noun (law) a statutory right or
privilage granted to a person or group by a govt. (especially the
rights of citizenship and the right to vote)
Dwellers
: ~ noun A person who inhabits a particular place
Enclaves
:~ noun an enclosed territory that is
culturally distict from the foreign territory that surrounds it.
Services:
(singular) ~ noun performance
of duties or provision of space and equipment helpful to others
Glum
:~ adj
melancholic (Expression of sadness)
Enfranchise:
grant voting rights
Amenities:~ noun conveniences (things that make
you comfortable and at ease)
Scarce:~
adj deficient
in quantity or number compared with the demand
kicks
in : enter a particular state
polls
: ~ noun the place where people vote
sharks: ~ noun a
person who is ruthless and greedy and dishonest
inaction:~ noun the
state of being inactive
facile:~
adj arrived
at without due care or effort
irrespective:~
adj in spite of everything;
without regard to drawbacks
unabated
: ~ adj continuing at full
strength or intensity
disenchantment:
~ noun freeing from false belief or illusions
unsound
~ adj : not in good condition; damaged or decayed |
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