Nuapada thumbs down to tall promises

Times of India, April 1, 2009

KHARIAR (Nuapada): Khageswar Majhi of Nuapada's Khatipada village waved excitedly when the two choppers carrying L K Advani and his entourage
touched down at Saraswati Sishu Mandir school playground here on Tuesday.

"I simply came to the meeting because I wanted to show helicopters to my children," the migrant labourer, who had to wait for one-and-a-half years to be reunited with his family after they went missing in Chennai, said. "I don't have faith in these politicians or their hollow words. I had to run from pillar to post to rescue my family. I was arrested when I launched a silent protest to draw the chief minister's attention to my plight," Khageswar added.

The sense of despondency runs deep among residents of the poverty-stricken KBK region, which has over the years become a favourite with politicians to launch their campaigns. "I heard this big neta was coming to our area but I don't know the purpose of his visit," Padnam Nag, who had trudged all the way from Jamgaon to Khariar to attend Advani's public meeting, told TOI. "Many such heavy weight leaders come to Nuapada and return after making a lot of promises. A few months ago, the chief minister had come to Nuapada and he too went away after making promises to alleviate our problems," Padnam, who is a migrant labourer, added.

Infamous for acute poverty and distress sale of children, Nuapada district has worked like a magnet for political bigwigs. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had visited Amlapali village way back in 1984. He had made it a point to stop at the house of Phanas Punji. The tribal girl was forced to sell her 14-year-old sister-in-law Banita for Rs 40 and a saree. It is 24 years now but there is little change in the condition of Phanas' family.

In a rerun of history, Rajiv's son and Congress scion Rahul Gandhi last year visited Nuapada and met several tribal women while launching his "Discover India" campaign . Ironically, Rahul failed to discover Phanas.

BJP too has jumped the bandwagon. Advani promised that a BJP-led government in the Centre will give priority to a railway line connection in the area to boost business prospects. These words of hope bring little cheer to the residents. "We know politicians come during the elections, say a lot of things and then forget us. We have to solve our problems ourselves," Siraj Mallik, a resident, said.