Much neglected Bagariyas fight for survival

By Soma Basu

UDAIPUR, JULY 3. Krishna Ram was a student of Navodaya School in Kuchamand here till class XI and thereafter his name was suddenly struck off - because the management found out that he is a `Bagariya'.

Balu Ram, 42, was lynched by nearby villagers because he dared to draw water from the well. Pusa Ram, 60, was denied a beedi at the local kiosk in Mithri village. Mangesh Ram was not allowed to board a public transport bus in Manglodi village. When Ramwati walked two km from Sargoth village to fetch water from the nearest `sarkari' borewell, her `matka' (earthen pot) was broken by the locals. Sukhopyari was married at the age of six to a youth four times her age and with two wives.

Such bizarre tales about this small community of people known as the `Bagariyas' are aplenty in this district. Numerically, they are too small - only 10,000 out of more than a billion people in a huge country. Sadly, small enough to be ignored even for a decent living. It is a shame that in modern India after 54 years of independence, these people live as untouchables and uncared for in the interiors of the desert State. Spread over 40 hamlets, the abysmally poor Bagariyas have shockingly been forgotten by the Government because ``such a minority votebank does not matter.''

According to a survey of the Jain Vishwa Bharati Sansthan (JVBS), there are 254 Bagariya families of whom 246 are landless. They don't even have `pattas' for habitation and mostly live in thatched huts or under the open sky in small clusters of not more than 10-15 houses shared by double the number of families per hamlet.

Ironically, of the entire population, only 37 people are beneficiaries of the Centre's Below Poverty Line (BPL) scheme. Not even five per cent of the population have voting rights or ration cards. Those who have, barely manage to buy the entitled quota of wheat at the rate of Rs. 5-6 per kg and 250-300 gm of sugar from the Fair Price Shops under the BPL scheme and share it with others.

The staple diet of Bagariyas is `roti' and `kandha (onion)' and their only source of income is working in the salt fields. About 200 Bagariyas are engaged in this occupation and earn Rs.30 a day. The hauntingly beautiful sand dunes on moonlit nights in Udaipur make for their homes which are obviously bereft of any power or water supply. Humiliatingly, the tribe is called `Gandela (dirty people)' in local lingo due to their inability to take bath for days. Says Vineeta Chaturvedi of Ecat Bodhgram - a local NGO working with Bagariyas to ensure them a basic minimum living standard: ``They don't have water to drink, how can they have daily bath? They are the most condemned lot deprived of even the most basic needs.''

During a chat with ``The Hindu'' here, she said that the Bagariyas were essentially hunters and by virtue of their traditional status, many of them own rifles. ``This is a setback to the community because police harass them. Their women and children are picked up and the men are booked for unauthorised possession of arms,'' she said.

After their state of terrible backwardness was raised by some local voluntary groups, the Bagariyas were included in the OBC (Other Backward Classes) in 1994, which, however, is not of much help. Say the likes of Ms. Chaturvedi, the Bagariyas should be recognised as Scheduled Tribes and become beneficiaries of Government schemes for the poorest of the poor at least.

But, so far, the socially abused community that it is, Bagariyas continue to be treated worse than untouchables. Yet, even in hardship, smiles do not seem to desert their faces and their women never seem to forget the bright colours of their attires.

In the scorching heat one spots them from miles - either the Bagariya women walking miles with their heads and faces covered with brightly coloured dupattas or their children rolling in the hot desert sand cacophonically.

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