Varanasi : The 63-ft tall Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya statue stands tall in Padao, Varanasi. The memorial inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi brought respect and remembrance for the late Shri Deendayal Upadhyay earlier this year. In February 2020, two days before the PM visit, 50 hutments, barely 200 meters away from the memorial, home to 250 impoverished people got demolished, citing beautification of the area for the memorial inauguration. Now six months and an ongoing Global pandemic later, the families remain homeless, living off the streets, taking shelter at nearby temples, and hiding from the local
authorities.
In the past, our houses would be the target of demolition, but we could come back shortly and
re-build our homes in the same location. This time, the authorities disallow us near the area even
though it is not visible from the memorial. Some people run their building material shops and
other businesses, then why is it that we are unallowed to stay here? asks Jira, an inhabitant of
the demolished area.
This land has been our home for several generations. Where do we go? asks Kitabo, another
inhabitant whose hut got demolished. The eyes of the homeless reveal shades of helplessness,
hunger, and distress as they express how theycover themselves under black plastic sheets when it
rains. The families rendered homeless that include infants, small children, women, and disabled
elders, are living in inhumane and distressful conditions. Exposed in the open, the young
children and disabled elders recurrently fall sick due to rain, mosquito bites, and weather
changes. With the increasing crimes against women in the country, the mothers have an added
worry of safety for their adolescent daughters as well as other women. Jira, 50, married her
daughter off hurriedly in September as she was bereft of options for her young daughter safety
and wellbeing.
The majority of these families are voting members and have legitimate ID proof. Jira, says, My
voter card bears the name of Sujabad. We voted for this pradhan, but now he has disowned us.
Were we only good enough for the election? she asked When we approach local authorities
for help and direction, they shoo us away. There is no help from the District Magistrate or the
PM.
The current gram Pradhan Banarsi Lal, 60, conceded that the families had been living in the now
beautified area for as long as he could remember. Although, he does not think the administration
would give away the land to those that had illegally occupied the land these many years.
Some of the settlers visit the beautified area in the night to find space to sleep but are often
chased away by the local authorities. There is an increasing concern of illegal sand trading that is
blatantly ignored by the authorities.
The families, like other settlers in the area, belong to the Dharkar caste, listed as a Scheduled
Caste in the Census of India, 2011. Their traditional occupation is making bamboo products such
as ladders, mats, baskets that earns them a meager daily income of Rs 300-400.
The Covid-19 lockdown has further worsened their living conditions as their income took a
nosedive. With no roof, survival insecurity, and sanitation issues, these marginalized groups are
in an endless cycle of suffering.
Saurabh Singh, Social Worker (Inner voice Foundation) and Athira Murali has been providing
food, ration kits to the families, and impoverished people in Varanasi, Chandauli, and Allahabad,
since the onset of the pandemic and throughout the lockdown. Saurabh says, I pray to my MP,
also the PM of the country, to rehabilitate these people who belong to extremely marginalized
sections. They must be provided houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana immediately or
any suitable housing scheme of the Government. Just because they are poor and voiceless, they
should not suffer. Our PM should reverse this trend by rehabilitating them.
Along with Saurabh Singh, Athira Murali, Communications Secretary, Distress Management
Collective, is currently exploring ways in which they could help rehabilitate these 60 families.
Athira says;The living conditions of these people, especially infants and young children, are
inhumane. Usually, when there is a demolition, the area inhabitants are provided with
rehabilitation help, which did not happen in this case. To think that 50 families have been living
off the streets through a global pandemic without any help is utterly disheartening.
Saurabh Singh and Athira Murali are co-leading the rehabilitation campaign and facing a vortex
of challenges in bringing awareness to this issue. Adding to their list of concerns is the political
complications as PM Modi is the current MP of Varanasi Constituency. They insist that nor they
or the families are looking for political action, but a humanitarian one.
While the country is in the shackles of the Covid-19 pandemic, economic rundown, and
increasing crimes, the odds seem stacked against these marginalized people for Government
attention. With folded hands, the homeless families request the Indian Government, not for
mansions, but paltry huts.
