Shubranshu Choudhary writes about the situation in Bodlapur, UP where government inaction has villagers in a bind with increasing influence of Naxalites.

One can catch a glimpse of  the beautiful village of Bodalpur and its lush green fields from the main highway itself. The scenery reminds one of  some landscape painting, little huts with thatched roofs in the midst of expansive farmlands. As our car made its way to Bodalpur through these fields, I couldn't help feeling a little pang of envy seeing how green these fields were even in this torrid summer heat. How I wished every village of India could be just like this.

But not for long; a few hours in Bodalpur and my feelings of envy started melting away.

I was doing some research on the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. We wanted to see how far this scheme had come along and what the rural community thought about the scheme. Jayshankar ( working with Asha, an organization founded by Magsasay awardee Sandeep Pandey) was with me as  well on this trip. He was  on his way to Bodalpur to organize a meeting about the scheme. Bodalpur falls under the Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh and is only about an hour's drive from  Varanasi.

People were already waiting for Jayshankar in the village center when we arrived. He wanted to know whether the Employment Guarantee Scheme had indeed provided employment for the residents of Bodalpur. During our drive, Jayshankar told me that the people of Bodalpur were quite aware of this scheme. They had already made their employment cards and had filed applications for employment as well. In contrast, Jayshankar had previously taken us to a neighbouring village, near the border with Bihar. The people there had not even heard of this scheme, leave alone filing applications.

The people of Bodalpur told Jayshankar their stories. The BDO had told them that Bodalpur village alone had filed applications for employment worth Rupees 15 lakhs, whereas  the entire Chandauli district was granted only Rupees 15 lakhs through this scheme.The BDO had promised to meet with the villagers of Bodalpur though, the following week. The villagers also came to know that people from the neighbouring village had already got jobs through this scheme.

Jayshankar showed them official government documents that he was carrying with him, the budget that the central government had allocated for this scheme and  what steps the villagers could take if they were not given jobs within 15 days.

In the midst of this meeting and all the discussions going on between the villagers on Jayshankar, I got talking to an old gentleman seated next to me. From him I came to know that this land was fertile and green, even in peak summer, because of the river Ganga nearby. I felt that these people were really lucky to own land on the gangetic plain and must be quite prosperoous as well. My illusions about their prosperity were quickly shattered. The old gentleman informed me that only 20%  of the villagers own these fields. The rest 80% are landless and only work on the fields.

These revelations about the state of India's villages came as quite a shock for my city-boy notions.  Jayshankar's meeting with the villagers was nearly ending. Now I started talking with the people. I came to know that  Bodalpur had a population of 2500, with 714 hectares of land. 14% of the people are tribal folk and about 30% are Dalits. 70% of the people have radios and about 20% have TVs. Only one newspaper comes to the village, for the village pradhan.

There was quite a bit of unoccupied land near the banks of the river, where the landless villagers used to do their own farming. But the forest department have stopped them from doing that. The villagers felt that if they could use these lands again, a lot of their problems would go away. But rather than understanding and helping the villagers with their problems, the forest department is now further aggravating the situation by not allowing them into the forests. They take money from the villagers if they go to gather wood and beat up animals who venture into the forest for grazing.

No one in that meeting had even heard of the proposed bill for land ownership rights for tribal communities.

The villagers do get some employment within the village itself, but about 20% have to go off to other cities or states for several months in search of jobs.  They have high hopes about the employment guarantee scheme and have even sent a proposal  to the governement for a project to build a structure to harvest rainwater, through this sheme.

They said that after the first structure, they propose to build another one. In fact, they have enough proposed work for the next 5 years and if the government helps them, no one would have to leave the village in search of work. The enthusiasm and hope was clearly visible on everybody's face.

As these discussions were going on, I suddenly remembered that some time back, there was a news story about some naxalites blowing up a CRPF  van in the Chandauli district, in which several soldiers were killed. I asked whether that incident took place nearby. The atmosphere immediately changed and everybody became stone silent.

Jayshankar told me that that incident occured some 20 kilometers from the village and that naxalites had reached this village as well. He  said that he would tell the villagers-" If you side with the naxalites, then I will never come to your village". The villagers then started cautiously speaking up. They said that on the other bank of the river, there is a dense forest where some villagers have gone to meet the naxalites.  I asked whether there was anyone among the gathering who had met with the naxalites. My question was again greeted with silence. But they told me that the police have started coming to their village more often now and that for a year, three boys from the village are in police custody, on charges of being naxalite supporters.  This information was news for Jayshankar as well.

He wanted to know if they needed legal help and started asking about these arrested boys, when a young man exclaimd out - "I have seen the naxalites. I had taken my cows for grazing, when I saw a few men in police uniform. They called me to them. I was scared. They had guns. They sat me beside themand asked me not to be afraid. They said they have guns to protect us. They knew that the forest department and other government officials are not being very helpful. They said they wanted to help us against these officials and that I should tell this to the rest of the village. They wanted to fight our battles against the government with us."

I asked this man what he thought of them- were they terrorists or have they come to help the villagers?  People remained silent, though some of the young men were visibly getting anxious to say something to us. I guess  the presence of their elders stopped them from speaking out in front of  two outsiders.

Jayshankar then reiterated-"If  you all support the naxalites, then we will never come to your village. We will not help you". People were still silent. I motioned to Jayshankar that it was now time  for us to return.

On our drive back, I kept wondering- who would win, Jayshankar or the naxalites ? Can Jayshankar help the landless villagers get employment through the Employment Guarantee Scheme? Will the tribals get land ownership rights in the forests? Or will they all cross  to the other side of the river to support the naxalites ?

Bodalpur's story can indeed become the story of every village in India.