Opinion The true value of compensation

Ramadoss's plan to consolidate caste Hindus was not just an administrative challenge for the AIADMK government,but a potential political threat

May 22, 2013 02:18 AM IST First published on: May 22, 2013 at 02:18 AM IST

Eight families of Ehadsameta village in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh will now receive an amount that many villages in the area together do not earn in an entire year. Relatives of every victim who died in the recent police-CRPF firing will get a total of Rs 8 lakh from the state and the Centre.

A non-electrified village in this zero power-cut state,Ehadsameta is a three-hour non-stop walk from Gangalur police station,the nearest administrative signpost. So difficult is the terrain that even bicycles do not help cross hills and rivers that lie on way to Ehadsameta. Villagers are subsistence farmers and the occasional tendu patta,tamarind and mahua sale is the only economic activity as the annual income of a family does not exceed Rs 10,000.

In fact,Chief Minister Raman Singh during his recent poll campaign in Bastar often made fun of the Centres direct cash transfer scheme even as he boasted of his free ration programme,pointing out that in a region where even post offices are yet to arrive,its difficult to comprehend villagers operating bank accounts once they get a bank,that is.

Rs 64 lakh is now expected to arrive in this tiny village in one go,presuming there isnt the customary leakage through a labyrinthine channel of government officers.

While any kind of compensation is welcome,what may actually help tribals at the receiving end of a callous and often cruel administration is a sustained programme to develop their human resources and their villages. Even with the narrow viewpoint of this amount which exceeds the total income of the last 80 years of a family here living in the forest unless there are avenues to utilise the money,it may end up going to the Maoists.

The government needs to rework its policy towards families affected by such violence. Government jobs for at least one relative,skill training for others and residential schools for children could help heal their wounds,besides checking a natural urge to side with the Maoists after their near and dear ones are killed.

However,is the government listening? After last Junes firing in Sarkeguda village of the same district,which left 17 dead,the CRPF had opened a camp there within a fortnight,However,a year later,no government representative the CM,minister or officers - has visited Sarkeguda. And unlike Ehadsameta,it is well on a motorable road.

Ashutosh is a special correspondent based in Raipur

ashutosh.bhardwaj@expressindia.com