‘Struck out’ from district map, Ramgarh villages plan boycott

Ramgarh: Irked over the absence of their hamlets in the official panchayat maps, around 2,500 voters of Budhakhukhara and Lodhma villages of Ramgarh district falling under Hazaribag constituency have issued a poll boycott call. They claimed that they have not received any welfare schemes since 2015, including work under MGNREGA.
On Monday, villagers of Budhakhukhara held a meeting and announced that they will boycott Lok Sabha elections. Hazaribag will go to polls on May 6.

Sewapado Mahto, an elderly villager of Budhakhukhara, who presided over the meeting, said, “Before 2015 panchayat polls, Budhakhukhara village was part of Murramkala panchayat. But after delimitation, it came under Dohakatu panchayat. But the name of the village isn’t listed in Dohakatu panchayat’s map.”

“Unless authorities change the map before the poll in Hazaribag, we have decided to not vote. Voting won’t help usher in development here.” Mahto added.

Bharat Kumar, a local youth, agreed with Mahto. “For the last couple of years, rural jobs are not being given to residents of this village as authorities say we aren’t part of any panchayat. Where do we belong to then?” he questioned.

Similarly, Lodhma village was a part of Chhattar-Mandu panchayat, but it now falls under Kundrukala panchayat. The name of Lodhma, too, is missing from the panchayat map.

Villagers in Lodhma under Ramgarh block also gave a poll boycott call. On Wednesday, villagers will hold another meeting in this regard.

Dilip Yadav of Lodhma said that district officials recently visited the village to pacify them. “Our demand is that the name of the village be immediately added to official district map,” he said.

Sub-divisional officer of Ramgarh Anant Kumar admitted that these villages have been deleted from the official map. He blamed technical error for the lapse but said efforts are on to change the map. “We have written to the state government for restructuring the district map by adding these two villages,” Kumar said.