UP: Khaletola, a vantangiya, to vote as revenue village for the first time

GORAKHPUR: Rajahi Khaletola will vote as a revenue village for the first time in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on May 19. It was converted into a revenue village in October 2017.
Prior to it, though the villagers had the voting right but the booth, said an elderly Devi Lal Nishad, used to be kilometres away because of which many villagers did not vote.
Khaletola has its own narrative of development and the tilt, this time, is obvious in favour of the ruling party, at the centre and the state.
Dhanauta, a woman who is hesitant to tell her name fearing it sounds awkward, is unequivocal in her support for CM Yogi Adityanath. “Baba naseeb jaga dihin (Baba (she refers to Yogi) has changed our fate),” she said.
Vantangiya villages in UP had been demanding conversion into revenue villages since 1980. There were five vantangiya villages in Gorakhpur before they were converted into revenue villages in October 2017 under the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act.
Coversion has made these villages entitled to government schemes like Ujjwala, Saubhagya, PM Awas and toilet under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen). In last less than two years a primary school has come up within a km from the village and close to 60 pucca houses are under construction under PM Awas Yojana.
“At least 60% houses have got the ceiling (chhath) which may not take much time for us to move in,” said Rajaram Nishad. The road that takes one into the village has been levelled up under MGNREGA. Two drinking water tanks equipped with an electric pump, solar panel and electricity poles are other recent additions.
“Once we get a toilet it will be 100% development for us,” he said. Each family has also been given an alternate source of income like poultry. Villagers are happy since officers come frequently to get the first-hand report of development. "They (officers) know they are being watched. Unko report dena hai jaldi (they have to submit report to the government)," said resident Lalji.
Vantangiyas were named after Tongs tribe of Myanmar (former Burma). Vantangiyas settled in these villages in 1922 when British employed them for plantation and management of forest.
Khaletola lies inside Kusumi which is a dense jungle of sakhu trees. It was the vacant land between sakhu trees which was given to a vantangiya family to grow veggies, fruits and other eatables. But it was never sufficient especially with ever expanding families.
Most of the residents of Khaletola and other converted villages in Gorakhpur are Nishads, who form the biggest chunk of voters in the constituency.
“We are at least 3,500 voters in Gorakhpur alone still nobody, except Yogiji, listened to us,” said resident Vishnu Ram. Yogi had been visiting these villages every Diwali for last few years.