First glimpse at TV set for Maoist-hit tribal hamlet in Bihar

PATNA:  A long-cherished dream is looming large literally in front of residents of Chormara village in Bihar’s Maoist-dominated Jamui district. For the first time ever, a television set was on Thursday installed in the village.

Children jumped with excitement and men and women clapped enthusiastically when a 43-inch LED TV was switched on. “We have got a TV for the first time,” Rajat Koda, a local resident, said. “We are thrilled with the installation of the television set in the village. Now we will also be able to connect with the outside world,” another resident, Dilip Kumar, said. 

The TV was brought following an initiative by officers of the Central Reserve Police Force, which is deployed here to ensure the villagers’ safety. DIG (Muzaffarpur range) Sandeep Singh and Commandant Jogendra Singh Maurya approached the Jamui branch of State Bank of India for the initiative, and the latter installed the TV, connected to DTH, under the community development programme.

Trust, development and security can bring a change in the lives of residents hit by extremism, Singh said, adding that law and order is better with enhanced coordination between the CRPF and district police.
Maurya said that the government is working for the development of villagers.

“All those who have deviated from the mainstream of the society should return,” he said.  SBI assistant general manager Akash Anand asked villagers to explore opportunities to set up small industries by taking bank loans. Women, too, can start self-help groups for earning livelihood, he added.

Chormara is located under the Barhat police station area, which was one of the hotbeds of left-wing extremism in the state until three years ago. The village, inhabited mainly by tribals, is surrounded by forest and hillocks.