In a first in Assam’s tribal village, man gets govt job

GUWAHATI: A remote village in Assam’s Sonitpur district will get its first government employee on Thursday when Union home minister Amit Shah will distribute appointment letters to over 40,000 candidates in a mega event in Guwahati to mark the completion of second year of the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government.
Anil Boiga, the great grandson of Quit India movement martyr Mangal Kurku of No. 3 Erasuti Jungle village, has landed the job of a forest guard — a feat achieved by none from the village that is home to around 2,000 Adivasis. In fact, the hamlet is so backward that it hasn’t been able to produce a graduate yet.
“My job is a result of the hard work done by my father, who is a daily wager, and mother who works in small tea gardens as a labourer. After passing Class 12 in 2021, I joined the BA course in Lokanayak Omeo Kumar Das College, Dhekiajuli. But my dream of becoming a graduate was shattered a year later because of my poor financial condition. Sitting at home, I had applied for Grade III & IV jobs alongwith lakhs of job-seekers. The result was nothing less than winning a lottery,” Anil told TOI from his home in Barsola constituency, located 350 km northeast of Guwahati.
He added, “I can now take care of my younger sister who studies in Class 8 as my parents are growing old.”
Anil’s father, Kartik, said, “My only hope was that Anil will not be a daily wager. But he went one step ahead and got a government job, which we never imagined.”
Surrounded by vast swathes of paddy fields on the northern banks of the Brahmaputra, the kutcha house of two rooms where Anil lives with his parents and younger sister narrates the story of neglect. Over 80% of the people in the village are Adivasis. Village headman Jayanta Keot said except a few Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana houses, there is nothing else to talk about in the village. “People even have to live under tarpaulin sheds,” he added.
He further said, “Without any graduate, government employee or wealthy family, most of these landless people have to depend on daily wages. Anil’s success is a milestone for us.”