Parvat Singh and Prakash, two teachers at a village school in Jhadol, a tribal majority taluk in Udaipur, are facing a peculiar problem. The upper primary school had a good number of children but of late the drop-out rate has increased. “The reason is that many parents have migrated to cities in Rajasthan and Gujarat in search of jobs. Children are forced give up education to look after their grandparents. We are going to their homes to convince them that leaving school will be a bad decision,” they told BusinessLine.

Increase in migration

Migration is not new in this part of Rajasthan, bordering Gujarat. But local people said stopping work under MGNREGA and delaying wages has resulted in an increase in migration. The BJP is thus facing the anger of the tribals in the region, who provided them handsome support to come to power in the State in 2013 and at the Centre in 2014. “For the last three years, I haven’t got even a day’s work under MGNREGA. I used to get at least 10-days’ work a month. But it has been stopped,” said Keshu Lal from Amlia village.

Thawar Chand, another tribal youth from Jamun village, had to go to Gujarat in search of jobs. “I was in Gujarat in the last two year. Now I have to go to Udaipur in search of work. Agriculture has become difficult as this area faces water scarcity. Government should know our problems,” said Chand, a BJP supporter.

Shankar Lal Pargi, a two-time elected president of Falasia panchayat, is contesting the election on a CPI(M) ticket. Though he is not very confident of his victory, he said his fight is to ensure basic infrastructure. “The BJP stopped MGNREGA saying it was a concept of communists. Our people do not have a regular income now. The BJP promised it will build infrastructure, but did nothing. We do not have good roads, hospitals and schools,” he said.

Bhil or Gharasia tribes constitute most of the population in the district, which stood with the BJP in 2013. Out of the eight seats in Udaipur, five are reserved for STs. The BJP won six seats in 2013 and the Congress secured just one in Jhadol, while Vallabnagar went to an independent candidate. The BJP got a huge support from the tribal community in the State in 2013.

Kishan Lal, a Congress leader and former president of Rajsamand district parishad, said the BJP won the confidence of tribals in 2013 by making false promises. “The situation has changed now,” said Lal, a a tribal himself. “We will win here as people are fed up with the BJP,” he claimed.

What tribals face

Mandva village is a tribal habitat in the area. “We take drinking water from the same pond used by animals. We have to walk two kilometres from our homes to get drinking water. We have made complaints but no one has addressed it,” said Lakshman and Nathu of Mandva. Both had come to Flasia on their way to Udaipur in search of a job. “Under MGNREGA, we did basic works such as laying pipes for drinking water. It hasn’t moved in the last four years,” they added.

There have been struggles in the past for implementing the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act of 2006. “It has been 12 years, but just less than 25 per cent of the tribals have got their land rights. The government has not given support for their vocations such as agriculture or cattle rearing. Doing away with MGNREGA was huge blow for them. People don’t have even two times’ meal in some of the tribal localities,” said Rajesh Singhvi and advocate fighting for tribal rights.

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