Bargarh: Sukamanipur is a fringe village of Bargarh district sharing borders with Chhattisgarh.
There is no border issue here, but people of this village completely depend on Jharkhand amid allegation that local residents are deprived of basic facilities which are supposed to be provided by the state (Odisha) government, a report said.
This village is in Bhandarpur panchayat under Jharbandh block. However, it is 20 km from the block headquarters. Though we stay in Odisha, all basic facilities like education, healthcare, roads and drinking water are remote to us, the locals rued. The tribal dominated village has a population of 436.
The residents belong to tribal communities like Gond, Agharia and Sahanra. Interestingly, they speak in Laria (Chhattisgarhi language) as they have long term association with Chhattisgarh.
Agriculture is the mainstay of their livelihood, but lack of irrigation facilities is a major stumbling block for the growth of this sector. The crops are fed by monsoon rains. For lack of a stable livelihood, most people migrate out of their area in search of work, they added.
The village has a primary school and an Anganwadi centre. There is no school or colleges around for our children to continue upper and higher studies after clearing Class V. Our children go to schools and colleges in Chhattisgarh, they bemoaned.
The area is beset with commuting woes in the absence of good or motorable roads. Besides, healthcare is in mess as there are no doctors at Dabha CHC.
In such cases, we go to CHCs at Raipur, Sankara and Basana in Chhattisgarh, they pointed out. Drinking water is another problem. In summer, people have to go through hardship due to water crisis. They alleged that PDS is in mess while market facility is absent.
They depend on Sankara market in Chhattisgarh for sale and purchase of goods. “Under PDS, a beneficiary gets seven kg of subsidised rice, apart from dal, salt and sugar. But we only get 5 kg of rice,” a villager rued.
They said they are citizens of Odisha and cast votes in the state, but sadly they are deprived of getting benefits of state’s programmes and schemes. “We are neglected in all sectors.
Sad to say that we are in Odisha, but have to fully depend on Chhattisgarh,” said Jayram Siddar, a village.
However, Jharbandh BDO Runu Lakra said, “We have been carrying out efforts to redress the problems of the village. We are providing more work under MGNREGS in the area so that they needn’t migrate to other states in search of work.
Scope of work is made through farm pond creation, excavation and renovation of ponds and land leveling. A tube well is in the village for drinking water.”
PNN