Residents want Trans-Giri, Dodra Kawar included in tribal region

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 25

Residents of the Trans-Giri region, Dodra Kawar, Malana, Chotta and Bara Bhanghal are upset over the NDA government’s failure to include these areas in the tribal belt.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, then BJP president, had made tall claims during a rally at Nahan. But when it came to delivering on his poll promise, he chose to look the other way.

Representatives of various NGOs and a few local leaders expressed resentment over the successive governments’ apathetic attitude.

Members of 134 gram panchayats of Sirmaur, Solan district and Kupvi area, Chopal, said the politicians raised the issue in every election, but did nothing to uplift the residents. “A majority of the people continue to live in penury,” they said.

Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) Rameshwar Oran said, “No fresh recommendation from the state on inclusion of new areas in the tribal belt has been received by the commission so far. It will be sent to the Registrar General of India for examination first and then the commission will conduct a study. The next step will be moving the Bill in Parliament.”

The delegation met then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in 2013, but things remained the same. “Ranath Singh, during the Lok Sabha elections, had declared that the NDA would declare Trans-Giri a tribal area, but nothing of the sort happened,” said Harshvardhan Chauhan, former Congress Legislator from Shillai. “We are still fighting. The Vidhan Sabha had recommend the case in 2005, a survey was conducted, but the Centre did nothing,” he added.

The Trans-Giri comprises Shailai, Kamrau, Sangrah and parts of adjoining Rajgarh and Poanta Sahib areas, including Kupvi in Chopal. “People of the region work hard to make ends meet. Polyandry and polygamy and ‘Burhi Diwali’ are still common there,” said Ramesh Verma, an NGO representative. Both the UPA and NDA governments have ditched people. “Dodra Kawar, Malana, Chota and Bara Banghal needs to be developed,” said CPM state secretariat member Dr Kuldip Tanwar. Hattis, original inhabitants of region, struggle to sell their produce in markets of Vikasnagar, Paonta Sahib and Rohru. There is no linking road.

“The situation is bad here,” added Verma, convener, Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti.