Mathia Maphi
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Musahar Tola
Mahendra Singh , Why parties give Musahar Tola the miss, March 2, 2017: The Times of India
The village has more than 500 families. Part of Fazil Nagar constituency , the area votes on March 4. Clearly , the Musahars remains marginalised as ever. At Mathia Maphi, the picture is grim. The only health centre is in Dudhahi block, six km away . But Chanva didn't get enough medicines here for her dying husband. “Doctor gave medicine for only two days. After Suresh fell ill we lost everything. We don't get food every day ,“ she says.
Chanva got a few hundred rupees from politicians who visited her after hearing that two brothers had died on the same day . That was all. Officials insist these weren't hunger deaths.She got an Aadhaar card made, but paid Rs 100 bribe. “We don't have MNREGA job cards. Even if someone has one, jobs are hard to get,“ says Umesh Mushahar, a grocer.
She now has a small plea: “Change my white ration card into red.“ A white card for BPL families provides 20kg of grain. Red cards are for antyodaya families and fetch 35kg. Musahar tolla has 500 votes, but it's not on anybody's radar.
After Mandal happened, certain OBC and Dalit communities with numerical strength grabbed the goodies.The weakest among remained on the margins. “We have 500 votes, so nobody cares,“ Laxmina Musahar says.
But some say Musahars are typically BSP voters, so no other party woos them.
