The residents of Kanasinakatte (which literally means reservoir of dreams) — a village with around 1,200 voters in the Bhadravathi taluk of Shivamogga district — have put up a banner at the entrance asking political leaders not to enter the village. They have boycotted the Assembly election, citing a lack of basic amenities, ranging from public transport and mobile connectivity to burial grounds.
The village is about five kilometres away from Hole Honnur, a town that falls under the Shivamogga Rural Assembly constituency, and reaching this village is not easy. In fact, schoolchildren have to walk the five km distance to reach their schools because there is no bus service to Kanasinakatte. “Every day, more than 150 students, those in high schools and colleges, walk up to Hole Honnur. For last four to five years, we have been appealing for bus service. But no one has responded,” said Srinivas, who represents the village in the Sanya Kodamaggi gram panchayat.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, the students in the village had a tough time attending online classes due to poor network connectivity. “We got mobile phones for our children, but they could hardly attend classes. They climbed hillocks in search of a vantage point hoping to get signal. The problem has not been addressed even now,” pointed out Nagaraj, a resident of the village.
The villagers have appealed to the MLAs, Lok Sabha member, and officers a number of times. “For years, we had two acres of land to bury the dead. However, recently, panchayat officials issued the khata (title deed) of the land in the name of an individual, stopping us from entering the place. Now, we do not have a burial ground either,” rued Karibasavaiah, also a gram panchayat member.
The villagers took a united decision to boycott the election to highlight their problems. They conveyed their decision through a letter to the Deputy Commissioner as well. Officers from the Bhadravathi taluk administration held a meeting with the villagers and tried to convince them to withdraw their decision. “We will not backtrack from our decision. There is no point in voting as nobody is coming forward to resolve our issues,” said Malleshappa, a resident.
