For over 75 years the tribal population of Nandurbar have been kept away from all kinds of development and growth, but it is high time that one among the adivasi stands up for the rights of its people, said 38-year-old Nirmala Kagadya Vasave, a candidate contesting for the Lok Sabha seat from People’s Party of India Democratic.
With pamphlets and posters underway, Ms. Vasave’s public rallies and campaigns will begin on May 3 in the tribal-dominated district, of Nandurbar, Maharashtra, which votes on May 13 in Phase 4
Taking to The Hindu from Bhangarpada village in the Akkalkuwa taluka of Nandurbar, Ms. Vasave is happy that her party’s symbol is an ‘Autorickshaw’, finalised recently. “An autorickshaw does not discriminate with its passengers. In my opinion, autorickshaw drivers are the most honest people. They are not rich but go out of their way to serve people,” she said.
Narmada Bachao Andolan
Belonging to the Bhil tribal community, her family comes from an agricultural background. “My family is supportive of what I do,” Ms. Vasave said. Her family, including her mother and nine siblings (six sisters and four brothers), are engaged in farming and grow mahua, bhagar (barnyard millet), jowar (Sorghum), bajra (Pearl millet), maize, pulses like urad among others.
She is the seventh among all the siblings who in 2006 had worked for two years with activist-turned-politician, Medha Patkar on Narmada Bachao Andolan, a social movement spearheaded by native tribals, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against a dam project across the Narmada River, which flows through the States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
With a post-graduation in social work (Master of Social Work) from Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune, she founded the Nirmal Adivasi Charitable Trust to address tribal community issues. Ms. Vasave’s manifesto, reflective of this, is focused on the core issues of the district such as migration, health crises such as malnutrition, anaemia, sickle cell, maternal and child death, water crisis, displacement of people and connectivity in the region.
Also associated with Ekal Mahila Sangathan (Single Women Organisation) a programme run by NGO, CORO India that empowers women in rural Maharashtra to make them self-sufficient for life, Ms. Vasave said she would fight for 50% reservation for women in government. Currently, she is pursuing an LLB from Jamia College of Law, Akkalkuva, Nandurbar.
“Our party will work to stop migration and create jobs within our district. We would get special recognition to adivasis by forming a separate State ‘Khandesh’ (areas in the northwestern corner of Maharashtra) of which Nandurbar will be the capital.
“This way adivasi schemes will move faster to people. After getting special recognition, we will bring advanced research plans to strengthen our agriculture and irrigation system so that farmers no longer have to depend on rain to grow crops,” she added.
The Autorickshaw symbol party also aims to strengthen the education system by bringing a national education policy, she said. “The concept is of one nation, one education so that every child receives a quality education in English, Hindi and Marathi. Most of us do not even know Marathi because there are multiple adivasi languages. With a standard education system, children will be able to pursue higher education anywhere in the world,” Ms. Vasave said.
Attack on mainstream parties
Making verbal attacks on the current and past ruling parties (the Congress and the BJP), Ms. Vasave said that the previous government in power had only given ‘false’ promises in the name of development. “We will bring public undertaking industries that will give employment opportunities to the local population directly. We will also build a State-level sports academy in Nandurbar, set up the latest technology in education and healthcare and fully utilise all the central government schemes to provide roads, transport, bridges and healthcare. We will implement the constitutional rights of adivasis, Jal Jungle Jameen. We will promote and market local produce to make sure producers and distributors get fair earnings.”
Her core reason for contesting for the Lok Sabha seat is because the tribal population in the district feels their votes are not taken seriously. “For the corrupt political parties, the cost of our vote is zero because we neither matter nor exist for them. There are people from our society who have joined the national parties (BJP and Congress) but they are opportunists who only think of personal benefits. They have become ‘dalal’ (middleman) of the party and forgotten about their own people. I strongly feel if any of these two parties (the BJP and the Congress) come back to power then the situation of adivasis will only get poorer than what it is now. They froze our lives, growth, movement and everything for over 75 years and exploited us,” she explained.
“There are 250 schemes for the tribal communities but not even one on the ground is in use. With our government, we will educate people about schemes they are liable to get and also make sure they are implemented,” Ms. Vasave said who had tried for government jobs in the past under the PESA Act. “I was refused despite having good scores, imagine the situation of those who do not know who to approach for jobs.”
It is so disappointing that despite being the scheduled tribe district where our elected leaders have also been tribal from our community, they have never worked for the welfare of the people, she said. “If Ministers sit in Mumbai and New Delhi, how will they understand and address the problems of people here?”
When Ms. Vasave decided to contest, people asked her, how would she contest without any monetary backing. “They said I do not have money, a car, or a good house to contest the election against the giant Opposition parties. I told them I have my will to stand up for my principles and for the rights of our adivasi people who have been doomed for years. That is enough for me. I am a living example of all the challenges we, the tribal population of Nandurbar have faced for over 75 years.”
Other candidates in the fray are Dr. Heena Vijaykumar Gavit from the BJP and Gowaal K. Padavi from the Congress. BJP’s Ms. Gavit won the seat in the last two terms.
