In Araria, ‘cheated’ labourers could turn tables on Nitish

ARARIA:- In this north-eastern end of Bihar, fewer people migrated this year to cities for work. On Thursday, this could turn into backward caste backlash against chief minister Nitish Kumar in this pocket. Sounds counter-intuitive? As with politics everywhere, and more so in Bihar, things are not as simple as they seem.

In three different clusters TOI visited in Araria on Wednesday, landless backward caste labourers — Paswans, backward Muslims and Musahars, with the latter two being Nitish's target groups — said they stayed back in their villages this year because they'd heard of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). However, after two and three days of labour over the whole year, and no payment, Araria's labourers are angry and intend to show it through their vote.

The paradox lies in the fact that MNREGS is a UPA government scheme. But, as NDA members told TOI, the state government is being singled out for the scheme's failure here. Of course, on the flip side, the NDA government has gained from MNREGS wherever it has been successfully implemented, about which these members are not complaining! Echoing commonly held opinion, Mukesh Kumar Paswan, a landless Dalit, said, ''There has been no other job scheme for us. This was the only one, but we gained nothing from Nitish government.''

If Bihar's face for the rest of India is that of its hard-working migrants, then Araria has for decades been a force behind this image. In Paswan cluster of Lahotara panchayat, most men have worked in other cities in the past: Mithilesh Kumar Paswan worked as an agricultural labourer in Punjab, Gyanchandra Paswan went to Jaipur each year to run juice stalls. Mohammed Aziz worked as a whitewasher in Delhi for six months a year. In the Musahar cluster, Gayanand Rishidev went to Punjab. Many of these men chose not to migrate this year after they learned of MNREGS. All have more or less the same story: they asked for 100 days' work, got work for three to seven days, and got paid nothing.

''This year, I thought it would be better to stay back and work since my wife and I would both get work in the government scheme,'' said Suman Paswan. ''If you get work in your own village, why venture out?'' said Aziz. ''Next year, I'll wait to see if I can get work, or I'll go to Punjab,'' said a despairing Sitaram Rishidev of Paswan cluster.