Chatra, Jharkhand:
Jharkhand has always had chief ministers who were tribals. Yet little has been done for the development of the tribal population.
Though the government spends a lot of money in their name, their condition remains unchanged. And as the state gets set for a new government next week, it's not clear how much will change even now.
Viewed from a distance, they seem to be heaps of leaves. These are in fact the traditional leaf homes of the Birhor tribe, one of the 32 Scheduled Tribes of Jharkhand.
Mangri Birhor has few possessions and she says she and her husband are often unable to manage two meals a day.
The state government has failed to look after their livelihood needs. The Birhors continue to hunt for a living, searching the forests for small animals, for roots and leaves for food. But access to forests is denied to them. They also make ropes out of yarns from synthetic sacks, which sell for meagre amounts.
"I am able to give food to my children when I go to the forest. Otherwise we don't eat," said Devanti, a Birhor tribal.
In October last year the suspected hunger death of nine Birhors in nearby Hindiakala village had hit the headlines.
A number of politicians and government officials descended on Chatra district, yet public policies continue to be far removed from the tribals' reality.
The ruins of government housing, built for them 20 years ago, is a living symbol of neglect. It shifted the Birhor families far from their village and forest. Second, cracks appeared on walls and ceilings. The shoddy material was evident.
A week after moving in, the Birhor community fled, scared that the concrete slabs would collapse over their heads. They preferred their structures of sakua leaves and sticks.
Despite the creation of Jharkhand, the Birhors are backward educationally. There are no matriculates, leave alone graduates.
At the government school near Japua village, barely one third of the children are present today. Of the two teachers, one is absent. There will be no midday meal today since the cook too is absent.
Similar is the case with the rural sanitation programme, executed through an NGO. The awkward single toilets border the main road and have no provision for water. No one uses them.
"We tried to make them a third rate of copy of ourselves. That's what we have done," said Ram Dayal Munda, former Vice Chancellor of the Ranchi University.
A lot of money is spent in their name, but the schemes have notched up successes only on paper.