Welcome to the land of freebies and mind-numbing idiocy.
When every election comes by, people in the tribal villages of Sembukkarai and Thoomanur in the Western Ghats in Coimbatore district play host to visiting leaders of political parties, all eager to please, with television sets, fans, blenders and table-top grinders and other handouts in tow.
The residents of these villages in Kavundampalayam constituency say they've been receiving these gifts from the AIADMK and DMK for the past 10 years.
Trouble is, they don't have electricity now and have not had electricity since independence. Trouble is, the politicians don't seem to see the absurdity of loading them with appliances they cannot use. Trouble is, these leaders don't listen to the villagers' repeated petitions for power connections -their only chance at an option to benefit from development.
Around 45 families of the irula tribal community make up Sembukkarai and Thoomanur has 110 households. They are both hill villages just 20km west of Coimbatore in the Annaikatti (South) forest zone. Mostly farmers, they grow maize and other cereals. Some come down to the plains to get daily wage jobs and walk back to their settlements in the hills in the evening.
"We have lost count of the number of times that we've asked representatives of DMK and AIADMK to provide us with electricity ," said K Rangamma from Sembukkarai."It's been of no use. We receive blenders, fans, television sets and table-top grinders from the parties. We simply stack them up in our houses. We've never had electricity so they are useless."
Kerosene lamps light their huts at night. "Schoolchildren in our villages cannot study in the evening," Rangamma said. M Ramaraj of Thoomanur village says people nur village says people of the two tribal settle ments have even held protests for power.
"There is power till Salim Ali Ornithology Centre, 3km Ali Ornithology Centre, 3km from our village," he said."Tangedco has to install poles and lines for a short distance.The forest department did not give permission for power lines through the reserve forest. Officials are afraid that animals and birds may be electrocuted." There is, of course, the option of insulated cables, but the simple folks of Sembukkarai and Thoomanur are not aware of that.
The villagers, with 350 acres of land in the hills, say if the government gives them power, they can use it to irrigate their fields better.
"The area is dark after evening," Ramaraj said. "We walk through forests that have wild elephants and gaur." The villages have few solar streetlights, courtesy the Government College of Technology's village adoption programme.
Kavundampalayam constituency's AIADMK MLA V C Arukutty said he tried to take electricity connection to the villages but the forest department did not give permission. "I will make arrangements to lay underground cables from Mangarai to Chembukkarai," he said.
When every election comes by, people in the tribal villages of Sembukkarai and Thoomanur in the Western Ghats in Coimbatore district play host to visiting leaders of political parties, all eager to please, with television sets, fans, blenders and table-top grinders and other handouts in tow.
The residents of these villages in Kavundampalayam constituency say they've been receiving these gifts from the AIADMK and DMK for the past 10 years.
Trouble is, they don't have electricity now and have not had electricity since independence. Trouble is, the politicians don't seem to see the absurdity of loading them with appliances they cannot use. Trouble is, these leaders don't listen to the villagers' repeated petitions for power connections -their only chance at an option to benefit from development.
Around 45 families of the irula tribal community make up Sembukkarai and Thoomanur has 110 households. They are both hill villages just 20km west of Coimbatore in the Annaikatti (South) forest zone. Mostly farmers, they grow maize and other cereals. Some come down to the plains to get daily wage jobs and walk back to their settlements in the hills in the evening.
"We have lost count of the number of times that we've asked representatives of DMK and AIADMK to provide us with electricity ," said K Rangamma from Sembukkarai."It's been of no use. We receive blenders, fans, television sets and table-top grinders from the parties. We simply stack them up in our houses. We've never had electricity so they are useless."
Kerosene lamps light their huts at night. "Schoolchildren in our villages cannot study in the evening," Rangamma said. M Ramaraj of Thoomanur village says people nur village says people of the two tribal settle ments have even held protests for power.
"There is power till Salim Ali Ornithology Centre, 3km Ali Ornithology Centre, 3km from our village," he said."Tangedco has to install poles and lines for a short distance.The forest department did not give permission for power lines through the reserve forest. Officials are afraid that animals and birds may be electrocuted." There is, of course, the option of insulated cables, but the simple folks of Sembukkarai and Thoomanur are not aware of that.
The villagers, with 350 acres of land in the hills, say if the government gives them power, they can use it to irrigate their fields better.
"The area is dark after evening," Ramaraj said. "We walk through forests that have wild elephants and gaur." The villages have few solar streetlights, courtesy the Government College of Technology's village adoption programme.
Kavundampalayam constituency's AIADMK MLA V C Arukutty said he tried to take electricity connection to the villages but the forest department did not give permission. "I will make arrangements to lay underground cables from Mangarai to Chembukkarai," he said.