Non-Ownership Of Land Impacts Delivery Of Government Services In Bihar

Non-ownership of land impacts delivery of government services in Bihar

- Puja Awasthi

The first time Sadhu Manjhi was introduced to the idea of having a toilet of his own, he felt his head spin. “A landless man like me! Imagine that,” he told himself.

Sadhu lives in Bihar, where more than three in five rural households have no land as per the 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census. He is a member of the Musahar caste— one of the state’s most socially and economically backward groups—listed under the larger category of Mahadalits. Sadhu was born partially blind.

Standing at the intersection of the above three facts, the uneducated 55-year-old is an example of how government schemes can overlook those who are most in need of their benefits. In Sadhu’s case, one such scheme is the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), launched in October 2014, to ensure universal sanitation coverage. Though the SBM prioritises persons with disabilities such as Sadhu without land, they are either excluded from its benefits or become just a number in its beneficiary count.

Sadhu’s one-room house in Badauan village, Nimmi panchayat (Fatehpur block), stands by the side of State Highway 70, a busy 58km stretch that connects his home district of Gaya with Rajauli. His wife, Mina Devi, 46, is incapable of walking and drags herself a few feet at a time. The only toilet the couple knew till very recently were the farms some 500m away from their home.

“I have had countless falls since I was a child,” says Sadhu of his daily trek to those fields. Five years ago, he was hit by a tempo and was left with a fractured leg. Mina, who stitches bedcovers from old saris and makes ropes from coconut fibre to add to Sadhu’s income as a singer at weddings, births and celebrations, says, “I feared going to the fields on my own. Many times, I would not eat the whole day to avoid it.”