Dr. Mohinder Kumar
Karmara village is located in Poonch block/district, at a distance of 10 km from Poonch city. “Makhi” post of army is less than one km far from this village on Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan. Five Indian army men posted on Makhi post were brutally killed and martyred in ambush by Pakistani army men/ militants in July 2013.
Karmara is a big village spread-out in six wards, with population of 5500 persons in 1380 households. Entire village population lives in risk zone as they are prone to danger of mortar shelling and firing. They live amidst tight security measures imposed inside LoC which makes daily physical movement and tele-connectivity very difficult. Total area of village is 500 acres, without common land (except Mosque, Imambara and residential area). Entire landed area of 500 acres is agricultural, of which 60 acres is hilly and 440 acres plain. Average size of holding is 0.36 acre per farm household. Maximum size of owned holding is 2 acres. Out of 1380 households, 300 households belong to the bakarwals community, who own agricultural land and are dissociated from age-old tradition of nomadic life. Of these 300 bakarwal settled households, 15 live in village Karmara, 50 live in Poonch city though owning land in Karmara, and the rest 235 households move with herds (partly) and live in Karmara to do farming (partly).
Village Weekly
Karmara has 90% Muslim and 10% Hindu households. Of these 1380 households, 100 households belong to OBC. People speak Gojri and Pahari languages. Of 1380 households, 1000 are kutcha and 380 pucca houses. Farmers cultivate maize, paddy and wheat. Big farmers have marketable surplus of maize. Wheat and paddy is cultivated for subsistence. Agricultural land is 100% irrigated by canals (kools) fed by Rangar Nallah. Some canals are renovated and newly constructed under MNREGA. Literacy is 70%. Mutual relations were reported as cordial.
Implementation of MNREGA in Karmara is a mixed experience of success and failure since 2011. A large number of small projects have been implemented. In 2012-13, 182 projects were implemented at cost of Rs.60 lakh. Budget forwarded for the village by Sarpanch was for Rs.2 crore; approval was for Rs.92 lakh. There are 608 Job Card holders (based on census of 2001). As per norms, each Job Card holder may be offered annual labor-wages of maximum Rs.14500/. However, work opportunities are provided to each Job Card holder for not more than Rs.4000/- per year. Sarpanch indicated problems in timely implementation of projects and Management Information System (MIS) in Block Development Office, Poonch. Sarpanch submits work status of MNREGA projects to BDO within time frame but there is problem of compilation of MIS at BDO. It faces severe staff constraint. There are two computer operators in BDO office. They look after feeding data on projects for 32 Gram Panchayats (45 villages). At average 100 projects per village, BDO Poonch is expected to handle 4500 projects per year. It requires 8-10 operators for feeding and uploading data on all projects on website. The task is invariably delayed, leading to delayed release of payment to GPs. Moreover, reportedly both computer operators in BDO Poonch (2013) were not given monthly payment for the past six months.
Major problems in Karmara related to the basic facilities, viz., (i) daily hardships at LoC; (ii) poor implementation of Border Area Development Programme (BADP); (iii) no dispensary; (iv) no safe drinking water; (v) poor power supply; (vi) poor road connectivity; (vii) no livelihoods and employment for survival; (viii) poverty and landlessness; and (ix) danger of shelling and land mines near LoC.
Karmara people complained that security men have put barbed wire enclosure on at least 30% land of villagers, beyond which they are not free to enter this area even as a gate has been installed to restrict their entry. Villagers want free access to their private farm land even as they face problem in entry to their own field without army’s permission for cutting grass/ crops. Moreover army would make them work for half a day in ‘begaar’ (unpaid labor) for personal tasks. Farmers demanded freedom from ‘begaar’. To find solution to this problem farmers reportedly complained to the DDC several times, approached MLA and requested the Governor also. This issue was raised in the District Development Board (DDB) meeting in July-August 2013 by MLA Poonch though it has found no solution. Now they thought of taking this issue to the Lok Sabha. Meanwhile their voice of protest against ‘begaar’ and enclosure on private land continues. LoC is 2 km beyond this enclosed land.
In 2006, a Health Center was inaugurated that was constructed with the help of army with cost of Rs.6 lakh on 2 kanal (0.24 acre) land donated by a villager Sher Alam (under State Govt.’s land-job exchange scheme). He was reportedly promised permanent job. No exclusive medical staff was posted at Health Center as the same was to be shared with adjoining village Khari on LoC. People of Khari objected because they did not want that their doctor/ compounder should be shared with Health Center of Karmara. Now health center at Karmara remains dysfunctional without doctor. For some time two staff persons of Khari Health Center visited Karmara Health Center for 2-3 days per week. In the meantime land owner, on whose land Health Center at Karmara was constructed, took control of the building in his private possession. Whatever general staff was posted left the Center and reported to the District authority. Now new building of Health Center also went out of possession of PHE Department, since land donor did not get the promised employment. Land owner has converted this Health Center building into personal house. PHE Department reportedly complained against land donor to the DDC and CMO. Land donor brought stay order from court. Now no dispensary exists.
Karmara does not have access to safe drinking water for all households. It tried several sources of water but none was fully successful. People need assured source of safe drinking water supply, obviously for human consumption. All means and sources of drinking water have so far failed in Karmara: (i) Water supplied by Makhi Water Supply Scheme was shared by Karmara and Khari, insufficient for both villages; (ii) three bore wells with electric motors and pipelines were installed as supplementary source of water in Karmara. However, villagers demanded that supply of water from pump sets was yet to be made regular. House connections were not given; rather Public Stand Points (PSPs) were given i.e. one connection for two households. Villagers complained to the PHE Department (Mechanical). Moreover electric motor was defective for the past one month, reported by Sarpanch as on 02.09.2013. It is recurring feature. There is no spare motor. Everywhere reportedly some electric motor lies defective and dysfunctional. Repair of motor would take at least one month. Motor would be sent to Jammu for repair. Water is supplied to the village from bore wells twice a week. Still there were 70 households (out of total 1380 households) which are not yet connected with bore well pipeline; (iii) unconnected households and other households when bore well water is not supplied used to fetch water on head-load from chashma (spring) by walking ½ km daily one way; (iv) hand pumps are installed in village by PHE Department but these are failed structures and defective; and (v) uncovered households use PSPs of neighborhood. In this way, some working solution has been devised but none of these alternative sources of water could satisfy demand of safe drinking water.
Winter snow causes damage to the electric wires. However, at some places no electric poles are installed even as wires are tied with trees (Fakir Dhara, Border and Batori Wards). People demanded installation of proper iron poles. Nonetheless electric supply is satisfactory (16 hours per day in summer and winter). In case of rain or falling of tree, electric line would develop a fault and electric supply shall be automatically cut; this posed the problem of locating and rectifying fault. First, lineman would have to be located; then lineman accompanied with 2-3 villagers walking along with him shall locate fault in order to rectify and repair it. Normally it takes 2-3 days to locate the fault. Villagers demanded posting of helpers or additional lineman staff for line repair. Around 40 households in Ward-2 near old Gurudwara are still without electrification. For the past five-six years, villagers, particularly residents of Ward-2, have been pleading before district authority for their genuine demands, but so far there is no solution. They were repeatedly assured that their demands would be considered in next District Plan since entire budget money is spent on repairing lines. Innocent villagers get easily convinced by argument of fund shortage. Voltage supply in village is low, between 50 to 80 Watts per house; villagers demanded higher voltage together with regular supply.
All four roads to hill side, viz., Defense road, Sial road, MS Batwadi road and Makhi road (from Deri Saheb) needed urgent repair work, as all these roads are damaged. Work on repairs was stopped since 2008. The reason is contractors’ profit motive and no regulation of such tendencies by the agencies concerned. Link road construction involves two parts: (i) earth work and protection wall, both of which are considered “profitable”; and (ii) macadam carpet-laying, which is considered “unprofitable”. Contractors tend to leave macadam work non-started or unfinished, since unprofitable. Villagers demanded that district authority should put checks on these unscrupulous tendencies of contractors. Earth work on Defense Road was done by army in 2003 under ‘Sadbhavna Scheme’. Since then further work is stopped, and people are clueless why macadam work is not completed. On this road, in 2008 some protection work and culvert was done by PWD (B&R) but again work was stopped. In 2012, villagers complained and wrote letter to the Commanding Officer (CO) that remaining work, if approved, could be completed by Border Roads Organization (BRO). But PWD (B&R) did not give ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) because they considered this road their responsibility and “liability”. Nonetheless other three roads are also left similarly uncompleted; villagers demanded work completion.
There are at least 600 youth in Karmara who require bank loan to start some economic activities for self employment because they are not satisfied with life based on casual wage labor. Some of them got succeeded in getting wage labor employment with Border Roads Organization (BRO) Poonch, in road construction projects. However, uncertainties and hassles of finding wage work are increasing day-by-day and man-days of work decreasing. There are 10 landless households in Karmara who survive as tenants. Even marginal land-owning farm households are poor subsistence based farmers and depend on wage-labor. Under compulsion (having no choice) they want bank financing to start some livelihoods.
After 1971 war, army had laid landmines near village fields in Karmara inside LoC. Since then every year at least one or the other case of amputation of foot or leg happened in village. In 2001 also, landmines were laid near/on village land, which were later removed in 2003. Still there were reported some landmines laid behind Makhi Post on village land. Villagers demand that these landmines should be immediately removed because they posed threat to life, or grave injuries could happen when villagers entered their land for cutting grasses/ crops or after entering the gate put up by the army on village land. From 1989 to 2002, shelling from across LoC was at peak. Entire village of Karmara was affected by mortar shelling. On an average each household had one person injurious due to shelling. Casualties also happened. Villagers would hide in houses since there are no bunkers. Villagers demand that for such situations on LoC underground bunkers should be constructed by the government for their safety during heavy mortar shelling. Makhi check post area and Karmara village are sensitive points on LoC.
Mobile phone network is totally disrupted in Karmara village area. Landline connectivity is also poor. In such a situation they face lot of inconvenience in talking to their relatives and friends outside. They want better phone connectivity. However, wireless (WLL) Scheme of BSNL was functional and operated well. Around 40 households have got WLL connection. In emergency, villagers use WLL facility in neighbor’s household. Villagers demand that all households may be provided WLL connection.
(Author works for NABARD; views are personal)
Feedback: mohinder1966@gmail.com
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