Just off NCR, India's most backward district will vote to save its truckers

"There's simply no employment here. All the youth have either left in the hunt for jobs or roam about aimlessly," says Amjad Khan, touching Mewat's raw nerve. A first-time voter and student of Delhi University, 18-year-old Khan now looks to a future away from his village — a hamlet called Asaiseeka in Mewat district.

Falling within Haryana's Gurgaon parliamentary constituency, Mewat has three Assembly seats — Nuh, Punhana and Ferozepur Jhirka. The Manohar Lal Khattar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state renamed the whole district Nuh in 2016. In March 2018, the NITI Aayog ranked Mewat as India's most backward among the 101 most underdeveloped districts. This was done on the basis of 49 development indicators covering education, health, agriculture, skill development, financial inclusion, and basic infrastructure. Census 2011 data put Mewat district's population at 1.09 million, 79.20 per cent of that were Muslims.

For Lok Sabha elections 2019, unemployment and, surprisingly, new driving licence rules are key issues that could dim the BJP's prospects in Mewat. The incumbent member of Parliament from Gurgaon, BJP's Rao Inderjit Singh, had won by 274,722 votes in 2014. This time, pitted against him is the Congress' Captain Ajay Singh Yadav. Haryana will vote in a single phase on May 12.

'They call us gundas'

Mewat district's voters paint a grim picture of the region's condition: Inadequate education and local opportunities fuel unemployment among the youth, while water scarcity and cow vigilantes destroy traditional occupations like farming and cattle rearing. "Unemployment is our biggest issue. There are no jobs from here to Alwar," says 48-year-old Jakir Hussain from the Rojkameo village, in Mewat's Nuh Assembly constituency. About 36 km from Gurgaon's glitzy Cyber City, a hoarding welcomes visitors to "Smartgram panchayat Rojkameo" and the road leading to the village is dotted with industrial units.

"Not even one per cent of the village's youth have been given work by the few local factories set up on our land. Instead, they bring workers from UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh," says Hussain. "We protested in front of the factory gates but were chased away," adds 62-year-old Noor Mohammad. In 1981, the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran had acquired land in the village and set up industrial units there.

People across the district — from large villages like Nagina and Bhadas to remote hamlets like Asaiseeka and Kolgaon — say Mewat's 'backward' label has ensured companies and factories won't hire local people. "Mewat's people are seen as illiterate and 'gundas'," rues 52-year-old Basher Mohammad from Nagina village in Ferozepur Jhirka. Some allege they're being discriminated against for their religion.

About 30 km from Rojkameo is Jaisinghpur village. The buildings there are crumbling, while sewage and trash compete for space on narrow streets. Its inhabitants also claim that factories near the village aren't providing meaningful employment. "Some hundred people from the village work at the nearby Pepsi plant. The only job available there is that of labourers to load and unload goods, and they pay a pittance (Rs 300) for up to 12 hours of work. The other local factory (can producer Can-Pack) has hired only two from the village," says 32-year-old Abid Ali.

Back in Rojkameo, about a dozen people join the conversation, and the resentment becomes clear. Some say they at least had jobs under the previous government. Others add that they had never previously seen anything like the situation of the past five years.

Driving licences an election issue?

One occupation Mewat's people always depended on was driving trucks and commercial vehicles. But, they say, now even that has been blocked for them. "It's impossible to renew an existing licence or secure a new one here," says 35-year-old truck driver Jafruddin from Bichhor village in Punhana. He is out of work since his licence hasn't been renewed despite repeated attempts. Jaisinghpur's 42-year-old Mohd Samim says he has had to turn to middlemen who are demanding Rs 25,000. Most complain they hardly get any work now because few want to hire them without a licence.

No official data are available for how many of Mewat's inhabitants are drivers, but people provide their own estimates – ranging from one person in each family to eight out of 10 men in the district.

As they await Rao Inderjit Singh's arrival inside a temple complex in Punhana's Hathangaon village, BJP supporters worry about the issue, too. "The biggest issue for Mewat is licences. The authorities demand matric pass certificates for issuing or renewing one," says 53-year-old Ummar Mohammad, who says he is a BJP worker. "This problem started with the BJP government," he adds. Mohammad was also a driver but is jobless now. "If BJP doesn't get votes that will be because of licences. This is the only employment we have," he says. Another BJP worker, 47-year-old Aasim from Naheda village, has so far intervened when gathered people have criticised the BJP. But, even he does not contradict Mohammad on this.

Business Standard sent some queries to Rao Inderjit Singh's office. While they were acknowledged, they were not responded to as at the time of filing of this report. 

Across villages, arguments often break out over who is to blame. Some blame the BJP government in the state, others the Centre. Even Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari's name comes up. However, everyone agrees things have got worse in the past three years. "The BJP government is to blame for the licence problem," says 36-year-old driver Umar Mohammad in Kolgaon.

In 2016, the Khattar government had said Mewat's drivers with licences from other states would have to get new ones from Haryana.

Getting a licence now is an online process that requires a class 10 mark sheet, voter ID and Aadhaar card, say villagers. How were they supposed to get a class 10 mark sheet when most of them were illiterate, asked out-of-work drivers in many villages. Census 2011 data showed Mewat district's average literacy rate was 54.08 per cent.

Back in Hathangaon, 26-year-old Bishnu Nabal whips out the licence he got made from Manipur, and says: "There's no guarantee of renewal after three years. I paid Rs 30,000 to middlemen, and can't spend that much again." Many others also have licences from other states.

Broken public education system

In Jaisinghpur, pointing to the crowd of youngsters around him, 76-year-old Israil Khan asks: "Even on a Saturday, do you think so many youngsters would just be sitting about if they had jobs?" Many of the assembled youth claim they had been truck drivers but were now sitting at home without any income. 

Immediate hardships aside, Jaisinghpur's inhabitants are worried about their future. They say their children and grandchildren, too, are destined to be unemployed or become labourers because of the poor state of education here – another common complaint across the district. "An eighth standard boy cannot count till 100. They don't learn English, only Hindi," says Abid Ali. They insist on a visit to the government school. The entrance is flanked by pools of putrid water, with a narrow path leading to the dilapidated school building. Both villagers and teachers there say they do not allow children inside the rooms when it rains for fear the roof might collapse. One structure in the building doesn't even have a roof. The school's sole hand-pump is also broken. Most students sit outside classrooms and are left unattended. The 600-odd children enrolled here will only be taught up to the eighth standard.

The villagers blame teachers for the state of affairs, and the latter say the former aren't sending their children to school often. However, both sides agree the school has the "worst conditions in all of Mewat".

Traditional employment evaporates  

About 20 km from Ferozepur Jhirka town is Kolgaon village, on the Haryana-Rajasthan border. Rakbar Khan, who was lynched in Alwar by cow vigilantes in July last year, belonged to this village. Kolgaon's inhabitants say water scarcity has left farmers distressed here and in surrounding areas. They have two demands from the government: A canal and a railway line connecting Mewat to Delhi. Cow vigilantes figure lower on their list.  

"(Former Haryana CM) Bhajan Lal promised us a canal. Rao Inderjit Singh had also promised one. But nothing has been done so far," says 57-year-old Kallu. And 60-year-old Sultan chimes in: "We've been hearing about the railway line for 25 years. When he was with the Congress, Rao Inderjit Singh had also said he'd bring a railway line." The villagers say rail connectivity with Delhi and Gurgaon would allow them to sell vegetables and milk in those cities at higher prices or find jobs in factories there without having to migrate. People in the nearby Nagina and Bhadas villages also demand rail connectivity.

In Ferozepur Jhirka's Asaiseeka village, Amjad Khan insists on showing the nearby canal, which is dry and appears to have been that way for quite some time. The villagers depend on tankers to supply water for drinking and daily use.  

For Nagina's inhabitants, the water crisis even trumps unemployment. "Om Prakash Chautala's government had built the nearby canal. But, it is dry now. Our biggest problem is water," says 60-year-old Nawab, as the two dozen people around him voice their agreement. Nagina also depends on tankers for water. One tanker can provide a single family with 8-10 days of supply, but hiring one costs Rs 700-1,000. "A mother will stop cooking for her kids and run for water if she gets to know the tanker has come," he adds.

In Bhadas village, 63-year-old Abdul Khan says every family has built an underground cement tank, called 'kunda', to store tanker water. It was too dark to get a clear shot of a kunda, but the village youth sent WhatsApp images the next day.  

Every avenue of traditional employment or income available to them has been squeezed, for one reason or another. Jaisinghpur was home to Pehlu Khan, the 55-year-old dairy farmer killed by cow vigilantes in April 2017, when he was returning from a cattle fair in Rajasthan. Cattle rearing was another source of livelihood for Mewat and Jaisinghpur's people. But after Pehlu Khan’s lynching, they've given up on it. "Fearing the same thing could happen to us, we've all left cows," says 31-year-old Irshad. 

Inhabitants of Kolgaon and Bhadas say the same thing. "Who wants to die? No one will buy cows now. We only depend on buffaloes, which we can still buy," says 51-year-old Subaan Khan from Kolgaon. "We used to rear cows only for milk. We didn't harm them even if they ate our crops," adds Kallu. But, the villagers say, cows are cheaper than buffaloes and also give more milk.

Bhadas' Abdul Khan also highlighted the need for more employment avenues, especially as the May 2009 Supreme Court ban on all mining activity in the Aravalli hills left the illiterate in the region with few alternatives.