Till now, for 52-year-old Fuladevi, who lives in a remote village in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district, the simple act of crossing the threshold of her house after sunset was fraught with fear. It was nearly impossible to move around in the village during the evening because of the darkness and the fear of attacks by wild animals.
But today, with the country about to mark its 77th Independence Day, her Ramgarh Vantangiya village which is the abode of the forest-dwelling Vantangiya has been provided with electricity connections.
In a press statement issued by the Uttar Pradesh government on August 10, it was mentioned that during the inspection of the village by Neha Sharma, the District Magistrate, a complain about the lack of electricity from the villagers was registered and the officials were directed to act on the complain.On August 8, the officials began to install poles and lights along the main village path. “…and for the first time people watched the village illuminated with the glow of electric lights, that brought smiles to the faces of the villagers,” it added.
Another resident, 40-year-old Santaram, was quoted in the statement as saying that there is a temple dedicated to the village deity where Navaratri celebrations are held.
“He said that around Rs 20,000 were spent only on generators for lighting every year during the festival, but that won’t be necessary anymore. He expressed that for the first time in so many years, someone has paid attention to the issue,” the statement mentioned.
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“According to history, the Vantangiya community was settled in the forests of Purvanchal by the British. However, even after 70 years of independence, their existence remained unrecognized in revenue records, which led to their isolation from mainstream society and development,” it added.
