The village of Polpol Path in Jharkhand, about 200 km west of the state capital of Ranchi, does not have a hospital. It does not have a good road connecting it to the rest of the state, either. The 135 households have to fetch the ration distributed by the government from Dumar Path, about 4 km away. They also do not benefit from the Birsa Awas Yojana, a housing scheme for tribal communities started in 2004.
Polpol Path, however, is not an isolated case. Other neighbouring villages such as Sakhuapani, Korkot Path, Jobhi Path and Gora Pahaad also bear testimony to the deprivation the Asurs are facing. There are 32 tribal communities in Jharkhand, out of which eight are on the verge of extinction, like Asurs. According to the 2011 Census, out of a population of 329.88 crore, 86.35 lakh in Jharkhand were Adivasis. Of these, 2,92,359 are primitive tribes and Asurs number 22,469. Categorised as vulnerable, the government initiative to protect their language, culture and traditions is not helping the Asurs.
“Our culture is changing every day,” says Vimal Chandra Asur, 40, president of the Adim Janjati Yuva Manch, an organisation of the tribal youth. “As our religion and culture are not powerful enough, people are converting to other religions.” Many from the community, however, believe that one way of keeping the community together is Sarna, their own religion.
This story was originally published in outlookindia.com. Read the full story here
