Rajbiraj, December 23

A woman in her sixties, Julodevi Marik (Dom) of Rampura in Chhinnamasta Rural Municipality-2 of Saptari was taken ill a week ago.

She had difficulty moving her limbs and could hardly speak. Her family wanted to visit a health facility, but couldn’t as there was no health facility in the village. Finally, they took her to a health facility four kilometres away from her home, but as they were not sure she could be treated there as it lacked basic facilities, they rushed her to an Indian health facility across the border.

“As there is no health facility nearby, we had to take her elsewhere. We thought why not take her to a better place, which is as far away as the distance to the nearest health facility here,” said her son Ramdev, adding she was taken to a health facility in Kharaiya in Supaul district in the Indian state of Bihar.

It’s not only Julodevi who has been affected by the extreme weather condition. There are a total of 14 Marik households and an equal number of families of the Musahar community in Rampura. Many Dalita have started falling ill due to excessive cold.

“The cold wave in the Tarai region has posed a challenge. How do we save the elderly and the children,” said local Rajendra Sada, adding that his father Pulur Sada had been taken ill for the past few days.

Though there is a health facility in Chhinnamasta, hardly anyone bothers to avail the service there. “As it’s very cold from early morning and the health facility isn’t near, most people prefer to stay at home and nurse their kin rather than visit the health facility,” said Umeshi Sada, another local.

Lack of a health facility is not the only problem that the Dalits face. There are many other problems these communities are grappling with.

For one, most of the households in the communities still lack toilets at a time when the entire country is on the verge of being declared open defecation-free. “Of the 14 Marik households, only four have latrines,” said Ramdev. “We don’t have an inch of land other than what the hut occupies. Where would we build a latrine?” he asked. “Most villagers use the open field and the nearby bamboo grove to defecate,” said Ramdev.

Besides, the communities are also facing the problem of clean drinking water. There are a total of four tube wells in the entire village, of which only two are operational. This has compelled locals to queue up even to collect a pitcher of water.

“We’re barely making our ends meet, from where will we bring money to repair dysfunctional tube wells?” said Dom Upliftment Society Chairperson Yuktilal Marik, who lamented the lack of any improvement in the life of the Dom and Musahar communities.

Chhinnamasta Rural Municipality Chairperson Surya Narayan Mandal admitted that they were yet to do anything for the Dalit community as the village assembly was yet to convene.