“Solar batti kabua, bijli batti abua (no to solar lights, yes to electric lights).” This was a cry, in Ho language, that rose from over two hundred voices joined as one.

On June 22, over 200 tribal villagers from the Chiria, Gangda and Chottanagra panchayats of Saranda blocked the Manoharpur-Sedal road at Ankua, a village right at the foothills of Steel Authority of India’s Chiria iron-ore mines. The three panchayats are among the six that benefit from the Saranda Development Plan, an initiative of the union government to use good governance as a strategy to counter Maoists in the region. As part of the Rs 264 crore package, solar-powered lamps are to be distributed among 7,000 families in the six panchayats. While 1,071 solar lamps have been distributed in Digha, one of the most remote panchayats of the six, most of the villagers protesting on June 22 were from large settlements by the Manoharpur-Sedal road, the arterial road that runs through Saranda.

“When the villagers formed a new outfit, the Saranda Vikash Samiti, to demand for delivery of basic governance services in health, education and infrastructures sector, it automatically became a demand for complete rural electrification,” said Jogeshwar Gop, one of the tribal leaders associated with the protest.

In 2007, Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) had distributed solar panels and solar-charged batteries in villages of Saranda. Now, only a handful of these are in working condition. “There are many problems with solar power. First, there is no way to repair these here in the forest. Second, they only give power for a few hours a day – the best case scenario is a bulb that can be kept lit for about three hours a day. Third, the arrangement only works for four or five months in a year, during summer and late winter,” reasoned Lagura Debgam, the manki (traditional chieftain of tribal village-heads) of Saranda-Pidh.

The speeches fiery, the mob belligerent, it was not long before jeeps, buses and vans were lining up on either side of the barricaded area. Meanwhile, the microphone blared in Ho, “Only ambulances, school buses and lagan (wedding party) vehicles will be allowed through.” The two vehicles that tried slipping past the rock symbolising a barricade were immediately surrounded by the protesters who vehemently denied any passage. The ‘chakka jam’ came into full force once the protesters were told by their leaders to form a human barricade. Many were asked to squat along the entire length of the road.

Intermittently, the buzz of the crowd was broken by slogans shouted into the mike and zealously repeated by the young and the old who had assembled for their rights. “Solar nahi, bijli chahihye”, “Bijli do, humein bijli do”,“Jai Jharkhand” – the villagers’ demand rang loud.

Asked why the Samiti was pushing for complete electrification, Amar Singh Sidhu, one of the leaders of the protest said, “Every development activity, whether it is in the infrastructure sector or health or education, needs electricity today. How can we be content with solar power that is worse than a temporary arrangement?”

That the people of Saranda understand the necessity of complete rural electrification is clear in their disenchantment with the Saranda Development Plan, said Gurubari Debgam, the chairperson of the Manoharpur panchayat samiti. “Any talk of development in the region must cover the rights of women to health and education. The SDP, however, seems to have left us to our lot. For our girls to get an education and for everybody to have uninterrupted access to health, electricity becomes necessary. Denying electricity to the villages means denying some of the basic governance to them,” she added.

Meanwhile, in the small tent pitched at the side of the road, the leaders of the Samiti assembled for a quick conference. As they broke, the microphone blared – “Jaan denge, par bijli lenge (Willing to die for electricity)”. Quite without warning, the rhetoric had been stepped up. This time round, if it was possible, the voices rang out louder. 

Gop stood up and announced that the chakka jam was only the first step in their protest. The villagers would block the transport in the mines at Chiria and Gua if push came to shove. Somebody said something about offering the government a deadline and suddenly there were suggestions that the government be allowed anything between that afternoon and ten days to make a commitment for delivering electricity in the villages. However the arbitrary decision-making flayed sense, the protesters were not backing down from the demand of a deadline.

Asked if they had approached the government with their demands, Gop said, “Every time we have submitted a petition, the authorities have said that the matter will be looked into. But where is the evidence that they have given it any serious thought? We have been raising the demand since well over a month now. It is time for action, not assurances.”

The irony, however, was that not one representative from the government, except for some personnel of the state and central police forces (for peacekeeping, of course) had come. It was not until much later in the afternoon that an executive engineer of the Jharkhand state electricity board, Manoj Jha arrived with a junior engineer. The two looked quite discomfited at the thought of having to explain to an agitated crowd of 200 as to why there has been no action from the government. After a few formal introductions and the placing of the demands of the villagers before the officials, chairs were drawn closer to confer. Gleaning the concerns from the low voices, one of the leaders announced to the crowd that there was resistance from the forest department to clearances for laying power lines to the villages.

Sidhu took to the microphone immediately after this was announced and said, “How is it that the forest department had no objections when power lines were laid in villages that are barely five kilometres down this road from Chiria? How is it that the forest department gives so many clearances to the mining companies?” The crowd thundered back, “Tanashahi nahi chalega, affsarshahi nahi chalega (Bureaucratic hold-ups will not be tolerated)”.

Some speeches carried the hint of confrontation. Sample this: “We will not let anyone go if our demands are not met” and “It is time to cut down the jungles to show the forest department who is the boss,” said manki Debgam. “We are ready to shed blood for electricity,” added Sidhu. But the strong words merely mirrored the angst of the Saranda tribals with a system that continually ignored their demands. As one of the protesters whispered from behind, “Chakka jam toh aaj yak al khatam ho jaayega lekin sarkaar ke iraade se lagta hai andolan zaari rakhna padega (The blockade may end today or tomorrow but it seems that the movement needs to be carried on).”