Baripada: With Baripada municipality elections in Mayurbhanj district round the corner, the votes of the slum dwellers, who have been the victims of neglect for years, are said to be crucial.
Riding on the wave of stupendous victory in the recently-held panchayat elections, the enthused Biju Janta Dal (BJD) members have started the campaign in full swing.
Candidates of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are also leaving no stone unturned to grab maximum number of seats while many leaders are seen touring from one area to another to woo voters.
However, slum settlements having more than 18,000 voters constitute a major vote bank and can be a game-changer at any point of time.
For long it is alleged that no political party has reached out to the slum dwellers. No one has come forward to aggressively champion for the slum dwellers’ cause. Benefits under numerous government schemes continue to elude them.
With 28 wards, Baripada Municipality is home to at least 1,10,143 people from 24,718 families out of which 81,222 are voters.
Similarly, there are 46 slums in these wards with huge number of voters.
If reports are to be believed, out of 7,891 families in 43 slums, at least 5,673 are landless. With no land of their own, the slum dwellers have been deprived of all the government benefits.
Students from the slums are the worst sufferers. They cannot avail a residential certificate for their higher studies. Government schemes like Awas Yojana, electrification, water supply elude the slum dwellers.
As most of the slums are filled with garbage and filth, people here are leading a miserable life. Most of the people here either work as labourers or small vendors. But, the pandemic hit them all equally sources of income reduced significantly.
With too much suffering, the slum dwellers have decided to cast their votes for someone who can understand their plight.
Now, candidates of all the parties are reaching out to the slum dwellers with loads of promises. The parties have been assuring them of pucca houses, electricity, road connectivity and drinking water facilities under various schemes.