No Village For Young Men: Gohi, In Gaya District, Bihar, Where Poverty Has Pushed All Male Youth To Migrate

Gaya: "I have two sons, both of whom have migrated to earn a living. If they didn't, how would we feed the family?" said an elderly Basanti Devi in a tremulous voice, as her brow wrinkled to hold back tears betraying the pain of her struggle for survival and separation from her sons.

Nestled in the forests of Barachatti Block, 60 km from the district headquarters, Gohi village in Gaya, Bihar, is littered with countless such Basanti Devis. With 200 households and a population of 1,000, it has lagged with illiteracy, unemployment, migration, and poverty. Not even Bihar's state-driven development has touched it. Needless to say, there isn't even a hospital nearby.

Gohi is inhabited by Bhokta tribals, none of whose youth live there. They have migrated to other states to support their families, returning every six months or a year for a few days, before returning to their host states. In the village, you'll only find women, the elderly, and children.

Time Stopped At Gohi

There is a primary school in the village, where 50 children study up to Class V. That's where their schooling ends, as the middle school is 2-3 km away. Some parents continue to send their children to other schools, but even after seven decades of Independence, only 4-5 children have passed Class X.

The youth of every household migrate to work in other states, where they lament about facing economic exploitation. They complain of low wages, around Rs 10-12,000, of which they try to save around Rs 4,000 each to send home every month.

Basanti Devi says one of her sons who works in a shoe shop in Rajasthan is disabled. She doesn't even know how much he earns. He returns once a year, stays for a week and returns. "Both of my sons Hemraj and Tikam have left Bihar for work. There's no work in the village, and my husband is too old to go to another state for work," she said.

Abandoned By Sons, Government

She adds that when, for some reason, her sons are unable to send money for more than a month, her family stares at a disaster, as it becomes difficult to manage household expenses. She says neither the local nor the state government pays any attention to them.

"We can't even manage two meals a day. When we run out of rice or flour, we go to the forest to collect herbs like tena, gethi, durahi, etc., which we boil and eat," said Basanti Devi.

ETV Bharat visited several homes in Gohi and found that the situation is the same in all four hamlets of the village — Purbari Tola, Paschim Tola, Bichla Tola, and Pachhiyari Tola. Shukar Singh Bhokta said, "Most of our youth are migrants. We want our government to arrange work for our boys here."

"Around 10 per cent of our young women also work outside the state, mostly in Tamil Nadu. All in all, it makes Gohi a village of the elderly. Medical facilities are not available nearby, leading to deaths every day. The government hospital is 10 km away," said Bhokta.

Harendra Singh Bhokta said the Bhoktas were forest dwellers for thousands of years. Their main livelihood is collecting herbs, beedi leaves, dry firewood, etc. He said with shrinking forests, these traditional occupations are also disappearing. "All our young folk go elsewhere like Punjab, Haryana, Surat, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Rajasthan and Delhi to earn money," said the social activist.

Hunger, But No Public Action

Barachatti BDO Abhishek Kumar Ashish said, "Every effort is being made to ensure that benefits of government schemes reach all beneficiaries. If there is a problem with foodgrains, housing, or another scheme for the poor, please submit an application. We'll investigate immediately and take necessary action."

The village also appears to suffer from lack of awareness about PDS and quantities of rations due to each. Often, the local government ration shop owner disburses less amount than the prescribed 5 kg. The names of many villagers aren't even listed, with the villagers appearing resigned to their fates.

Upon enquiry, Nidhi Kumari, Barachatti block's supply officer, said if the ration shop operator is negligent, an investigation will be conducted, but only after a complaint is filed.

"The process of adding names online can be completed only if villagers themselves come forward to get enlisted," she added, saying, "Every effort will be made to ensure that all eligible persons receive their entitlement under the ration scheme.