And what about school? “Not a single child from our village has ever been to a school. There is no school here,” said Rungthangchhara’s Madhu Miyan (18), who got married more than two years ago.

The children of Arjunsadhupara are lucky. “We send our children to a school at Laltila, two km away. We also have an anganwadi centre at Bhadramisip-para,” pointed out Rati Debbarma, mother of three. Bhadramisip-para, that falls in the constituency of state transport minister Manik Dey recently got a pucca road.

Livelihood is another major issue here. Subodh Das, a resident of Shankarbazar, a scheduled caste village next to Arjunsadhupara, said he got only 30 days work under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme last year. “I got Rs 63 per day,” he said. At Rungthangchhara, Panu Bibi got 16 days work at Rs 70 per day.

People at both the villages said they were aware they should get 100 days’ work every year. “We have been told they will give us work after the elections,” said Safiqul Nur Islam at Rungthangchhara, who otherwise earns Rs 60 to 70 a day, but hardly 10 days work a month, as a painter’s helper in a nearby town.

But what came as a surprise is that none of these villagers has an NREGA job card. “We have not seen a job card. They call us for work, we put our thumb impressions on a register, and they give us the money,” said Sambhu at Arjunsadhupara and Safiqul at Rungthanchhara.

... contd.