No Electricity To Machina

Machina is no remote village. Neither is it poverty-stricken. There are mobile phones in almost every home. It took a prolonged SMS campaign to bring Mescom power to two homes on Saturday, and now there is hope for the rest

Deepthi.Shridhar @timesgroup.com 
IN MANGALORE 

    On Saturday, two families at Machina, a small village in Belthangady district near Mangalore, erupted in joy as electrification reached their homes for the first time since India's first electric bulb lighted up in Bangalore in 1905. 
Officials of Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom)reachedthehomesofRamKKullalandSundara Kullalby5pm.Theoverjoyedfamiliesarrangedasmalltea partyfortheofficials.Oncetheyleft,theKullalsperformed puja in front of the new meter boxes and distributed sweets. It was the beginning of a new era. School-going children in their homes can now sit up late and study — earlier,fumesfromkerosenelampsusedtomaketheireyes smart.Andtheyplantobuytelevisionsetsbytheyear-end, so that the children would no longer need to go to neighbour Gopal's home to watch their favourite mythological serial, Sita. 
Butliferemainsprettymuchunchangedformanyothers at Machina. Of the total 961 houses, 100 of them in Kodiyelu,Mudipere,NerulpalkeandKalai—areaswithinthe village — are yet to be electrified. Incredibly, the village does not resemble any of India's remote or backward villages. People are educated and agriculture is the main occupation. In fact, 481 households here are above poverty line (APL) cardholders. 
    “They do not give us electricity, but categorise us as APL families,” Mohan, who runs a small canteen in the village, told Bangalore Mirror. It will take time to electrify his house as the wiring is yet to be completed. 
    Till then, lanterns will continue to adorn their walls. They are the only source of light when the sun goes down, apart from torches and mobile phones. They use traditional handheld fans to beat the heat. And once the sun sets, life almost comes to a standstill. Women in these homes do not have the luxury of lolling on couches, watching saas-bahu soaps on TV. 
    The recently-built Moodipere anganwadi is neat, clean and wellventilated, but it will never reach its full potential without power. Yashoda, a teacher, said, “During monsoon, classrooms are dark. In summer, there are no fans. It's difficult for the children to concentrate.” 
THE MOBILE REVOLUTION 
    Lack of electricity, however, did not come in the way of telecom revolution happening in the village. We spotted a CDMA landline in beedibinder Geetha's house, connected to a solar battery whose panel is placed on the roof. “Rainy season apart, connectivity is assured,” she said. Ironically, her house is located right next to the 220KV high-tension Puttur-Madantyar line. 
    Every house here has a mobile phone. They are charged in shops or houses at least 4 km away. A few shops take Rs 2 an hour to charge a cellphone and Rs 3 in case people need to charge batteries. In fact, it is largely due to mobile phones that the Kullals got electricity in their homes. And also thanks to the efforts of Democratic Ambassador for Rural Integrity, a group of social workers. 
    A social activist (who insisted on anonymity) who visited the village six months ago was shocked to see people inhabiting a dark world there.Setting up a team of volunteers comprising a Std VII student and businessmen among others, he undertook an SMS campaign demanding power. The team collected phone numbers of all officials: from a second division clerk to the chief secretary of the energy department. “Our strategy was to first send mails. Fill the inbox of the concerned authorities with reminders after reminders. Fed up with our mails, they generally replied and that was the base for the rest of the campaign,” said a volunteer. 
    After creating awareness among the villagers, the team launched an SMS campaign. It sent out about 500 messages to the chief secretary, one message to the chief minister and made almost 200 calls daily to Mescom, KPTCL managing director, its public relation officers and so on, asking why they had been deprived of electricity for so long. The campaign was a big success. Work began within a month and the Kullals reaped fromthe efforts on Saturday. 
    Purandar, who owns a studio in Ballamanja, said, “It was only after the SMS campaign that the undersecretary to the chief minister and Mescom responded. It was probably for the first time that the tahsildar visited our area to inquire about electricity.” 
HOPE FLOATS 
    The news about the Kullals reaches further down the village, right up to Balanguri where an isolated house stands. It belongs to 79-year-old Ananthram Bhat Devaragundi, a retired school master and a Kannada pandit, who is popularly known as topi master. 
    His wife, Prabhavati, is excited to see visitors. As she fried some crispy jackfruit papad, she explained how master never wears chappals and spends time driving monkeys from the farm and listening to news twice a day on the battery-run radio set. 
    The couple has five children -- four girls and a boy -- who are all well settled in the cities. “My daughters visit the village every year. Though my daughterin-law visits frequently, she never stays here because there is no power supply. This is the house I came to after marriage. Master too (referring to her husband) is happy here,” she said. 
    Narrating how ignorant the panchayat could be, she said, “When I visited the panchayat office recently for some work, they asked me to submit an electricity bill. This is the state of affairs. We had even threatened to boycott elections,” she said. 
    There was hope in the past too, but nothing came of it. “A contractor promised us electricity and collected a total of Rs 1 lakh from several families about 10 years ago. Hoping that we would get power supply, I gave the contractor Rs 5,000 that I had got from my son without the master's knowledge. But the contractor didn't keep to his word. We were disappointed a second time when about three years ago, electricity poles arrived near our house. Again, it was for the neighbouring houses. We were left out,” she said. 
    As we were leaving the house, Prabhavati asked, “Will we get power supply by next summer at least, when my children come home for vacations?” 
BLAME GAME 
    Prabhavati's question should be addressed to the powers that be. 
    Rukmini from Kodiyelu, who contested and lost the last gram panchayat elections only to get electricity, said: “About 15 years ago, a main line passed through the area. Since then, we have been waiting for power supply. But this is a Congress area, and since the BJP is in a majority, all the funds are being diverted to the BJP areas,” she alleged. 
    The panchayat, however, feels it has done its job. “Two years ago, about 200 houses were electrified,” said Kumariah a clerk at the panchayat office. All funds available are diverted for the development of the SC/ST colony. When we approach Mescom officials, they complain of shortage of funds,” he said. 
    Vasanthi, the panchayat president, blamed it on the officials. “The panchayat works hard, but officials lack interest. Since the MLA is from the Congress, it is difficult to get work done. He never visits the area,” she complained. 
    MLA Vasanth Bangera, however, wasn't aware that there was an electricity crisis. “This is the second biggest constituency in the state. I have brought the highest materials required for electrification,” he said. 
    So why are so many houses in Machina yet to be electrified? 
    “You cannot blame one person for this,” he replied. “I have worked sincerely. I have been ill since the past four months. I have decided not to contest again,” said Bangera. 
    As for Mescom, it is the people who are to be blamed. “Neither the panchayat nor the people showed interest. Nearly 40 per cent of the village is yet to be electrified. People who could afford it have taken power connections privately, costing up to Rs 1 lakh. Those who could not afford it were left behind,” said a senior official from Mescom.

People celebrating after their houses were electrified on Saturday

Clockwise from top: Retired school master Ananthram Bhat Devaragundi, 79, and wife Prabhavati; Children studying by the light of a kerosene lamp; Kerosene is an expensive proposition, for the pump sets, as well as for lighting up homes; Good news: Power lines are being laid by Mescom