Uttarakhand Elections 2017: In A First, Voting To Happen In Reserved Forests

Dehradun: In a first, the Election Commission of Uttarakhand and the state forest department will be setting up poll booths inside reserved forests -- in dak bungalows, forest outposts and temporary shelters. Forest rangers have been deployed to help. Officials feel the move will allow indigenous communities like the Van Gujjars -- which have been settled inside the reserved forests of Uttarakhand for over 50 years and have an estimated population of 80,000 -- a chance to vote collectively for the first time.

Around 80% of Uttarakhand is covered by forests and over half of this is under the forest department. "There are about 194 families of Van Gujjars in the reserved forests of Terai (East) alone," said Niteesh Mani Tripathi, a senior forest officer of the area. Technically they can vote, but the remoteness has always hampered them.

"We have been here for over 50 years now. We still haven't been given rights over the land on which we live," said 116-year-old Imtyaz Ali, who heads a Van Gujjar family of 12 in Kishanpur range. In the past, he often had to travel around 20 km to vote, he said.

"Historically, we have been pastoralists. Then the state settled us," said his son Mohammad Ali. "I have been voting, like my father, at least for the last 42 years. But no government after coming to power does anything to secure our land rights."

For younger generations of Van Gujjars, franchise is important, but only as a means for a better future. "In addition to land, we need education. The school is so far that we have to cross a dense jungle and river. What we need most is employment," said 25-year-old Shamsad Ali, a third generation Van Gujjar in Raikhaal settlement.

Van Gujjars are spread across the Terai regions of Uttarakhand. In 1998, even before the state was created, the government made an attempt to resettle the community in Gendikhatta and Pathri settlements in Haridwar. Forest department officials say Van Gujjar families in these regions have marginal land rights of 0.98 hectares. These moves are yet to be implemented for the Van Gujjars of the Kumaon Terai.