The Musahar settlement in Gujra-9 Jugaulia is currently in the midst of election activities. Candidates from various parties are coming in turn to seek votes. It seems that the concern of avoiding the chaos of the election is more than the excitement of the election in the settlement.

Their faces show more hunger and neglect than election enthusiasm. In every election, they ask for the same thing from the candidates, permanent residence. They are now living on undisclosed land.

Not only are the huts in the Musahar settlement in Jugaulia dilapidated, their hopes and trust are also being shattered day by day. 70-year-old Chandriyadevi Majhi was shaking her head with her hands on Saturday. She would get emotional as she tried to get a word out of her mouth.

After being cut off by age, her body does not support her to work as before. Neither do she have any skills in her hands, nor a store of food to fill her stomach. In such an environment, she gets angry when candidates come to seek votes. 'We are only seeking votes from the poor. What do they know about our suffering?' She said. Krishan Majhi (Musahar), the 30-year-old son of Chandaria, went to Punjab 5 months ago for employment. He currently lives at home with his daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.

There are 50 households in this settlement. Janata Awas has built most of the houses. But all of them leak during the rainy season and water gets inside. Although they look solid at first glance, they look dilapidated when you enter. Voters show every candidate who comes to seek votes in the election a leaky house. Most of the local residents of the settlement earn a living as wage laborers. They do not have any land registered with anyone. They are all undocumented. Unless they work in someone else's field all day, no one's house lights up in the evening.

72-year-old Laxmi Majhi was born in this Musahar settlement. She has lived here for three generations. Lakshmi, who has been getting votes in every election since 2048 BS, is seen as a candidate, and only anger arises. ‘We have started being used as a stepping stone for leaders. The system has changed in this country, the leaders have changed, but we have only been given dreams,’ he said.

For the Musahar community, basic needs are bigger than political philosophy and party manifestos. They have sought permanent housing, secure house and land ownership, guaranteed employment, and an end to the compulsion to depend solely on daily wages. Musahar leader Anup Majhi said that no party has been able to fulfill all these demands so far. ‘The party’s neglect of the concerns of the Musahar community has raised a big question mark on our democracy and political leadership,’ he said. ‘Until there is a real change in the lives of the poor and marginalized community, the election celebrations cannot be complete.’ Anup says that the candidates who come to seek votes should be given written documents.

The situation of the children in the slum is similar. There are about 200 children. Many do not go to school even after being admitted. Men in the village go to work as wage laborers. The condition of the locals in the slum is deplorable. The Musahar community lives in Jugaulia, Laxmipur, Gujar. They complain that the local level has not provided any support. Mayor Santalal Chaudhary claims that a budget has been allocated to improve the living standards of the Musahar community within the municipality.

Gopi Majhi of Nayabasti in Gujar complained that leaders do not return after winning. ‘The elections have come, but who will we trust now? Which party will we trust,’ he says, ‘They are all the same. They win. They go. They do not come back.’ They said they would do it during the elections. We remained squatters of squatters. There are 20 households in the settlement. They are all squatters. There is a big problem of drinking water in the settlement. There are only 4 taps here. They take turns to fetch water.

Election activity has also increased in Chandrapur-9 Musahar settlement. Past promises have not been fulfilled, local residents are angry with the leaders who come with new promises. It has been years since they have put forward a demand for construction of drains in Musahar settlement in Dumaria.

They do not know about the people who say 'Singha Durbar in every village'. Due to the neglect of the local level, people have lost faith in their representatives. They are deprived of electricity, drinking water, education and health services in the settlement.

There are 60 Musahar settlements in Rautahat. There are 2,050 houses. Anup informed that the population is 15,300. Most of the Musahar settlements do not have toilets in their houses. But on paper, Rautahat has been declared open defecation-free.

According to the latest census, the average family size in Madhesh is 5.27. The average family size in Rautahat is 6.44. While the family size of the Dalits of Madhesh seems to be larger. Bhola Paswan, who is involved in continuous study and research on the Dalits of Madhesh, said that the birth rate of the Musahars is higher than the average. Bhola said that barely a hundred people have passed the SEE in the Musahar community, which is around four lakh people across the country.