JAIPUR: While Covid vaccination drive is in progress across the state, there are many who are not able to avail the vaccine due to lack of identity proof.
Most people, belonging to denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes in the state, can hardly produce an Aadhaar card or any other ID proof to get themselves inoculated.
“We have been living here at abasti (ward no.
2) near Khatushyam temple (in Sikar district) for the past 30 years.
But we neither have Aadhaar cards, nor ration cards or any other identity document.
None in my family has been vaccinated as we don’t have any documents to prove our identity.
Everyone should get vaccinated.
Yeh sahi hai humare liye (It is the right thing to do),” said Savitri Devi (48), who has11 children and belongs to the Bhopa community and her husband earns a living as a daily wage labourer.
“We tried several times to get an Aadhaar card made, but they (agents) demand Rs 5,000 to Rs10,000 to get it done.
Where will I get so much money from? We don’t even have the money to arrange food for ourselves on a daily basis.
My husband has gone out now to fetch something to eat,” said Savitri.
Her husband (Samandar Bhopa) earns around Rs 400-500 a day, but according to Savitri, it has been difficult to find a job during the pandemic.
At times, they have to depend on food distributed by the NGOs to sustain a living.
A senior official said, the state government has no policy so far to vaccinate the nomadic and denotified tribes in the state.
Amra Ram (80), who is a resident of Dhod tehsil in Sikar district and belongs to Bhopa community, said nobody (from local administration) has ever enquired whether he or his wife have got vaccinated.
“If they (the government) vaccinate us, we will not refuse.
We have no children.
My wife (Rama Devi, 75) and I stay alone here.
We don’t even get benefits under government schemes as we do not have any identity proof.” According to Gopal Keshawat, former chairman, denotified tribes, nomadic and seminomadic welfare board of Rajasthan, of the 80-90 lakh population of denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes in the state, only 3-4 per cent people have Aadhaar or any identity document.
According to the draft list of denotified tribes, nomadic tribes and semi-nomadic tribes of India, there are 80 such communities in Rajasthan.
“I had written to the centre last year demanding to frame a policy for vaccination of denotified and nomadic tribes as most of them don’t have ID proof.
Less than one per cent of the whole nomadic tribes community has been vaccinated so far.
I had also demanded a financial package for them, but nothing has been done so far,” said Keshawat.
Padma Shri award winner Gulabo Sapera (50), who is an artiste and belongs to the Sapera Kalbeliya community, said, “Forget about vaccines, it has been difficult to arrange two square meals a day for the past one year as we don’t have any means of livelihood now.
People are dying of hunger.
None of the artistes from our community have been vaccinated.
Moreover, we didn’t receive even a single rupee from the state government last year when financial support of Rs 2,500 each was assured to the folk artistes.” The state’s art and culture department had launched the Mukhya Mantri Lok Kalakar Protsahan Yojana to provide financial support of Rs 2,500 to folk artistes during the first wave of Covid pandemic last year.
There are around1 lakh artistes in Rajasthan who belong to Kalbeliya, Bhopa, Mirasi, Langa Manganiyar communities.
The other communities include Sansi, Gadiya Lohar, Banjara, Naik, Rabari, Bhat, Kanjar and others.