When'll things change?

Its 21st century and is there anything that our extravagant lifestyles would crave for? Unfortunately, if this question is asked to the privileged section of the society living in the metros, most of them will start wondering shamelessly what else they can ask for to lead a more king-sized livelihood…. But ask the same to a resident of “Vijaynagar” and you may be taken aback by hearing their wants…Yes, just like it astonished me when I read about the plight of these people staying in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh…I forgive myself and the readers if at first thought Andhra Pradesh’s ‘Vijayanagar’ came to your mind; after all how much do we genuinely know about our country and just ask a few street goers to name the seven North-eastern states, you’ll find most of them fumbling, forget about knowing their capitals! Huh, that’s how things are in India…given such a scenario, its only quite normal to see so many new anti-social groups springing up in these North-eastern states. But for now let me not enter a different arena while I am writing from a different perspective.
Vijaynagar, a place surrounded by Myanmar from all sides lies in the far flung district of Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh, the largest North-eastern state in terms of area. The place is inhabited mostly by the ‘Lisu’ tribe and immigrants from Myanmar. Here a 30 kg cement bag costs a whopping Rs.3000 while mustard oil comes at Rs.150 per litre! There are no landline telephone networks or mobile towers and the only telephone booth charges Rs.50 per call at Rs.5 per minute! The only road linking the nearest town, Miao to Vijaynagar (157 km) is inoperative…The only link with the outside world is an Indian Air Force AN-32 aircraft which lands once a week to deliver Govt. rations etc., of course only if weather permits. Needy villagers attempt to grab a flight in AN-32 to reach the Mohanbari airport in Dibrugarh district, Assam to make it to Miao where they can get the basic amenities. Quite tragically, only about 20-25 villagers can do so every month; patients get priority! For others, the only option is a 6-day trek through the thick jungles of Namdapha forest to reach Miao…… These people don’t even have a way to express their angst to the outside world - the last MP elected from this constituency didn’t bother to visit the place and the funniest part - the villagers are enthusiastic to exercise their voting rights this time too but they haven’t even seen or met the contesting candidates! True, the location of the place is extreme and the Air Force pilots admit that it’s dodgy to land the AN-32 in the ALG (Advanced Landing Ground) strip. But when will the leaders look to improve the lives of these people? Not that these people are the worst affected in the country but someone has to begin somewhere…the most aweful part – there is a ‘somewhere’ but there is no ‘someone’!!!