Rahaman Ali is among the lucky ones to have managed to get his documents rectified. (Express photo by Subham Dutta) Rahaman Ali is among the lucky ones to have managed to get his documents rectified. (Express photo by Subham Dutta)

Bipul Chandra Burman, 27, sits in the verandah of a tin room in Mekhligunj, 2 km from the Bangladesh border, with copies of letters he wrote over the past three years, to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Cooch Behar district magistrate and other officers. In the corner, sit wife Minati and their infant son.

The family left their home in an Indian exclave in Bangladesh and crossed over on November 19, 2015 — becoming one of the first families to choose Indian citizenship after the ‘historic’ enclave exchange. The letters he holds are all appeals: for a proper home.

There are 45 other families (115 men, women and children) in Mekhligunj, staying in the same make-shift camps. Families with four to 10 members each live in 16 x18 ft tin rooms. Between 115, they share 12 toilets.

In Bangladesh, Bipul and his family lived in the then Indian enclave of Uttar Gotamari in Lalmunirhat. “We had 20 bigha of land but we could sell only a few bighas at Rs 1 lakh per bigha. The going rate was Rs 4 lakh,” he says.

At Batrigach Primary School, one of two schools in former enclaves now, which doesn’t have blackboards, furniture, toilets, or fan. (Express photo by Subham Dutta) At Batrigach Primary School, one of two schools in former enclaves now, which doesn’t have blackboards, furniture, toilets, or fan. (Express photo by Subham Dutta)

A jewellery shop owner in Uttar Gotamari, he now works as a labourer in the Mekhligunj market. “We were promised a proper home, help in employment and government benefits. Nothing has reached us,” says Bipul.

The biggest former Bangladeshi enclave that is now part of India, Poaturkuthi, is spread over 1,200 acres and houses 3,037 people. The Bangladesh border is just 5 km away.

“We have got a new post-box, some roads and electricity as Indian citizens. But the government has failed to give us papers for our land. We need them to get loans or to avail schemes,” says Ainal Sheikh (40), who lives with his father, three brothers and a sister. Sheikh owns two bigha, and he and his brother work as labourers to make ends meet.

In 2016, 20 solar power irrigation pumps were set up, for 40 bigha of land each. Ten stopped working after a few months of use.

One anganwadi centre came up but is shut since the building was built.

Earlier, children staying in the Bangladeshi enclaves inside India travelled 2-3 km to study in neighbouring villages, as the enclaves had no schools. Identities of Indian residents were used as father and mother for admission. Since they formally became Indian citizens, many have been struggling to change the names on papers.

Read | Bangladeshi migrants: Won’t let any illegal stay, will expel one by one, says Amit Shah

One of the oldest residents of Mekhligunj, 90-yr-old Anukul moved with one son, two others are in Bangladesh. (Express photo by Subham Dutta) One of the oldest residents of Mekhligunj, 90-yr-old Anukul moved with one son, two others are in Bangladesh. (Express photo by Subham Dutta)

Since the enclave swap, only two new primary schools have come up in the former enclaves. But they have tin rooms, no fans, no blackboards, no toilets and no mid-day meals.

Abhijit Roy, who is taking a class under a tree, a few feet from the Batrigach Primary School, says, “The heat is unbearable inside the tin walls. I usually take the children out.”

The school has 32 children, in Classes 1 to 4, under two teachers. Says Abhijit, “Sometimes we give students biscuits and let them go after a few hours. The school is supposed to run from 11 am to 4 pm.”

Mrinal Burman of Dinhata camp, housing those who moved to India from Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh, has been running pillar to post to find his only daughter, 13, who went missing on June 14. “We have no protection in this camp. My life is ruined after coming here,” says the 38-year-old, who lost his mother to disease last year. Now all that are left of his family is wife Rekha. In Bangladesh, they owned 8 bigha. Here he is a daily wager.

At a time when the ruling BJP has raised the pitch over illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators, and questions surround the National Register of Citizens exercise ongoing in Assam to identify them, India’s newest citizens, who chose India over Bangladesh in the enclave exchange, wait for the Centre and West Bengal government to fufil basic promises of homes, education and jobs.

At the time of the enclave exchange, the government had promised only a short stay in temporary shelters, before people were shifted to furnished homes. During their stay in shelters they were promised drinking water facilities, free clothing, free health care, and anganwadi centres, as well as employment and access to government schemes. The monthly free ration includes 30 kg rice, 5 kg masur dal, 5 litres of mustard oil, 5 litres of kerosene, 1 kg salt and 1 kg milk powder — irrespective of the size of the family.

“We are doing what we can, giving rations, constructing 1,000-sq ft apartments. What more could they ask?” says Rabindranath Ghosh, North Bengal Development Minister.

As for jobs, he adds, there is “ample opportunity as labourers”. “We plan to build a bridge on the Teesta where apartments are coming up.” However, he adds, “I cannot say when they will get the apartments.”

In March, the Centre said it had released Rs 423 crore, and that the state had given utilisation papers for half. (Express photo by Subham Dutta) In March, the Centre said it had released Rs 423 crore, and that the state had given utilisation papers for half. (Express photo by Subham Dutta)

Ghosh also claims the Centre is not releasing the funds. “We demanded a rehabilitation package of Rs 3,000 crore-plus, which the Centre promised. The package was revised after people in less than expected numbers came, but the Centre is still dilly-dallying.”

In March, the Centre said it had released Rs 423 crore, and that the state had given utilisation papers for half.

Just beside the Mekhligunj camp is a locked office that once had government officials and police. Pointing to it, Binod Chandra Burman (65), who came to India with wife and three sons from the Uttar Gotamari enclave, says, “For six months, officials would visit. There was a police camp for protection. There were facilities for health care and a doctor. Later, all stopped.”

Binod regrets leaving behind 4 bigha of unsold land in Bangladesh. Now his sons, who are educated, work as farm labourers.

Many have been struggling to correct discrepancies in names and ages in voter identity cards, Aadhaar cards and other documents provided to them. Most government schemes apart from the NREGS, including pension and skill development, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for toilets and the state Kanyashree scheme for the girl child, remain elusive. In Poaturkuthi and Batrigach, former Bangladeshi enclaves, youths with MNREGS job cards are yet to get a single day’s work.

Lalit Chandra Burman, who came to India from the Uttar Gotamari enclave, questions the “remote area” selected by the West Bengal government to build apartments for them. “There are no schools, markets near that area. Moreover, we are farmers. What will we do with apartments? We want land, to set up a small home and for farming,” he says.

Diptiman Sengupta, the convenor of the former Bharat-Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Co-ordination Committee, who is now in the BJP, says, “The government has forgotten these people and has no practical plan for their rehabilitation. Apartments are not a solution for rehabilitation of farmers.”

In Poaturkuthi and Batrigach, where the situation is reverse, of Indians in former Bangladeshi enclaves waiting for land to formally become theirs, minister Ghosh admits a delay. “The survey is over, the process of handing over the papers will start shortly.”

About infrastructure problems, he adds, “People will always have demands. One must keep in mind that there was nothing, not even electricity, in these areas. We have brought electricity and are trying to include the people in government schemes. We are treating everyone as BPL members.”

Says Dinhata MLA Udayan Guha, of the ruling TMC, “We have started anganwadi centres, primary schools, community centres. We are also trying to set up ration shops.”

Roushan Sarkar, 26, a BA student in a Dinhata college, laughs at this. Speaking about Batrigach, he says, “Two anganwadi centres were set up, one is operational. Three days a week, it gives half an egg and some sattu to children. That is it. The new school does not have toilets, no mid-day meal, no blackboard.”

Mukta Roy, one of the two teachers at the Dhabalsuti Mrigipur Primary School, with 27 children, gets through the day by using the toilet at a neighbouring home.

Kalyani Poddar, chairperson of the Coochbehar District Primary Council, who represented the state government during the inauguration of the schools, says, “I have approached the District Magistrate to start mid-day meals, but am not sure if it has been done.”

The fudged names of parents in educational certificates, meanwhile, remains an issue. Children in the Bangladeshi enclaves who had been forced to use names of Indian residents as parents to get admission on the Indian side cannot apply for jobs or for loans, passports and work permits.

Rahaman Ali of Poaturkuthi is among the lucky ones to have managed to rectify this earlier this year, after numerous letters and visits to the district magistrate. “There is no initiative to attend to such problems,” says Ali, who is doing B.Ed at Godagari Vidyasagar Educational Institute in Murshidabad district after finishing his Masters.

He is not too hopeful though about his degrees. “Despite my qualification, all I do is give tuitions. Most of the youths here, however educated, work as labourers. We were promised skill development centres, fisheries after development of local water bodies….”

The villagers were also told by officials they would be provided animals for rearing. “However, a few families got all of five chicks each. We thought it was a joke,” says Jyostna Bibi, 40, a mother of three, in Batrigach.

Hanging in a limbo, many have started wondering if they decided right in their choice of country. Camp residents with friends and family members still in Bangladesh say the Bangladeshi government has taken several steps to rehabilitate those who stayed back. “Three of my friends got jobs with the Border Guards Bangladesh. Schools, health centres have come up in my old village,” says Bipul of Mekhligunj camp.

“We left everything, our homes, land, to come here. This after years of living as a foreigner in Bangladesh. Sometimes we think that was better,” says Osman Gani, of Dinhata.

Home is still tin-room shelters

# PMs Narendra Modi, Sheikh Hasina sign an agreement on June 6, 2015, for exchange of enclaves. 51 Bangladeshi enclaves inside India become Indian territory, 111 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh become Bangladesh

# Exchange takes place on August 1, 2015. All the 14,856 people living in 51 Bangladeshi enclaves on Indian soil choose to become Indian citizens

Naresh Chandra Burman, wife, son, at their room in the Dinhata camp. (Express photo by Subham Dutta) Naresh Chandra Burman, wife, son, at their room in the Dinhata camp. (Express photo by Subham Dutta)

# While Centre expects 35,000 living in Indian enclaves in Bangladesh to choose India, only 921 do. Are placed in temporary camps in Cooch Behar

# In June 2015, Centre accepts the Rs 3,008-cr rehabilitation package sought by Bengal: Rs 2,200 crore a variable component to be used for rehabilitating migrants; Rs 720 crore earmarked for a bridge; Rs 800 crore for infrastructure in former enclaves; and Rs 80 crore to develop hospitals etc

# On March 13, 2018, Centre says it had approved only Rs 1,005.99 crore, for a period of five years from 2015-16. Out of this, it says, Rs 423 crore had been released to the state

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