Gorakhpur News: The people of Vantangiya village, situated amidst the Kusamhi forest, about 15 km from the Gorakhpur district headquarters of Uttar Pradesh, have been decorating the entire village and every house like a bride for the last one week. Because CM Yogi will celebrate Diwali here.
Gorakhpur News: People of Vantangiya village, forest Tikonia number three, situated amidst the Kusamhi forest, about 15 km from Gorakhpur district headquarters, have been eagerly waiting for the arrival of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the last one week. This hunger is full of joy and enthusiasm. Reason, CM Yogi comes to this Vantangiya village to celebrate Deepotsav. Here, lamps in every house are lit in the name of Vantangis’ own ‘Yogi Baba’. In Vantangiya village, Jungle Tikonia number three, the administration is busy in its preparations, while the people of the village are cleaning, painting and decorating their respective houses to welcome the Chief Minister. The preparations are as if their loved one is about to come to their house. Everything happened spontaneously and together. The Chief Minister will once again visit this village on Monday (20th October) to celebrate Deepotsav.
Why Vantangiya village is special for CM Yogi
Yogi Adityanath started the tradition of celebrating Diwali with Vantangiyas, even among the deprived, as MP and Gorakshpeeth successor in Vantangiya village, Jungle Tikonia number three, which continues even after he became the Chief Minister. Their Diwali begins from this village itself. This time too, everyone in the village is eagerly waiting for CM Yogi’s arrival on Diwali. In view of this, preparations are in full swing. Not only is the administration busy, the village people are also busy decorating their houses and courtyards to welcome their Baba. It is natural for this to happen, the credit goes to Yogi Adityanath for giving citizen status to the Vantangiya community, which was neglected and miserable for a hundred years, and bringing it into the mainstream of society and development.
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Vantangis settled in the forest, but there was fear of eviction
During the British rule, when railway tracks were being laid, Sakhu trees were cut down on a large scale from the forests for sleepers. To compensate for this, the British government settled poor landless laborers in the forest to plant and maintain new Sakhu saplings. ‘Tangiya method’ of Verma country was used to establish Sakhu forests, hence those who did this work while living in the forest were called Vantangiya. Their five settlements were established in the year 1918 in five areas of Kusamhi forest namely Jungle Tinkoniya number three, Razhi Khale Tola, Razhi Nursery, Ambagh Nursery and Chilbilwa. Around this time, 18 of their villages were settled at different places in the forests of Maharajganj. Even though the country became independent in 1947, the life of Vantangis remained like the slavery era. This forest-dwelling community did not even have citizenship of the country. The facilities available as a citizen were a far cry. No construction was allowed in the forest except huts. Apart from plucking leaves from trees and selling them and labour, there is no other means of survival. Apart from this, there is a fear of eviction action from the forest department from time to time.
If Maharaj ji had not come, he would have died in misery.
In the year 1998, Yogi Adityanath became the MP of Gorakhpur for the first time. It came to his notice that the life of the people living in Vantangiya settlements is in a very bad condition. He first decided to take education and health services to these settlements. The mobile medical service of Guru Shri Gorakshanath Hospital, run by MP Krishak Inter College and MPPG College, Jungle Dhusad and Gorakhnath Temple, institutions of Maharana Pratap Education Council headed by him, was used for this work. These efforts, which started in 2003 in Vantangiya village, Jungle Tinkoniya number three, started taking concrete shape by 2007. Ramganesh of this village says that Vantangiya was completely neglected. If Maharaj ji (people of Vantangiya community call Yogi Adityanath by this address) would not have come, he would have died in misery.
Gorakshanath Hindu Vidyapeeth is witness to Yogi’s struggles
Yogi Adityanath has even faced a lawsuit to connect Vantangiya people with the main stream of society through education. In 2009, Yogi’s associate Vantangiya was constructing a temporary school for the children by laying asbestos sheets in Jungle Tikonia number three. The forest department termed this work as illegal and registered a case. Yogi convinced the department with his arguments and a temporary school could be built. This school named Gorakshanath Hindu Vidyapeeth is still a witness to the struggles of Yogi.
Even after becoming CM, the festival of lights continues with Vantangis
Yogi, who started the fight to give the Vantangiyas equal rights as normal citizens, started the tradition of celebrating Diwali with the Vantangiya community in 2009. For the first time, this community realized the colors of life beyond the forest. Then this sequence started. Even after becoming the Chief Minister, Yogi does not forget to follow this tradition. During this time, children are encouraged to study by giving gifts of sweets, notebooks and fireworks, while all the residents of the colony are given many gifts. This time too, in view of the arrival of CM Yogi on Diwali, the villagers are enthusiastically preparing to welcome him.
The pain of a hundred years was erased
After becoming the Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath has erased hundred years of hardships of Vantangiya community in the last eight Diwali. Yogi, who fought for Vantangiya rights in the Lok Sabha and got the right to retain his seat in 2010, gave the status of revenue village to Vantangiya villages in the very first year of his tenure after becoming the CM. As soon as they were declared revenue villages, these forest villages became entitled to every facility that a common citizen gets. Not only Tikonia number three, transformation like transformation is visible in 23 Vantangiya villages of Gorakhpur-Maharajganj including it.
Vantangiya became happy during Yogi’s tenure
During his tenure, CM Yogi has covered Vantangiya villages with facilities like housing, roads, electricity, water, schools, street lights, Anganwadi centers and RO water machines. Today everyone in Vantangiya villages has their own permanent house under CM scheme, cultivable land, Aadhar card, ration card, cooking gas. Children are studying in schools, eligible people are getting benefits of pension schemes like old age, widow, disabled etc. If we talk about Tikonia number three alone, here the achievement of every scheme relative to the target is 100 percent.
The forest blossomed in Baba’s lap.
Mohan, the elder of Tikonia number three, says, ‘Even the youth in the village are of no use, all are Baba’s servants. The night’s asking Rahal. When I felt Baba’s feet, I realized that I had woken up.’ Mohan himself gets excited by talking about the arrival of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Diwali, while mentioning about the many gifts received from CM Yogi, including permanent houses for everyone in the village, toilets, electricity, cooking gas, land lease for farming, schools for children, etc. ‘Now the festival seems incomplete without Baba.’
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Baba Jawan, how can he remain determined in every situation?
The eyesight of Chandrajit Nishad, who was the head of Vantangiya village Jungle Tikonia number three, has started to deteriorate inversely proportional to his age, but the picture of Yogi Adityanath’s struggle seems alive in his eyes. ‘Had Baba Ji (Yogi) not looked at him, many generations would have passed like this.’ This one sentence of Chandrajit makes clear the difference between 100 years of Vantangi’s life and now eight and a half years. Chandrajeet is also witness to the incident when the Forest Department filed a case against Yogi for opening a temporary school for the children of Vantangiya community. Yogi was an MP then. According to Chandrajit Nishad, ‘Baba Jawan, he remained determined in every situation. Rokal kept going from school building. Today, not only are there schools in the villages, but all the facilities and arrangements are also there in the cities. All this is the gift of Baba Ji only.