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Bihar Elections | Estranged in Their Own Waters: How the Contract System Snatched Livelihoods from Motihari's Mallah Tola
The Mooknayak Ground Report from the Margins : Part 3
Motihari- The glimmer of Moti Jheel and the historical land of Champaran... From the outside, this city seems filled with stories of culture, flavour, and struggle. But within it, the Mallah-Nishad community is living a different reality. Once the owners of rivers and ponds, these people today are managing their lives in bamboo-shack settlements under roofs covered with polythene and tarpaulin. Their boats are rotting on the banks, and their hands, which once caught fish, are now spent in labour.
Amid this poignant picture of poverty and unemployment, the echoes of the upcoming Assembly elections are now becoming audible. The question is, will political parties listen to their pain and demands for rights this time, or will this community once again return empty-handed, drowned in a lake of promises?
Gopal, a 70-year-old resident of Motihari's Mallah Tola, narrating his tale of broken hopes and struggles to The Mooknayak representative, says, “Our ancestral trade has been fishing. But now we have no rights over the rivers and ponds. The government gives contracts to committees and big people. The poor Mallah is forced to do labour.” Gopal's words are not his alone; they represent the pain of the entire community. For generations, boats and nets have been the support of their lives, but now those very boats lie on the banks, rotting.
These very boats were once the means of livelihood for these families. The life of the Mallah community, which once filled their stomachs by catching fish in ponds and rivers, has now been sacrificed at the altar of the contract system. The ponds they traditionally depended on are now under the control of committees and big businessmen. The work was snatched from the hands of the Mallahs, forcing them into wage labour for others. This change not only robbed them of their livelihood but also weakened their self-respect and cultural heritage linked to generations.
In the Tola, there are countless people whose boats, weathered by sun and water, have now become a part of history. These boats once held the laughter of children, the vibrancy of homes, and the hope of filling stomachs. But now, the contract system has broken the traditional livelihood of this entire community. The Mallahs say the government announces schemes, but in reality, they never reach their lives. Their pain is clear: after being distanced from their rivers and ponds, all they have left is struggle, poverty, and helplessness.
Village and town ponds, lakes, and even rivers are now leased out to local committees or big industrialists. These contractors hire their own labourers and turn fish production into a business. The real fishermen of the Nishad community, whose livelihood depended on this very water, find themselves deprived of their rights over the water and become daily wage labourers.
Women in the Tola explain that they used to help with everything from catching fish in small boats with their families to selling it. Children would learn to cast nets, and men would go to the market to sell. This managed the household expenses. But now, when the pond itself is under the contractor's control, they have to sell fish bought from outside or resort to labour.
Bachi Devi, a 60-year-old woman from Mallah Tola, shares her anguish in a conversation with The Mooknayak. She says, “Our ancestral work is already lost, and now we have no home, no work for livelihood. Only through labour can we barely feed the family.” Bachi Devi's lament is the reality of that entire community, whose generations once depended on boats and nets, but whose lives are now passing with the support of struggle and helplessness.
Bachi Devi explains that she has built a small hut on government land. But even this hut is not secure. “Every two-four months, administration people come and tell us to leave from here. Now tell us, where should we go? We have no land, no permanent house. We are just managing in this hut,” she says. Her words clearly reflect that after their ancestral work was taken away, they have neither the support of permanent housing nor any guarantee for the future.
Talking about government schemes, Bachi Devi says they only get ration. Beyond this, the benefit of no scheme has reached her family. “The government says there are schemes for the poor, but we only get ration. No other help comes,” Bachi Devi says that if the government truly wants to do something for poor and deprived communities, it should guarantee employment and housing; otherwise, families like hers will be forced to wander from door to door.
Walking through the lanes of the Tola, it is clearly visible that education and health remain the biggest crises here. Huts made of bamboo and tarpaulin not only make their daily lives difficult but also make accessing basic needs like education for children and treatment for the elderly hard.
Children from the Tola get admission in government schools, but due to poverty and lack of resources, their education often gets discontinued midway. Many children are forced to leave studies and sell fish, work as farm labourers, or work at brick kilns to manage family expenses. The situation is even more serious for girls, as they are often engaged in domestic chores at a young age or married off.
Due to poverty, people cannot afford private hospitals or medicines and often endure illnesses without treatment. Lack of clean drinking water and sanitation means malnutrition, anaemia, and skin diseases are common among children here. The lack of health services for pregnant women and the elderly is an even greater concern.
The reality of Mallah Tola shows that deprived of education and health, this community is trapped in a cycle of continuous poverty and marginalization.
The biggest support for livelihood for people here now is agricultural labour and work at brick kilns. The men often go to cities for daily wage labour, where they find work, but it is neither permanent nor is the wage sufficient to comfortably run the household. The condition of those working at brick kilns is even more pitiable, as this work is seasonal and the wages are controlled by middlemen.
The situation for women is even harder. Women from the Tola work in homes in nearby urban areas, doing odd jobs from sweeping and mopping to washing dishes and even childcare. Many women earn by selling vegetables or running small stalls. Despite this, managing the household is extremely difficult.
A large number of youths, troubled by unemployment and poverty, have migrated to states like Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka, and Gujarat. These young men work there as daily wage labourers, in factories, or as labourers at construction sites.
In a conversation with The Mooknayak, Gudiya Devi from Mallah Tola, explaining her plight, says that filth is spread everywhere in the lanes of the Tola. Their troubles multiply when the rainy season arrives. When it rains, water enters the houses directly. “We have to stay awake all night draining the water, otherwise all the household items get wet. Living in huts made of bamboo and tarpaulin is difficult anyway; on top of that, the problems of filth and waterlogging don't even let us sleep peacefully.”
When we asked her about the elections, she replied bluntly that leaders only come to the Tola when they need votes. “As soon as the elections end, they disappear for five years. No one is there to care for us. Whether it's illness or employment problems, we are left to our own fate. The government doesn't care about us at all,” Gudiya Devi expressed anger. Her words clearly indicate that a deep distrust towards the system and politics has set within the community.
Gudiya Devi further explains that a large number of people from the Tola are migrating out for employment because work opportunities at the local level are almost negligible. She said, “The wages here are so low that it becomes difficult to run the house. Out of compulsion, the youth go to states like Punjab, Delhi, and Gujarat. Many are barely feeding themselves by working at brick kilns and farms.”
The Mallah-Nishad community is spread across almost the entire state of Bihar, but their highest population is in districts situated on the banks of rivers like the Ganga, Gandak, Bagmati, Kosi, and Son. Districts like Patna, Saran, Vaishali, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Saharsa, Supaul, Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Purnia, and Munger are considered their major centres.
Mallah-Nishads have been traditionally associated with boating, fishing, and water transport, which is why their settlements are usually found on the banks of rivers and ponds. This community is not counted separately in the census, but according to social studies and caste surveys, their population in Bihar is estimated to be around 8 to 10 percent, placing them among the state's large Backward Castes.
The Bihar government has launched several schemes for the fisherman community and Mallah-Nishads, but the impact of these schemes is not visible in Mallah Tola.
Under the 'Jal-Jeevan-Haryali' scheme, the renovation of ponds is mentioned.
Under the 'Nishad Vikas Yojana', loans and grants for boats, nets, and fisheries have been announced.
The 'Ati Pichchda Varg Scholarship' and 'Kushal Yuva Program' talk about providing education and employment. But the widespread impact of these schemes is not visible!
The 'Jalashar Patta Niti' (Water Body Lease Policy) has a provision that local fishermen will be given priority. But most of the poor Mallahs here are not members of the committee.
In Bihar, the Nishad community is officially categorized as an Extremely Backward Class (EBC), but socially, this community still faces neglect and discrimination. Lack of education and resources has distanced them from both politics and the system. Consequently, this community is being constantly pushed to the margins instead of connecting with the mainstream of development.
The Nishad community is considered the true bearer of aquatic culture. Their relationship with rivers, ponds, and water sources has been deep. For generations, these people have made a living by fishing, boating, and living on water-based resources. But after the implementation of the contract system, big contractors and committees captured their traditional rights. This forced their generations towards labour and migration.
This community has also not received the expected benefits from government schemes. Schemes come with big announcements on paper, but their impact at the ground level reaching Nishad society is very little. Whether it's education, employment, or health facilities, the Nishad community has to struggle everywhere. This is why this society is now being seen as a community of mere labourers, losing its traditional identity.
In Bihar, the Mallah-Nishad community is considered a politically strong vote bank. With a population of about 8–10 percent, this community plays a decisive role in many Assembly and Lok Sabha seats, especially in districts on the banks of the Ganga and its tributaries. The influence of this community is mainly linked to small farmers, labourers, and river-based livelihoods, but in politics, they have created a separate identity.
At the national level, Union Minister Giriraj Singh has often raised issues of this community, while in Bihar's politics, Mukesh Sahni (Vikassheel Insaan Party - VIP) is considered the big face of the Mallah-Nishad community, who built a political identity with the slogan "Son of Mallah". Besides this, Rajendra Nishad and several local-level leaders are associated with various parties. Both the Mahagathbandhan and the NDA try to woo this community because their unity has the ability to decide win or loss on many seats.
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