An injured soul

 

             An affordable dream turned into an unaffordable nightmare! (2023-2026)

I was living a happy and peaceful family life with my wife and children in Mumbai. Our life was largely stress-free. The only regret we had was not being able to properly perform Chhath Puja, which requires significant preparation, rituals, confirmed travel tickets, and leave from work. We even considered performing it at places like Juhu Beach, but the emotional connection of celebrating it in our native land was missing.

After much thought, we decided to move back to Bihar for the sake of preserving our tradition, even though neither my wife nor I were keen on raising our children there. Eventually, my wife appeared for BPSC-TRE 1 and successfully cleared it. She was posted in Purnea in 2023. The following year, in 2024, she performed her first Chhath Puja there in my absence. Due to my election duty in Maharashtra during the state assembly elections, I could not attend, but I was content knowing that our tradition had been revived.

During this period, we also decided to buy a small plot of land about 6 km from the city to build our dream home-not as an investment, but as a place for our small family. However, after the purchase, we began facing serious administrative challenges and monstrously sadistic nature of state government officials.

After completing the registration/kebala, we applied online for mutation at the CO Office, Purnea East. Shortly after, my broker informed me that a bribe was being demanded. As I was in Mumbai, I asked him to arrange a meeting with the Circle Officer to clarify matters. To my surprise, despite my wife taking three days of casual leave and visiting the office multiple times, she was repeatedly told that the process was “under progress.” I had to fly to Bihar also but the CO office seems to have been controlled by the middlemen. 

Later, I received a call from an unknown number, indirectly asking me to “CO bina paisa liye nahi karega.” I got disappointed because my father was under treatment that time and I was already going through tremendous stress from multiple corners. I stated that all our documents were clear and requested that the process be completed. However, the situation worsened when a proxy objection was raised, and our mutation application was rejected on vague and unreasonable ground - essentially stating that it could not be approved due to hypothetical future issues. I googled the name of CO and found a lot of negative things about him. Recently I learnt that he was suspended because of igniting protest against tightening grip by the government on mutation process. Anyways!

We started realising that being educated or civilised don’t guarantee a peaceful life in Bihar until one has surplus money to feed some officials. 

The matter was then forwarded to the DCLR office. On my broker’s advice, I hired an advocate, only to later discover that he was closely associated with the CO, and there appeared to be a pre-arranged system of commissions. By then, I realized I had fallen into a trap.

In desperation, I reached out to Shri Kundan Kumar, the then District Magistrate of Purnea. One of my college professors knew him and I was suggested to drop him a message with the reference of JNV. He responded promptly to my message, and on the same day, I received a call from the CO office. The officer’s tone had completely changed, and I was told to get the work done through the DCLR office.

However, it has now been more than two and half years, and the case remains pending at the DCLR office. As per the procedure multiple notices were served to the Proxy (the one who allegedly objected mutation), but not even a single time he appeared. Despite corroborative testimonials, clear papers, our routine presence and no appearance of the Proxy, our mutation remains stuck.

Our dream of building a home for my wife and kids has been shattered, and we are left struggling for justice.

It is deeply disheartening that after returning to Bihar with hope and respect for our traditions, we are facing such challenges. Me and my wife have always tried to help people from Bihar who come to Mumbai in need, but today, I find myself alone in Mumbai and my wife is running from pillar to post, seeking justice with no resolution in sight, in Bihar.

I have recently lost my father, and in this difficult time, my only wish is to perform Chhath Puja on the land I bought with my savings, in the presence of my widowed mother, as a way to honor my family and our traditions.