<p>The Van Rawat tribe in the Khirdwari village in the Champawat district of <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/uttarakhand" target="_blank">Uttarakhand </a>was living in isolation until a 65-year-old member, in 2015, made a trek of 18 km to the nearest market in Chalthi and purchased a radio transistor. The move helped him bring the world to his people. </p>.<p>Years on, this transistor remains the only connection the 200-member tribe has to the outside world. "I vividly remember the day I got a radio, it was a momentous occasion", Raghuveer Singh - now 80 - <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/no-tv-or-phone-just-1-radio-links-uttarakhand-tribe-to-outside-world/articleshow/96237666.cms" target="_blank">recounted</a> to <em>The Times of India</em>, adding, "Though I am not very educated, I like to stay abreast of current affairs. As soon as I tuned to the local station that day, a wave of excitement brought an impromptu audience together for the daily bulletin. Meanwhile, the word spread and since then, my house became a favourite haunt for the villagers who gather here to listen to regional and national news."</p>.<p>The village is virtually disconnected from the rest of the world as it is located 20 km away from the closest road head. There is no electricity or public distribution shops or healthcare facilities. The villagers make a living by working as labourers in nearby villages. </p>.<p>"Even as government talks about technology-driven development and digital revolution, we don't even have a phone connection, let alone internet connectivity. Plus, there is no power supply, we use oil lamps to light up our homes", another villager, Jeet Singh, told <em>TOI</em>. </p>.<p>Himanshu Kafaltia, the SDM at Tanakpur, added, "The district administration has sent a proposal to the government to install a BSNL tower and get proper power supply for the village."</p>.<p>The Van Rawat tribe is distributed across Pithoragarh, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar, and a small area confined to Western Nepal. </p>
<p>The Van Rawat tribe in the Khirdwari village in the Champawat district of <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/uttarakhand" target="_blank">Uttarakhand </a>was living in isolation until a 65-year-old member, in 2015, made a trek of 18 km to the nearest market in Chalthi and purchased a radio transistor. The move helped him bring the world to his people. </p>.<p>Years on, this transistor remains the only connection the 200-member tribe has to the outside world. "I vividly remember the day I got a radio, it was a momentous occasion", Raghuveer Singh - now 80 - <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/no-tv-or-phone-just-1-radio-links-uttarakhand-tribe-to-outside-world/articleshow/96237666.cms" target="_blank">recounted</a> to <em>The Times of India</em>, adding, "Though I am not very educated, I like to stay abreast of current affairs. As soon as I tuned to the local station that day, a wave of excitement brought an impromptu audience together for the daily bulletin. Meanwhile, the word spread and since then, my house became a favourite haunt for the villagers who gather here to listen to regional and national news."</p>.<p>The village is virtually disconnected from the rest of the world as it is located 20 km away from the closest road head. There is no electricity or public distribution shops or healthcare facilities. The villagers make a living by working as labourers in nearby villages. </p>.<p>"Even as government talks about technology-driven development and digital revolution, we don't even have a phone connection, let alone internet connectivity. Plus, there is no power supply, we use oil lamps to light up our homes", another villager, Jeet Singh, told <em>TOI</em>. </p>.<p>Himanshu Kafaltia, the SDM at Tanakpur, added, "The district administration has sent a proposal to the government to install a BSNL tower and get proper power supply for the village."</p>.<p>The Van Rawat tribe is distributed across Pithoragarh, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar, and a small area confined to Western Nepal. </p>
