Dhanusa - Ramsaran Sada,60, sits near the Ram Janaki temple in Dhanusa dham, takes a long drag from his bidi, and looks away when we ask him about constituent assembly elections. He knows nothing about the 20 June election announced by the new interim government. He has no clue why an election of that kind would take place.

Sada tells us that people say he is a Kangresi because he was born the year the Nepali Congres was formed. "I hear the government is conducting a \'big' election but I don't know why, how or when it is happening," he says. Pointing at his friend Bhola Bahadur Poudel, Sada says, "He is a peon at a local school, perhaps he knows." Poudel doesn't know about the big day either, but says, "I have heard the phrase [\'constituent assembly elections'] many times." A little distance away, 17-year old Kishore Santosh from Laxmipur says much the same. "I am illiterate, how would I know what a constituent assembly is."

Sada, Poudel, and Santosh are a sharp reminder of what happens to a society that cannot educate its members. Lal Bahadur Hathi, chairman of the Dhanusa teacher's union, is angry: "The leaders just stay in the headquarters. Shouldn't they be more involved in political education so everyone is aware of the changes taking place in the country?"

Illiteracy is one of the major reasons for the under-development in the tarai and for how disenchanted the people are. "If the leaders were selfless and worked hard to fulfil their responsibilities, the problem will be solved," adds Hathi "There is no political awareness because there aren't enough teachers."

Ram Krishna Yadav, president of the NC in Dhanusa, says he knows that there is a serious lack of awareness and that political education is a top priority for his party. "We have to conduct the elections at any cost. If that means devising a program for political training, we are ready to do that as well."