Simpi (14) studied till Class X in the village government primary school but discontinued studies like many others in this habitation of the highly endangered Paharia tribe.

"Students would have had to walk at least 10km through inaccessible areas to reach Kahalgaon," said Ashok (23), a Class X dropout and resident of Kutubpur Paharia Tola.

There are altogether 2,500 Sauria Paharias. Their boys could study up to Class X but could not write board exams.

"The British opened Bhagalpur Hill School - Bihar's first government primary residential school - for children of Paharias," said Raman Sinha, a senior professor of history at Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University. "Paharias, inhabitants of Rajmahal hills in Santhal Parganas, have a glorious history of never coming in the fold of any foreign ruler. But Cleveland managed to win their confidence. He established a special hill archers' troop to tap Paharia youth's skill."

"The first freedom fighter against the British in Asia was also a Paharia, Tilka Manjhi," Sinha said. Kutubpur Paharai Tola under Ramjanipur panchayat in Kahalgaon sub-division, around 54km northeast of Bhagalpur, is hardly 2.5km from the half-excavated site of Vikramshila Buddha Mahavihara, the ancient world university. "It's unfortunate that residents near this ancient seat of learning remain illiterate," said Shivshanker Singh Parijat, a research scholar on Vikramshila affairs.

"We don't have pure drinking water. We prefer toddy and earlier, womenfolk used to prepare liquor from mahua (a flower) to earn their livelihood," said Ramprit Paharia, 70. "We've been compelled to feed on roots, leaves, rats and insects. The three hand-pumps here dry up during summer and villagers then depend on a century-old community well."

One has to trudge through 13km of inaccessible terrain from Kahalgaon sub-divisional headquarters to reach Kutubpur Paharia Tola.

Dilip Kumar Mishra, spokesperson of the BJP's Bhagalpur unit, alleged that government-sponsored welfare projects lay defunct. He pointed at mud houses and absence of Indira Awas Yojana houses.

When this correspondent approached Bhagalpur divisional commissioner Ajay Kumar Singh, the administration was busy with the chief minister's proposed visit. "I've informed the Bhagalpur district magistrate. It's a matter of concern that people don't have drinking water."

Kahalgaon sub-divisional officer A.C. Verma was not available for comment, busy completing the preparations.

"The officials are busy rectifying the irregularities before Nitish Kumar's visit. So Kutubpur Paharia Tola is out of focus," said Niraj Gupta, a Kahalgaon-based social activist.