A tweet got this village largesse from CM Akhilesh Yadav, 4 months later, no sign of it

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It has been four months and funds are yet to reach the village. Shukla again took to Twitter Friday saying “Nagwasi waiting for I-sparsh fund. No work started yet. Request to help us in the same”.

Akhilesh had launched the Initiative of Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh Rural Sustainable Homes, or the I-SPARSH, scheme with an eye on the rural votes and as a counter to Centre’s Smart City project.

“After getting a response on Twitter from Chief Minister’s Office informing that we have been selected as the first village under the I-SPARSH scheme to turn selected villages into Smart Villages, we were very happy. There have been several rounds of meetings after that with the officials of district administration as well as different departments. But, to this date, no fund has come nor any work has started. Thus, I thought that I should alert (the CM) on the same platform,” Shukla told The Indian Express.

Under the scheme, which faced flak for being named after both the Samajwadi party and the CM, selected villages are to turned into Smart and Model villages with all the basic facilities, proper roads, health and education infrastructure, use of technology interventions, and complete electrification. After making a provision of Rs 300 crore for the scheme, Akhilesh had also targeted Narendra Modi government saying that “those, who used to talk about Smart City forgot UP so we have focused on villages. Our villages should look good and have better facilities”.

Under the scheme, the selection of the villages and preparing the project in consultation with the different departments was to be undertaken by the district level committee headed by District Magistrate.

Asked about the complaint about delay in start of the work by the pradhan of the very first village selected under the scheme directly by the CM, District Magistrate of Mirzapur, Rakesh Kumar Singh, said, “Nagwasi was selected when the scheme was not even given proper shape. Under the scheme, the village is to be turned into an ideal village with all the basic facilities, which are to be identified like banking, marriage halls, health centres etc. These things take time.”

He further said that the “plan has been prepared and government order has also been issued” by the state government. “We are likely to get funds soon and the work will start immediately,” he added.

Shukla, 32, hold a Masters degree in political science from Allahabad University and is married in the Nagwasi village.