No 'Acche din' for Modi's 'Adarsh Gram' villages
The village doesn't have a health center or a high school, but one thing that is prominently visible is the slogan of 'Adarsh Gram' plastered on walls.
In Short
- Condition of villages under Adarsh Gram in Agra is not good.
- Pilkhatra under Katheria doesn't have a high school.
- Pusenta village doesn't have light at night among other things.
At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah will celebrate the completion of the second year of the Modi government, villages chosen as part of the 'Adarsh Gram' scheme by his MPs would feel deceived.
MODI'S DEVELOPMENT = SOLAR LANTERNS?
None of the villages in Agra adopted by MPs at Modi's behest have anything to show for in the name of development except some solar lanterns.
Union Minister of State for HRD and Agra MP Ram Shankar Katheria had adopted Pilkhatra (Jalesar) and MP Babulal had adopted Pusenta (Saiyyan) at the beginning of the scheme, but a visit to these villages is enough to prove that the MPs haven't even slept facing them in months.
Located about 15 km from Jalesar, Pilkhatra is mired in squalor.
NO HIGH SCHOOL SCHOOL BUT PAINTED SLOGAN OF ADARSH GRAM
The primary school of this 'Adarsh Gram' is being used as a place to tie cattle and the primary health centre is merely there for show with no staff present. Very few houses of the village have toilets.
The primary school was built in 1997 and since then, no higher educational institution has been opened in this village.
Most people in the village have been educated only up to 8th standard as the nearest high school is several kilometres away.
One thing that is prominently visible in the village though, is the slogan of 'Adarsh Gram' painted on several walls.
A local resident Bhagwan Singh told India Today that in the name of Adarsh Gram, they only received solar lights and have seen MP Katheria just once in two years.
However, when asked about the state of his adopted village, Katheria claimed that the village is being equipped with electricity, toilets, hospital, high school etc. The main link road is being constructed and the primary school will soon get recognition to hold classes up-to 10th standard.
ADARSH GRAM = NO LIGHT AT NIGHT?
Similar was the state of the second village Pusenta adopted by Agra (Rural) MP Babulal.
The first sight of the village is that of wires hanging from leaning electric poles.
Ninety-five percent of the hand-pumps in the village do not work. The main road is badly damaged and the lanes are filled with mud, making walking through the lanes a difficult task. There is no arrangement for lighting at night. The primary health centre is in shambles.
A local youth Ram Prakash said that Babulal had adopted this village merely in name and has done nothing here.
Resident Pradhan Chaturbhuj Sharma said that the MP had been given a list of issues faced by the village, including road, toilets, health center, hand-pumps and community hall but none of them have even begun in the past two years and there was little hope that anything will be done in the coming three years.
When questioned, Babulal claimed that he had planned several developmental projects for the village, but all of them are stuck at the state government and local administration level.
He said that he was making continuous efforts and the village will certainly become 'Adarsh Gram' as envisioned by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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