Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Hema Malini adopted Rawal village in her constituency Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, under ‘Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’ (SAGY), but four years on, the village still lacks most basic infrastructure.
The much-hyped scheme was launched in October 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The stated objective of SAGY was to have MPs oversee the development of their adopted village. These development areas included education facilities, cleanliness, health facility, skill development, livelihood and basic amenities.
According to The Quint report, so far, Malini has failed the village on all of these fronts.
A villager told The Quint, “Roads are cleaned and dirt is removed whenever Hema Malini visits the village. Other days, it stays as dirty as usual.”
At least 40 solar lights were installed in the village under SAGY. However, none of them are functional. Ravi Kant, a resident of Rawal village, said, “These 40 solar lights were installed in the streets. It worked for two months and then stopped. Ever since then it is not functional.”
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Construction of roads in the village began a long time ago, but the work was stalled soon after. According to the villagers, this has increased their problems. “Brick road work started but nothing happened, there is no drainage system. In fact, our houses were being destroyed too,” a woman said.
A few toilets were built, but most of them are not in a usable condition, forcing the women in the village to defecate in the open. Rajbati, a resident, told The Quint, “The tank that was supposed to supply water to the toilets was constructed, but everything was destroyed. We didn’t get any money to reconstruct them.”
Similarly, an RO water plant installed in the village by the BJP MP is also non-functional. Hence, the villagers still rely on water tank for clean water. Ironically, Hema Malini is the brand ambassador of an RO water purifier.
The junior school in the village has no electricity, causing children to sit in closed classrooms in the sweltering heat. A new primary school was built, but it is non-functional since it hasn’t been whitewashed.
Kamaal Khan, a student in the school, told The Quint, “There is no fan or electricity connection here. MP Hema Malini has visited us. We told her about our problems. She said it will be fixed, but nothing happened.”
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Even the hospital in the village remains locked due to the lack of doctors. Chandra Bhushan, a resident, told The Quint “This hospital was constructed five months ago, but there are no doctors or nurses for treatment. It opens sometimes, but is mostly locked. We go to Mathura for medical treatment.”
On Sunday, during an event, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had claimed that there were no ‘bimaru’ regions left in the country because of SAGY. “Rural development is taking place through ‘Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’ and there are no more ‘bimaru’ regions. All of them are being developed,” she had said.
Rawal is not the only village that is suffering this fate despite being a chosen village under the SGAY. Last month, it was reported that Lakshmanpur Lalnagar village in Gonda district of UP, adopted by BJP MP Keertivardhan Singh, also lacked all basic infrastructure. Another report exposed the conditions of Sonmai village in Patna district, adopted by BJP MP Ram Kripal Yadav.