Bhubaneswar: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought detailed responses from the Ministry of Rural Development’s Secretary and state’s Chief Secretary within eight weeks on the plight of the residents of villages ‘adopted’ by public sector banks (PSBs), MPs and MLAs. The NHRC move came while hearing a plea filed by senior lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy. The petitioner drew the apex rights body’s attention towards the lack of basic amenities and bare necessities in the villages ‘adopted’ on record by various organs of democracy and institutions in the country.
In his plea, Tripathy alleged that residents, especially the poor belonging to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, in villages – like Jalanga in Bhadrak district — adopted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under Samagra Gramin Vikas Yojana (SGVY) have been leading a miserable life. “RBI governor D Subbarao launched a financial outreach programme in Jalanga December 3, 2009.
Later, UCO Bank adopted Jalanga to transform it into a model village under the SGVY. During his visit to Jalanga in February 2013, Subbarao heard grievances against UCO Bank. But to no avail,” said Tripathy. He claimed that to date, the five villages – Jalanga, Chandlpur, Pokatunga, Chhatabara and Bhedabahal of the state – which have been adopted by the RBI under SGVY did not reveal any improvement even after 14 years of their adoption. The situation of villages adopted by MPs, MLAs and corporate is no different, the petitioner said. He said no comprehensive database regarding the adopted villages in India has been prepared by the Ministry of Rural Development. It is believed that more than 10,000 villages have been adopted by various institutions, MPs and MLAs in the country. “Mere adoption on records, spending money with the nexus of corrupt persons in the name of poverty and backwardness further worsens the condition of life of the adopted villagers and weakens their belief in the democratic setup,” Tripathy said. Periodic, systematic assessment and evaluation of the living conditions and quality of life with happiness index of the residents of adopted villagers should be given utmost importance, Tripathy said.
The rights activist urged the NHRC to seek a comprehensive database on the adopted villages in states, including Odisha, and Union Territories and make a study on the development of the villagers so far as bare necessities of life and basic amenities and improvement of health, education, employment and other parameters of human life are concerned.
