Polasara: Even as the government has introduced many flagship schemes in various sectors and spends crores of rupees for the development of tribal areas, the picture is rather disheartening in several regions due to the lack of interest among people’s representatives and officials.
While the government boasts of development, hopes of genuine beneficiaries are limited to pen and paper only.
Many villages under Gochabadi and Pandiripada panchayat of Polasara block in Ganjam district are a case in point.
The villages inhabited by hundreds of tribal and backward families are yet to witness implementation of developmental schemes and programmes.
Basic facilities like education, drinking water, health and electricity are still distant dreams for them.
Schemes for pregnant woman and children are alien to people here as they are deprived of ‘sattua’, eggs and other nutritious foods provided by the government. Even 71 years after Independence, villages under these two panchayats have no proper roads.
The locals have to trek through stony roads to reach the nearby town to get their day to day essentials. At least 500 people of Punjiama, Brahmanadei, Biripur, Kushapali, Soradapali villages depend on a dirt road everyday.
Recalling an incident, a resident, Ranjan Sabar, said he had to hire four persons to carry his ailing friend to a nearby village from where he could be taken to a hospital by an ambulance as the vehicle failed to reach their village. The locals then carried the patient on a cot only to see him dead by the time he reached the ambulance. Such incidents are dime a dozen here, Sabar added.
Locals accused the GRS and panchayat executive officer of bungling the funds of MGNREGS released for the construction of roads to the villages. They said they have brought it to the notice of the authorities but to no avail. Children have to walk five kilometres to reach their schools. They demanded the district collector pay notice to their plight and take immediate measures.
When contacted, local BDO Natabar Garada said he was aware of the corruption of MGNREGS road supply to the village. “We are looking into the matter,” he added. PNN
