Telkoi: The government spends crores of rupees on several schemes and programmes for the uplift of tribals, but some Juanga families living in Sinduria under Telkoi block in Keonjhar have remained backward and neglected.
Though the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) is working to push the tribals’ socio-economic development, there has been little change in the miserable condition of 22 families living here.
Allegations are galore that these families lack basic facilities such as road connectivity, healthcare, education, power supply and drinking water.
“The village is far from development. The villagers face a lot of difficulties in the absence of a proper road to the panchayat headquarters, five km away. People face many problems while negotiating a forested track to reach the panchayat office. Healthcare has been a dream and people are compelled to approach traditional healers and quacks whenever someone falls sick,” lamented ward member Gurubari Kissan.
In the absence of a school, the village kids are deprived of education. Besides, all the villagers are illiterate.
“While the government has been carrying out projects to ensure safe drinking water under Swajaldhara scheme, the villagers are yet to get such facilities. The residents have to depend on hill streams to meet their needs for drinking water and ablution,” rued residents Ashok Kisan, Iswar Kisan, Maheswar Kisan and Ballabh Kisan.
Anganwadi centres are being set up to promote pre-schooling for kids, infuse supplementary nutrition and immunisation for both kids and pregnant women, but this tribal village has no such facility.
Sarpanch Sabitri Juanga said that a hill stream is a major hurdle for road connectivity to the panchayat headquarters. The other main problem is drinking water. Though there was a plan to construct a tube well in the village, it has not materialised because the vehicle that carries the machinery could not access the village due to bad road conditions, the sarpanch said.
Overall, modern development that is being witnessed by some rural areas has remained a dream for the primitive tribal families living in this village. PNN