Keonjhar: Residents of Raikala village under Jhumpura block of this district are expecting that new Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will solve all their problems as he is a ‘son of the soil’. The village has six hamlets each of which is known as ‘Sahi’.
However, the ‘Sahi’ where Majhi once resided has been renamed ‘MLA Sahi’ after he was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly for the first time in 2004. Raikala wore a deserted look Wednesday with most of its residents going to Bhubaneswar to be a part of Majhi’s swearing-in ceremony. His family members are yet to return here from Bhubaneswar where they have gone to be a part of the historic occasion. The house where Majhi resided in the village is locked.
Locals informed that since Majhi’s name was finalised as Chief Minister, 10 armed security personnel have been guarding his residence round the clock. The village has a total of 352 houses with 1,652 inhabitants. The residents are happy as a ‘son of the soil’ has become the chief minister after being elected as an MLA four times. They are hopeful that their sufferings will ease and the living conditions in the village will improve. Budharam, one of the uncles of the new chief minister said that people of this area mostly depend on cultivation as their main source of livelihood while some are employed. He pointed out that the village has connectivity and drinking water problems. The stretch from the main road to the village is in need of urgent repair work, Budharam stated. He added that during summer the village suffers from acute water crisis. However, with Majhi at the helm of affairs, he is hopeful that these problems will be addressed soon. Khageswar Mohanta, a resident of Raikala said that track connecting the village to the main road is in urgent need of repair. He said that it was built when Majhi was elected for the first time as an MLA.
However, since then it has suffered a lot of wear and tear. Mohanta also said that an overhead water tank was constructed in the village last year. However, it has not yet been connected to the households. Hence people still have to depend on tube wells for drinking water. Many villagers pointed out that they do not have a proper house to live in. They are hoping that the new CM will look into their problems. Inhabitant Rukmini Mahanta informed that there are no street lights on the village road and hence people have to move in the dark. She added that if solar lights are installed in the village it will be a huge benefit for the residents.