Aradi: The state and Central governments have been highlighting their development agenda, but their claims seem hollow in the case of Gopalpur village in Shyamsundarpur panchayat of Bhadrak district.
“Development is still a far cry in our village. When election comes, leaders come with loads of promises only to forget them later. Our dream of good roads and healthcare has not been realised,” lamented the villagers.
Their anger is likely to reflect in the coming elections which the villagers have decided to boycott.
Gopalpur has a population of 600, all Dalit families. The village is 1 km away from the main road. A pucca road was laid in 2000, but it is in such a bad shape now that it is unfit for commuting. The villagers have done some patchwork by laying earth and murram on the road.
“Whenever any patient or pregnant woman needs to be hospitalised, he or she is carried on a cot or in a sling up to the main road and then to the hospital,” Manu Mallick, Ranjan Mallick, Musa Mallick, Sukadev Mallick, Pagala Jena, Gobinda Jena and Laxmidhar Mallick of the village said.
The government lays emphasis on complete sanitation, but no family has been provided with toilets under the ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission.
Only four families have got housing units under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana while other families have not been included in the list of beneficiaries. The village has a school with only two teachers to educate 80 students from Class I to V in a room.
A mini Anganwadi runs in a dilapidated cottage. Youths migrate to other states for lack of job opportunities.
Distress sale of paddy has been perennial when the procurement centre is just 5km away from the village, the locals said.
PNN