Bhubaneswar/Keonjhar : The Baragoda village under the Banspal Block of Keonjhar district is one of the remote areas where development has totally shunned the rural population who are mostly tribals. The 2019 elections however seemed to be having a ripple effect even in such corners.
This village is pre-dominated by the Juang tribe. While majority of the houses in this villages are kuccha ones despite the boasting of the BJD of ensuring pucca houses to the poor and reaching out to the under-privileged, this village tells a sordid tale of government apathy.
Villagers living in the area claim they hardly get to see light and electricity during normal course of timing but with the elections nearing, electricity supply and promises of the local political leaders and elected representatives are reaching out to them at regular intervals.
“We hardly get to see electricity in our village. Although electric poles have been installed in our villages for years, the electricity hardly ever stays. But the electricity department does not delay in giving us bills for electricity connections,” said Patali Juang, a resident of the village.
He also added, “Now as the elections are near we are suddenly getting electricity for few hours. Moreover, promises by local leaders to make pucca houses and ensuring our welfare have also increased. Hope such promises are actually fulfilled.”
The village not only suffers from electricity woes, sanitation issues and lack of pucca houses but drinking water projects also seem to have eluded the area totally. The women, kids and the youths of the village are now used to carry pots on their head to bring water from the nearby water streams emanating from the mountains as drinking water source from the government side is a Utopian dream for the people here.
“We do not have a single source from where we can get drinking water. We rely on the water streams and nearby ponds, pits to derive water which could be used for drinking, washing utensils, cloths and also for taking bath. Nobody from the political parties ever bothered to take care of us,” said Hari Juang, a villager from the area.
Most of the government schemes seemed to have failed to reach this area. Villagers told Orissa POST that with the absence of safe drinking water source, villagers are forced to drinking contaminated water which often plays havoc with the health of children in the area as diarrhea and skin ailments are regular visitors to this village. But to seek medical aid, the villagers are forced to travels more than 20 kms.