The Indira Awas Yojana in the Poonch district of Jammu & Kashmir might be promising houses but the villagers are demanding roads first. By Qadir Ashrafi
Last month, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, reviewed the progress of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in a meeting held at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar. While stressing upon maintaining the quality of roads, he directed the concerned officials to strictly adhere to the project timelines. The focus of the LG reflects not only the strategic significance of the territorial connectivity in remote, hilly regions but also stresses upon ‘roads’ being an important indicator of development. It is through roads that people residing in these tough, mountainous corners of this newly-announced Union Territory will be able to participate in development of the country. However, the condition of roads in several difficult-to-reach areas needs immediate attention of the administration.
In the border district of Poonch, located 250 km from Jammu city, many villages still lack road connectivity. Malhan, the smallest Panchayat of Surankot tehsil in Poonch, is one of the many areas where road connectivity has been one of the most pressing issues for several years now. In 2012, the initiation of work for road construction between Sehri Khawaja to Ziarat Sharif Maidan had brought a new ray of hope for the villagers. The idea of not having to go through difficult mountainous trails during extreme weather conditions provided a sense of comfort to them. But the happiness was short-lived as due to some internal reasons, the construction was put on hold. Now, it’s been eight years, and people here are still awaiting that road construction to go on the floors again and connect them with the town.
“We had given up our land for the department to pave the road. Villagers sacrificed their fields and gardens for the larger good of the entire community that faces several challenges while commuting through the kutcha roads,” shared the villagers who have not received any compensation for the land they had given up. According to them, officials from the department visit the area only to leave after giving them assurances, which have not yet been materialised into anything concrete in the last eight years.
During his Poonch visit in July this year, the former LG Girish Chandra Murmu, the predecessor to LG Manoj Sinha, had also focussed on the construction of roads. That time, the chief of the concerned department had visited the village and had promised the villagers that the matter will be resolved at the earliest and the road will be completed, however, only to no relief.
“The road belongs to my ward. Its incomplete construction has become a hindrance in other works of development in the entire Panchayat. To attract the attention of the concerned authority, this Panchayat had even boycotted the second phase of the programme, ‘Back to Village’ run by the Central Government, but to no avail,” explained Shamim Akhter, the Panch of Ward No 5.
Adding to the complication, the Panchayat has recently received guidelines from the district department that the construction of houses under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) should be completed within three months. The beneficiaries of the scheme were waiting for the road to be constructed as without it building a house will be quite difficult. If they do not obey the orders, they will have to return the installment that has come into their accounts along with an interest. “That’s the dilemma. If the road issue isn’t resolved soon, I will not be able to benefit from the IAY scheme. Construction of roads need to be completed first and then the houses should be built,” shared Abdul Khaliq, one of the beneficiaries of the IAY scheme.
Not just construction of the houses but the development challenges of such isolated villages can be addressed easily once they are connected via roads. Reaching schools, hospitals and town for work and other needs will become easier. The emphasis of the current administration on construction of roads in rural areas is surely a positive sign. It is this belief in the government that people of this village are waiting patiently for their dreams to be fulfilled.
—Charkha Features