Political secretary to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Sonia Gandhi and Rajya Sabha member Ahmed Patel adopted a tribal village under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana.
Patel adopted Vandri village in Narmada district where the literacy rate is extremely low as compared to other the parts of the State. As per consensus 2011, the literacy rate of Vandri village was 42.46 per cent compared to Gujarat’s 78 per cent. literacy rate among the village in this village is less than 30 per cent.
Strategically Patel adopted a village situated in the tribal belt of Gujarat. It is also worth mentioning that of the total population of Gujarat tribal people are almost 14 per cent.
The villagers are also facing problems of basic amenities including drinking water, primary health and sanitation. The village has less than 5% toilets and over 90% toilets constructed under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan scheme are not usable due to lack of water and other facilities. The nearest bank branch is 45 km away and nearest post office is 12 km away.
According to Gujarat Congress spokesman Manish Doshi, the Plight of telephone network and banking facilities are also pathetic. The village is disconnected during monsoon as one reach Vandri only on foot and that too after 10 km walk.
During the 2002 Godhra riots, Patel initiated the parliamentary discussion on the matter in the Rajya Sabha. In 2004, he played a crucial role in forging a broad based pre-poll alliance for the UPA which saw the party coming back to power that year.
During the tenure of the UPA-I and UPA-II, Patel emerged as the key political figure for the Government. He intervened decisively during the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. Patel was exclusively responsible for managing the Government’s allies and getting them on board on critical legislations.