2 months on, Haryana’s 1st village sectt ‘powerless’

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jind, July 2

More than two months after being inaugurated, Haryana’s first village administrative complex in Haibatpur village is a shambles.

Unveiled by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on April 12, the “village secretariat” in this village of Jind district was meant to provide quick government services to villagers and those of the surrounding areas. Though the CM had announced that the building was equipped with all modern facilities, it is still incomplete and lacks electricity connection.

“I come here every Thursday. It’s really tough to sit here as neither electricity nor potable water is available in the building,” said Agriculture Development Officer Narinder Kumar.

Hanging electricity wires, incomplete bathroom, locked rooms and lack of supervision give a deserted look to the 16-room building that was reportedly completed in the first week of April with a grant of Rs 48 lakh on an area of 8,000 square feet.

Only the computer room has a temporary power connection, which again has been taken from an adjoining house.

“The authorities’ non-seriousness has rendered such an important project useless. The villagers are disappointed with the CM, who never bothered to check the working of the state’s first administrative complex,” said Surinder Kumar, a villager.

Haibatpur’s gram secretary Ramesh Kumar said: “We deposited the required security amount to the authorities concerned today for a regular electricity connection but nobody assured us of a speedy action.” Amit Kamboj, Jind Executive Engineer of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Yogesh Mehta did not respond to repeated phone calls.

The village secretariat offers all government services such as issuance of Aadhaar cards and other certificates, PAN card, online passport application submission and online complaint submission to villagers under one roof.