Adopted by MP, Kangra village yet to see growth

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, January 3

Nearly two years ago, when Rajya Sabha MP Vipolve Thakur adopted Masroor village in Kangra under the Central Government’s Sansand Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY), residents hoped for a better future. However, little has changed to date in Masroor village, which is known for its rock-cut temple or Himalayan Pyramid in the Kangra valley.

Under the scheme, 26 projects relating to infrastructure development, basic amenities and economic development of the panchayat had been proposed. These projects were scheduled to be completed within a period of three to 15 months. However, a number of them have yet to take off or are stuck midway for want of requisite funds.

National Forum for People Rights general secretary Satish Kumar lamented that inhabitants of the panchayat were facing hardship due lack of road connectivity, healthcare and education facilities, etc. Kumar, who had submitted a complaint in this regard to the state government through e.samadhan, an online public grievance monitoring system, said despite their several memorandums to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, nothing had been done for the betterment of villagers.

He lamented that in the absence of potable water, poor road connectivity, erratic power supply and other essential amenities, residents were going through a horrible time.

He alleged that the Rajya Sabha MP was not releasing any funds for undertaking development activities meant to uplift people of the area under the village scheme.

He said the local gram panchayat was interested in carrying out development work but without funds it was helpless. The forum general secretary alleged that the state government had not initiated any development work under the SAGY. He pointed out the forum had also written several complaints to the state government, Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Prime Minister’s Office but no action had been taken for undertaking any development activity under SAGY. Despite repeated attempts, Thakur couldn’’t be contacted.