Shutrana left to fend for itself

Gagan K Teja

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Travelling on the state highway No. 10, we get a glimpse of Dedna in Shutrana Assembly segment. This sleepy village silently conceals the tragedies of dozens of households that have lost their breadwinners to cancer over the past decade.

Mardo (65) stays with her two daughters-in-law and four grandchildren. Her husband and younger son succumbed to the dreaded disease, while her elder son was electrocuted six years ago. Her younger son’s widow, Soni Rani, blames contaminated water for the spread of cancer in the area. “Not everyone can afford an RO system, while the government is least bothered about the grave problem,” she says. Mardo and her daughters-in-law have applied for the old-age and widow pensions, but they are yet to benefit from the government schemes.

“Election vele te palla add add vote mangda si sarpanch, hun jado main apne neele card te pension lavaon bare puchdi haan te bas ik hi jawab denda hai: ‘Sarkar bana nahi rahi’. Ede ch mera ki kasoor hai? (During the elections, the sarpanch was begging for votes. Now when I ask him about my BPL card and old-age pension, he says the government is not issuing the same. What’s my fault?),” asks Mardo, in all innocence.

Hers is not a solitary case. Lajja Ram and Shanti Devi survived cancer, but have lost the fight against political favouritism (sifarish). Their pension forms have been rejected twice. For them, the construction of a few streets and drains is all that has been done in the name of development. They declare, “Asi Congress nu vote pawange. Akalian ne te saada kuch kita nahi te Aam Aadmi Party da te hale aap da koi thikana nahi (We will vote for the Congress as the Akalis have not done anything for us and AAP is yet to find its feet).”

The next stopover is Shutrana village, the largest in the constituency with eight panchayats and about 15,000 voters. Before entering the village, we happen to meet Malwinder Singh (45), a physically challenged man. When asked about the development works carried out in the area, he puts it tersely, “Don’t speak to anyone. Just take a round of the village firni and then decide for yourself. Hopefully, you will understand what I am trying to tell you.”

It's a sight one can never forget. About 15 young villagers, with spades in their hands and their feet sunk in sewage, are trying to clear a blocked drain. The foul smell is revolting. There’s nothing scenic about the village pond: Pigs are wallowing in the filthy water and garbage is dumped all around. And one loses count of the potholes on the roads.

Hemdeep Singh of Ghaggo Patti says Akali MLA Vaninder Kaur Loomba only visits the houses of her party’s supporters. “The villagers themselves contributed the money and got the sewerage lines laid, with a bit of help from the state government, through their personal contacts. The MLA did not pay any attention. In the absence of a drainage system, the entire task of cleaning street drains is executed by the villagers. And you still ask about the MLA’s ‘performance’,” he quips.

Loomba, the first female legislator from the constituency, has initiated development, but it is selective at best. While drains and roads have been constructed in many villages, there is a large area that is still crying for basic amenities. However, the MLA claims that she has completed 80 per cent of the works planned for the villages.

The key issues of education and healthcare remain unaddressed. Loomba, in her local manifesto, had promised to set up a girls' college, a civil hospital and a stadium, but there is no progress on this front. The constituency's lone government college, located at Nial, doesn’t have adequate staff to handle the high intake of students. For higher education, they have to travel to Samana or Patiala. Many girls have been forced to discontinue studies as there is no college exclusively for them in the area. In the absence of a civil hospital, patients have to be rushed to Samana or Patiala in case of an emergency.

Comprising 97 villages and 144 panchayats, Shutrana has over 1.55 lakh voters. It is dominated by Scheduled Caste voters (about 38 per cent), followed by Jat Sikhs (32 per cent). Carved out of Samana Assembly seat, Shutrana witnessed its first elections in 1977. Since then, the voters have elected candidates of the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Congress and the SAD.

In the past three elections, it has been a bipolar contest between the SAD and the Congress. The equations have changed this time with the emergence of AAP. The latter has fielded computer science diploma holder Palwinder Kaur (37), sarpanch of Haryou village and one of the founder members of the party in the area.

The SAD has again reposed faith in Loomba, but uniting the party workers will be a tough task for her. While her image is largely perceived to be clean, there is resentment over the interference of one of her family members, due to which even staunch Akali supporters stand divided.

The Congress ticket aspirants, including Amit Rattan, Sewa Ram Mashal, Dr Bahadur Singh and Parminder Singh, are opposing former MLA and 2012 poll nominee Nirmal Singh. Kabir Dass, former senior deputy mayor of the Patiala Municipal Corporation and a former PPCC general secretary, who was also seeking the party ticket from Shutrana, has already switched over to the SAD.

Most of the people are holding their cards close to their chest. When asked whom they would support in the elections, they simply say: “Dekhange (we will see).”

Gurdeep Kaur of Momia village sums it up shrewdly, “Time hi dasu (Only time will tell).”