Martyr’s village awaits funds

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Nawanshahr, July 25

Three years after Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village Khatkar Kalan was adopted by the Centre under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana as a special case, works for just Rs 5 lakh have been executed so far.

The announcement was made by then Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats Chaudhary Birender Singh in the presence of Anandpur Sahib SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra during the martyr’s birth anniversary function on September 28, 2015.

Birender Singh had also announced that under the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission, Rs 50-55 crore would be spent on roads, power and water supply and internet connectivity in Khatkar Kalan and surrounding villages. This scheme too did not materialise. He had also laid the foundation stone of a water supply scheme in the village for Rs 14.71 lakh the same day, the funds for which are still awaited.

Village sarpanch Sukhwinder Singh rued, “For three years, we have been awaiting grants. We only got 28 solar streetlights for village roads for Rs 3.27 lakh, besides some renovation work at anganwadi for Rs 1.69 lakh. This too came in the first year and nothing came for the subsequent two years. We have been awaiting funds for laying of pipelines and water metering in the village under the water supply scheme, but to no avail.”

Chandumajra said, “I adopted three villages under the scheme, first being Daun in Mohali, second Khatkar Kalan and third Lodhipur in Anandpur Sahib. While I could do some works in Daun, it was difficult to spare funds under the MPLAD scheme for one village of a parliamentary constituency.” “We will try to get some funds released from the Department of Cultural Affairs for the martyr’s village,” he said.