The Prime Minister has adopted three villages — Jayapur, Nagepur and Kakrahia — near Varanasi since the general elections of 2014. The residents of Nagepur and Jayapur seem happy with their special status, and claim their lives have improved considerably since the introduction of the PM’s flagship schemes for rural electrification, sanitation and access to clean cooking fuel, namely the Saubhagya or Pradhan Mantri Har Ghar Bijli Yojna, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, respectively. However, gaps in the government database deprive a chunk of the villagers from enjoying the promised benefits. In Jayapur, two 25 KV solar panels were installed at a cost of ₹70 lakh to supply electricity for 12-13 hours a day. However, batteries were stolen over time, and the streets have plunged into darkness once again — 80 of the 135 streetlights in the village have not been working since their installation in 2015. Some toilets lie unused, and vandalism and theft of public property continues. Newly-constructed roads are slowly falling into desrepair.
Kamal Narang