BERHAMPUR: People of Sudra gram panchayat under Baliguda block of Kandhamal district had hoped for rapid progress after Phulbani MP Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh adopted their villages under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).

However, with lack of basic amenities plaguing the panchayat comprising 18 wards, with a total population of over 14,000, the much-touted SAGY, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, has failed to make any impact on the lives of the people here. The scheme requires the MPs to adopt at least one model village in their constituency and develop it so that it serves as a model for others in the area.

Villages in the panchayat including Kutami, Gudiguda, Laberamba, Kataki, Kajuklapi, Sinapada, Sikati, Gadangi, Gaindi, Ambabadi, Dakadama and Sinjami have no roads and electricity. What’s worse the villagers have to walk 17 km to reach the nearest hospital at Baliguda to avail health care. Locals alleged that in the absence of road, they are forced to walk through hilly terrain to reach Sudra to avail transport for Baliguda. They said politicians visit them before elections and vanish after polls are over. Even as this has become a common refrain across the country, it was not expected by people of the panchayat which was supposed to be a model for others in the district.

Yet another issue prevalent in the panchayat is scarcity of safe drinking water. The problem has become acute. The residents of Upara street and Tala street in Sudra depend on one well at Masani street for their daily water needs. Quarrels among families are routine while standing in queue to collect water. “The residents who do not want to get into a tiff, collect water from a half-dried nullah, situated 1  km from the village,” said Rampati Malik, the Panchayat Samiti member of Sudra. The village has been provided with Rural Water Supply and Sanitation project and even pipelines have been laid, but water scarcity still remains a pertinent issue.

Expressing his anguish over the callous attitude of elected leaders and Government officials, Malik said despite repeated appeals, no step has been taken to resolve the villagers’ problems. “After the village was adopted by the MP, the residents had hoped their woes would end. However, the situation remains the same,” he said, adding even as plans have been made to implement different schemes in the panchayat, the officials concerned express their helplessness by saying no money has been released from MPLAD funds for the purpose.
Now, the people of the panchayat have decided to give a fitting reply to the politicians in the ensuing polls.