Querim is far from being an ideal village

NIRGOSH GAUDE | NT

Querim: Querim village in Ponda taluka was adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana by Union minister Shripad Naik in 2017. But the village is yet to see completion of any initiative proposed under the SAGY.

The Querim village panchayat has proposed around 514 development works including new roads, footbridges, compound walls, gutters, steps, wells and many others. But information obtained though a RTI plea has revealed that of the 514 projects,  work on only six projects   has been launched recently. It is interesting to note here that the six SAGY works are not new initiatives but are repair works on the existing structures which include wells, steps, a water canal, a water tank, a temple tank and a bandhara.

The total estimated cost of these six works is around Rs 9.50 lakh, while the total estimated cost of all the 514 development works has been pegged at over Rs 1 crore. And the work for these projects has not actually begun – only foundation stones have been laid so far.

Villagers recall that the village had been adopted with a lot of zeal and fanfare.

But after a few months the zeal to make Querim a model village lost the momentum.

During the launching of the Adarsh Gram programme in October 2017, Naik had assured villagers of development of village in three years.

Querim, a remote village in the taluka, has around 1200 households with population of over 5,000. Some 80 per cent of the population belongs to the scheduled tribe, and they live in hilly areas. The tribals do not have proper access road, and very few of them have water connections.

Some 300 households do not have toilets.

The villagers, who are hopeful of all-round development of the village, express their anger against demonetisation, GST, petrol prices and inflation.