Ajay Raina
Despite rapid transformation in its texture, RS Pura Constituency has remained choked with various civic problems for the past over six decades. On the one hand, where some people appreciated the role of their MLA Gharu Ram Bhagat in carrying out developmental works in different areas of the constituency, some people took him to task by saying that their MLA has done nothing in their favour.
Comprising of over 100 villages, RS Pura Constituency is spread on a wide area having various colonies including Indira Nagar, Brij Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Nandpur, Tinda Kalan, Simbal Camp, Prem Nagar, Miran Sahib, Nai Basti, Shiv Nagar, Ben Sultan, Kalyana, Phinder, Kotli Mian Fateh, Jinder Malu, etc.
Due to non-availability of basic amenities including water, power, roads, lanes and drains, etc, the residents of RS Pura Constituency are going through tough times, but MLA’s response to all this plight is just assurance and nothing else.
While taking a round of the constituency, it was found that the lanes and drains remained choked but no steps have been taken regarding the sanitary condition either by Municipal Committee or by the MLA, which led to health hazard many times.
The main road connecting various villages is having pot-holes, which sometimes prove fatal for the commuters especially during the night.
The condition of the main town RS Pura comprising of 13 wards worsens day-by-day. Dilapidated condition of roads, lanes and drains, unscheduled power cuts and erratic water supply are the main problems which came to fore while interacting with the people, which according to them, their MLA has failed to take up with the concerned authorities aggressively.
Regarding educational infrastructure in the area, students of Government Degree College (GDS) RS Pura are facing manifold problems as there are only 7 to 8 rooms where around 1000 students are studying presently. “How students manage to study in these over half dozen rooms where laboratory, computer lab, etc works are also carried out simultaneously is beyond one’s imagination. The problems faced by students on account of it have not stirred the conscience of the MLA”, which has raised the level of anguish among them against the MLA.
However, the standard of education in the RS Pura has shown some positive signs as the MLA has upgraded around five Government Schools to High School and Higher Secondary levels.
A student of Government Degree College RS Pura said that MLA should be one who can come up to the expectations of the people of his constituency by bringing development projects and taking advantage of various welfare and poverty eradication schemes.
“Our MLA never took keen interest towards the youth of his constituency and how we can expect that he can solve the civic problems of the area. We continue to compromise with our studies as only few rooms are here in this college in which around 1000 students study”, he added.
Tarsem Lal, a Retired Professor said that the education standard has seen some change as many schools were upgraded by the MLA, he said, adding that a GDC RS Pura also needs additional classrooms as it caters to hundreds of students.
RS Pura Constituency is almost a ‘Farming Community’ and its Basmati Rice is world wide famous. The demand of the farmers was of declaring RS Pura as ‘Basmati Zone’ at par with ‘Saffron Zone’ in Kashmir, but the MLA has paid least heed towards this, which will somewhere create hurdles for the MLA to represent the constituency in the Legislative Assembly again.
The Ranbir Canal water, the only lifeline of the farmers for cultivation is being used by the ‘Brick Kiln’ owners, which has also raised the level of anguish among the farmers.
Tejinder Singh, a farmer while narrating the ordeal of farmers of RS Pura Constituency said that the farming community is feeling neglected by the MLA, as none of their issues including water and power required for farming have been properly attended to by him.
“RS Pura is at the tail end of Ranbir Canal and the water level is so low, that it becomes very difficult for the farmers to cultivate their land”, he said. The theft of canal water is a common issue here as every farmer needs water for cultivation and sometimes, these thefts of water have led to clashes, Singh said, adding that their MLA shows least concern toward this problem.
“MLA should be one who not only listens to the plight of the people of his constituency but should also work day and night to get the issues redressed”, said Sunil Sharma of RS Pura town.
He added that their MLA is least bothered about the problems of the people especially farming community and if this situation continues, a time will come, when no farmer will cultivate his land. This will jolt not only J&K but outsiders also, as maximum Basmati rice is grown here and is popular world-wide”, he added.
There is no proper way of disposing of household waste. All the waste of the main town RS Pura gets accumulated in “Purkhoo Nallah”, which is never cleared due to which the drainage system of the RS Pura town remains almost choked.
Dinesh Sudan, a resident of Indira Nagar told that the developmental works in his area have taken place but not up to the mark. Many lanes and drains are in deplorable condition and the issues have been taken up with the MLA by senior citizens of the locality, but nothing has been done so far in this regard.
Anu Bharti, a housewife residing in one of the wards of RS Pura town said that RS Pura has not seen much change during the tenure of their MLA as condition of roads, lanes and drains and developmental works is the same as was six years before.
“The deplorable condition of the roads, choked drains, scarcity of water and unscheduled power cuts are the major problems being faced by the people, but no positive steps have been taken by the MLA in this regards”, she added.
Earlier, many youths in the constituency were desired to join the para-military services to serve the Nation, but MLA’s least concerned toward their future has forced them to work in their agriculture fields or private companies.
While interacting with the youths of area, it came to fore that recruitment drive for this border belt was held some 20 years back and since then, no recruitment drive have been conducted.
“No recruitment drives have been conducted for the youth of RS Pura constituency in the para-military forces, which is compelling the youth to join hands with their old age family business ‘agriculture’ leading to anguish among the youth”, said Vishal Sharma, a Post Graduate student.
He said that despite being highly qualified, the youth of RS Constituency feel neglected as their MLA never took up the recruitment drive issue in the para military forces with the concerned authorities.
The construction work of new Revenue Office inaugurated by Former Minister RS Chib along with MLA Gharu Ram some three years back has been stopped by the concerned Contractor due to non-payment of pending dues.
The already hellish condition of the main town RS Pura is compounded by the road side parking by the people and encroachment by shopkeepers, which results in constant traffic jams. Sometimes it becomes too difficult to ride a two wheeler on this road, which connects Jammu and Tourist Spot ‘Suchetgarh’.
The main town RS Pura witnesses traffic snarls various times especially during office-school hours, as the road is encroached by shopkeepers and no one takes steps in this regard, Sunil Sharma, a private company employee said, adding that ill-manned parking by the people is also one of the reasons behind the jams.
The pavilion work inside Bana Singh Stadium has been stopped, due to the reasons best known to the authorities, but local people say that the MLA never tried to intervene in the matter.
The residents of Miran Sahib while sharing their experience of past six years said that their area has noticed development, but the basic amenities including scarcity of water and unscheduled power cuts always remain unattended to by the concerned authorities.
Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Miran Sahib said that the residents of the area were demanding Miran Sahib to be undertaken by Municipal Corporation since long and this issue was on various times taken up with the MLA, but nothing has been done in this regard, which left the issues of choked drains and dilapidated condition of roads unattended.
Talking about the transport facilities to various far-flung villages of RS Pura constituency, the people said that they are still using ‘horse-cart’ to reach their destination, as the transport services are not available.
Suman Sharma, a student hailing from village Abdullian of Suchetgarh constituency said that she has to travel on horse-cart to attend school in RS Pura and to go back to home. The bus and mini-bus facilities to her village are almost zero, she added.
“If the students do not use the facilities of horse-cart, many of the students residing in far-flung areas can not study”, she added. “What have MLAs of both RS Pura and Suchetgarh Constituencies have done to provide transport facilities to the school/college going students”, she questioned.
When all these issues were taken up with MLA Gharu Ram Bhagat, he said the grievances of the people are justified and all the issues including basic facilities will be redressed in the time to come.
Regarding the issues of farming community and youth, MLA failed to give satisfactory reply.
He said that the issues of farming community and youth will be redressed at the earliest, but did not mention how much time he will take, as many issues of the farmers and youths of the constituency remained unattended for several years.
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