Lockdown has brought with it hardships of different nature but for those living in far flung rural areas it is a routine matter as in the absence of connecting roads to their villages it’s a daily affair of travelling long distances on foot and they simply don’t have any choice except to carry even their patients on their shoulders. It’s not only Bhomag area or Aroghe village of Udhampur district or Kothru in district Reasi or Saurjandhar and Bagdhar, there are many such areas, some getting highlighted when their pathetic living conditions are highlighted by media but majority just get unnoticed and the tormenting life of these villages goes on and on even after seventy two years of independence. Providing basic facilities like connecting roads should be the foremost priority of the Government especially in this age of Digital India. But all talks and no works is the hallmark of false narrative of development.
Tall claims of awards for UT of Jammu and Kashmir under centrally-sponsored Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), which is a mega flagship programme with the main objective of providing connectivity to rural areas mean nothing practically for these remote villages though Jammu and Kashmir. The programme is being implemented by the Public Works (Roads and Buildings) department of the Union Territory. But all these claims just fall flat once we start reality check as village after village, district after district of both Jammu as well as Kashmir Division have similar stories of official apathy. To carry critically old persons on shoulders or pregnant ladies on a palanquin is herculean task itself. One cannot imagine the hardship being faced by persons living there and it will be a better idea for administration to include these villages in much hyped ‘Back to Village’ programme. Let Ministers, MPs and officials themselves decide whether this is a basic necessity for normal day to day life or it is a luxury to have even simple road connectivity.
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