A 65-year-old woman’s statement and subsequent questions at a public grievance hearing camp at Mahakalpara in Kendrapara not only took the officials of the district administration aback but also put a huge question mark on the efficiency of the government.
As it happened, an old woman named Bhakta from Shabarapalli village under the Mahakalpara block entered the public grievance hearing camp, which was held at the Block Head Quarters (BHQ) on Tuesday, and alleged that her village does not have a road even after 77 years of Independence.
She alleged, “Politicians promise road and other basic amenities before every elections but they forget their promises soon after that. Pregnant women and patients of Shabarapalli face difficulty to get to the nearest health centre because ambulance cannot reach their village because of absence of a pucca road.”
“Villagers have to carry the patients in make-shift stretchers to get to the nearest town,” she said.
The woman did not stop there. When the officials assured her to build a road, she asked them, “When”.
Earlier, a similar incident caught the attention of the intellectuals when a four-year-old girl’s speech forced the Koraput district administration to swing into action and reach the village that was allegedly languishing in neglect.
During her cute speech on the Independence Day, she narrated, “There is no road connectivity to our village. We are facing problems. We don’t have a drinking water facility. There is no well or tube well in our village. We are collecting water from a pit. Whenever anyone falls ill, we carry him on a cot to medical. As there is no telecom tower, we can’t use mobile phones. The government officials are telling about the development of the village. But no development has taken place in our village.”