Sanjeev K. Sharma
BISHNAH: Though the former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Kamal Arora of Bishnah Assembly constituency claimed numerous works to his credit during his tenure, the furious public refuted his long list of claims and said he worked ‘selectively’.
It is pertinent to mention here that Arora won the Legislative Assembly elections of the year 2014 on National Conference ticket after defeating BJP’s Ashwani Sharma.
Most of the public in the constituency rued poor development clubbed with no measures of public welfare and improvement in living conditions of vulnerable border residents during the tenure of Arora.
The Bishnah Assembly constituency has strategic 10 km long hot Indo-Pak border with a total of 42 Panchayats (10 in border belt), two Municipalities-Arnia and Bishnah and two Tehsils-Arnia and Bishnah.
A direct interaction with the public in different pockets of the constituency brought to fore the living conditions of the people here and how their expectations were shattered by their elected representative.
In Bishnah town, Tirath Ram Sharma, 69, a retired Government employee said that former MLA has poor public links and failed to fulfill public expectations.
“I don’t remember if he (Arora) has ever visited us after winning the elections and we will never expect him again,” he said pointing to the dilapidated Bishnah road that required no comment.
However, Sharma informed that lanes and drains in some selected pockets have improved during the tenure of former MLA.
Some kilometres ahead is a village Pratap Singh Pura (Lalyana) where S. Jaspal Singh, 32, a factory worker said none in his village is happy with the working of Arora.
“He was MLA for namesake. Sir, look at the road here. Not only this there are damaged electric poles and old damaged wires hanging at many places which needed replacement along with the transformer but former MLA Arora never did anything here,” he claimed.
Singh also informed that before elections Arora used to daily visit their village but after winning he not even turned.
“He even failed to honour our invitation to join us for a religious congregation at the renowned shrine of Nag Devta temple which has unique curative powers to treat snake bite and other related ailments,” Singh resented.
Another man at the same village, Darshan Kumar-33, a driver by profession too held similar views but added that the former MLA never helped any elder or widow or a physically challenged person to get pension from Social Welfare Department.
Kumar quoted the case of his widow mother in this regard.
He further informed that his village was not given any benefit of toilets being made by the Government free of cost and the MLA never helped the villagers in this regard while officials demanded Rs 4000 as the bribe.
S. Jasbir Singh, 32, a farmer in the same village too held similar views regarding the performance of the former MLA.
At border village Allah, a housewife Sarfo Devi, 50, said that dilapidated lanes and drains in her village are enough to make a good report card about Arora who never felt it important to improve this infrastructure of immediate public importance.
She also said that her children are unemployed and had the former MLA acted responsibly there would be some placement drives, recruitment rallies or skill development programmes in that border area.
Her son Jagdish, 30-a photographer said there is no bunker ready in the village where the villagers may take shelter during border firing from Pakistan side and the former MLA never took it seriously.
This man also claimed that Arora only visited his supporters and party workers and worked for them while the general public suffered lack of development and welfare measures.
Another forward village at Indo-Pak border-Kaku De Kothe too rued absence of development and public welfare and held former MLA responsible for that.
A white bearded tall Sikh man-S. Ujagar Singh, 65, farmer by profession placed at top the problems of border residents.
“When Pakistan starts firing and shelling, people here get killed or injured and same remains the fate of cattle here. The shelling also damages our homes, destroys our crops and children can’t visit schools nor can we work in fields during those days while none has compensated us for all these losses. The former MLA too never visited us in the hour of grief,” he rued.
He quoted an incident when continuous shelling from Pakistan side forced all his family members including him to remain in-door for the entire day and their cattle remained unattended at the shed outside.
Singh also expressed dismay over the unemployment problem in his area and said that all his children work in fields and have no jobs.
This farmer further informed that irrigation facilities in the area are very poor and the canal in his area releases water when it is not required.
Some more kilometres ahead in this border belt is another hamlet Changia which too rued similar problems.
A housewife Poli Devi, 40, in this hamlet informed that they too suffer a lot in cross border firing and shelling from Pakistan and incur massive losses but the former MLA never helped them to get compensation from the authorities concerned.
However, she was astonished to hear about the provisions like ‘Seema Bhawan’ to give temporary shelter to border residents during cross border firing and shelling and informed that they either go to their relatives or are shifted to some school building with no facilities like food, medicines etc during such days of emergency.
At another border village Treva, Amar Nath, 85, too raised similar border firing related issues of damages like loss of cattle, human lives, damages to houses and crops, etc and said that none has compensated them while Arora was never seen in the area in their those painful days.
Nath also rued poor lanes and drains and broken road in his area and said that the former MLA himself knew that it was his first and last tenure as elected public representative so he preferred to avoid meeting his public even during the days of Pak firing and shelling.
The village elder informed that the road in his area was built years back in 1980 and no further improvement was done over it.
“The former MLA never helped any elder or widow or physically challenged person to get pension from the Social Welfare Department. We fill pension forms but no follow up takes place after that,” he said adding that Arora only worked for his loyalists and party workers.
Nath also said that many places in the Constituency required bridges but same were not built.
At border town Arnia, Vinay, 42, a farmer said nothing has been done in his area regarding development by the former MLA during his tenure.
He said that the roads in interiors are in dilapidated condition.
Vinay also raised the shelling related problems like other border dwellers but he agreed that the district administration had given Rs 5000 as compensation to them for damages due to Pakistani shelling.
Vinay also said that the former MLA Arora started no new development work during his tenure and all the ongoing works were previously started.
“During border firing and shelling education of children also gets disturbed apart from other damages and the former MLA never worked to ask schools to waive-off the fee of such affected students or get extra classes arranged for them by the schools to cover the losses they suffered due to closure of schools during border shelling.
In Deoli, Manohar Lal, 42, a shopkeeper rued poor road conditions and poor lanes and drains and no improvement in power infrastructure with hanging wires and rotten poles at very many places in the constituency especially in his village.
He further said that Arora never worked in this regard and only concentrated his loyalists, supporters and party workers.
When contacted former MLA, Kamal Arora claimed that he has done a lot of developmental works in Bishnah constituency.
However, he held the political opposition parties responsible for the public resentment against him and claimed that he gave at least four transformers per village in all the 145 villages of the constituency apart from many electric poles.
On bad roads like Treva, Arnia, Kaku De Kothe etc in the constituency, Arora said that work has been started on all such roads.
However, he lauded Sarore and some other roads for being in very good shape and claimed that link roads, lanes and drains were improved during his tenure.
On pensions to elder people, widows etc, the former MLA said that he wrote to the concerned department and with his efforts about 500 elders in the constituency have started getting pensions.
“I myself live in border town Arnia and always remain with people during firing and shift the injured in my personal vehicles,” Arora claimed adding that Government provided has no arrangement to accommodate border migrants during shelling and firing while he accommodate them in Banquet Halls along with their cattle and at other safe places in village Kool Kalan and Sheeda Chak.
The former MLA also claimed that work on grid station at the cost of Rs 2 crore and 64 lakh was started during his tenure at Agray Chack while capacity of the previous three grid stations have been doubled.
He informed that in his tenure 300-400 transformers were augmented.
On selective working for party workers during his tenure, Arora said that the lanes and roads made during his tenure are not exclusively for his party workers as everyone uses them.
The former MLA expressed dismay that canal at Kaku De Kothe never had water and blamed former PDP-BJP Government for not paying contractors due to which farmers suffered.
“I raised the issue in Assembly and the Minister concerned cut a sorry figure for that,” he informed.
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