Our border areas have remained backward and neglected despite tall claims of people in power. A number of developmental schemes announced and supported by the Central Government have not been executed as stipulated. Much money is wasted on unplanned projects. Politics plays the spoil sport because each MLA seeks that only his or her constituency should become the beneficiary of the developmental schemes at the cost of more needy and deserving ones.
The case in point is that during the regime of PDP led Government in 2003, the Government had announced with fanfare that the administration would make Buddhan in Mahore (District Reasi) a model village. The news brought great happiness to the local people and the expectation was that on successful completion of the project, some more villages would be lucky to be taken up as model village. Some elementary work in this connection like raising a community hall and shopping complex was done. Some solar lights were installed, some lanes and drains were constructed and promises of more developmental works were made. But in reality, the life of the model village ended there. Five years have gone by, nobody even remembers that a model village had been announced and something more had to be done about it. Today the condition of Buddhan is that the village lacks even the elementary services like health, education, road connectivity water supply and power. The Government High School with 650 students on roll is run by two teachers and the Headmaster. The Primary Health Centre is run by a medical assistant and a qualified doctor is not available in several panchayats of the area. The lone transformer supplying electric power became dysfunctional in March last and it has not been repaired even after expiry of four months. About road connectivity, the less said the better. There is no asphalted road and one can imagine the dismal condition of vehicular traffic in rainy season. Work on Thuroo-Buddhan road has been suspended for want of adequate funds. The Panchayat Ghar is incomplete and the CAPD store is in dilapidated condition. Sordid stories of deprivation and misery are told by one and all in the village and its adjoining areas. Nobody knows what happened to the Central Governments scheme called Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna because no trace of the project is visible anywhere in this village and around. Out of 14 solar lights installed in the so-called model village, only 2 are functional.
It is a pity that a mockery of democracy has been made in our State. Obviously, when the project of making it a model village was floated, funds were allocated for various schemes. How would the paucity of funds be there when the scheme was meticulously drawn and its blue print made? The bitter fact is that authorities discriminate against far flung rural areas and focus their attention on towns and cities only. The people in far flung and border areas have very little voice that would be heard by powers that be.
This is the condition of a so-called model village and similar is the story of other so called “Model Village” across the State. The condition of health services in border areas of our State especially in too vulnerable areas of Poonch and Rajouri districts is dismal. For miles at end, no medical assistance is available to the villagers who live close to the border and are the worst sufferers of enemy shelling. Many people have lost their lives owing to enemy shelling and many more have been crippled or maimed. Seriously wounded people have to be carried over a distance of a score of miles to arrive at a health centre where the wounded could receive some assistance if the medical practitioners are there and not on holiday. We have reports that the villagers close to Krishna Ghati, where Pakistani shelling is very frequent, are the most unfortunate victims because their wounded have to be carried at least a distance of twenty miles to find a health centre.
We would suggest that under Border development schemes, polyclinics should be provided very close to the villages that are vulnerable to enemy fire and have always been targeted. It should also be possible to build underground medical support structure just on the border line at places where there is large concentration of population.
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