The Report - North 24 Parganas

I am facing, who will take care of them? I am not answerable to BDO Sahib.”Mahendra is angry that such things should have been said. “There is one moreproblem that we are facing and that is of electricity. We’ve been told that thepermission has been granted but I see no trace of the poles being set up or anysuch thing,” Mahendra adds. The roads also need to be made properly, he says.Presently the roads are laid with bricks and that is a relief but they are properroads. Mahendra wants proper roads for the village. When asked about whatother things would the STs of Sardar’s village want the NREGA to do for them,Mahendra says that there are a few ponds in the village that need to becleaned from time to time to keep them useable. “It would be a great help if theNREGA does this,” he says.Mahendra wants NREGA to work on the roads and the ponds. He also says thatthe ponds being dug by NREGA is about eight feet deep which is not enough tokeep water in it for long. He says that if the ponds were at least ten or twelve feetdeep then they would survive during the dry seasons. He adds that as the waterwould be used for irrigation, water in the pond would finish soon.In conclusion it can be said that at higher executive levels of the Gram Pnchayator the BDO office the NREGA Project for the STs has and is perhaps still is beingneglected. Job cards are being issued to show to the people that something isbeing done but in reality no concrete steps are being taken or even if so, theyare taking far too long to execute them, long enough for the ST community tolose faith in the government’s promises. If, as has happened with this particularrespondent, the NREGA Project is undertaken swiftly and efficiently instead of thepersonal interventions of Mr. Raos and Ms. Seths then perhaps the hand to mouthsituation of the ST community would see some relief.Another point to be noted is the fact that the depths of the ponds are only eightfeet, which according to the villagers would not be enough to hold water duringthe dry seasons. It remains a question therefore that why the officials who aredeciding these factors at the government level or at the NREGA level, are notmaking a proper survey of the actual situation before issuing work orders? If theponds dry up during certain seasons of the year then what is the use of havingdug them at all?It has been mentioned by Mahendra Sardar that some of the existing pondsneed to be cut and cleaned on a regular basis so that people could use them.The NREGA should look into the possibility of having this done to further help thevillagers.