By :Sadaket Malik : India is claiming to have progressed in implementing the national flagship programmes like food for all, water for all, health for all, but the rural areas in the state like of Bhalessa in Doda speaks of the real picture of such so-called claims. THE ACCESS to basic amenities including nutrition, health and electricity has receded further in rural area of Bhalessa with more and more countryside leading to human suffering.
Successive governments at the state and Centre ignored the area in all fronts. People seemed out of the so-called e-governance projects and slogans of reaching the unreached.
The upper case hamlets clearly exhibits that they lack access to various basic amenities such as nutrition, health, education, housing, connectivity, security and opportunities for overall future improvement despite implementation of several state as well as Central government sponsored schemes.
The picture reveal from the very recent Eid festival celebrated by the inhabitants of the area with a routine food packets and local ration depots seemed empty of the food grains.
The area of Bhalessa presents a tale of such discrimination on the part of authorities; the depots of ration were either without food or were not surveyed by the authorities to finalise the arrangements for such grand festive.
The local people celebrated Eid with routine chapatti and what we call it as dry food. The tale is that the concerned department failed to supply rice, sugar and other commodities. The area is settled in rural most realty of Jammu and Kashmir. The area is witnessing complete lack of basic amenities like food, electricity, drinking water and health facilities since a month.
It is very sad to say that despite landmark achievements in interior areas of the region, the area is still confronting the step motherly treatment. The area is being ignored by the successive governments in all aspects. The people here are thriving below poverty line and barely manage their socio-economic life.
The area is home of Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the area faced acute shortage of health like non availability of lady gynecologists, pediatricians and an efficient health care. The area is having one sub-district hospital at Gandoh which too lacks staff. The areas like Chilly, Bhatyas, Khaljugasar, Gingota, Jitota, and Kahara face acute shortage of health care facilities. It becomes very difficult for a pregnant woman to reach Doda and Jammu for safe delivery.
This nelson’s eye towards the so-called health for all programmes and provision ofbasic amenities has created a resentent among the local masses. The elderly of the area are also at a bad condition as they don’t receive basic health care facilities in time. This negligence on the part of the successive governments has led the people to come on the streets to protest against the authorities reluctant to act.
“It is quite shocking that this area lacks even basic facilities of electricity, water and health care facilities,” said a local Mohammed Alyas Batt in response to my query regarding the basic amenities in the area.
Besides urges, appeals by locals and a protest on the eve of Eid at Gowari by the locals, the area still witness a complete shortage of food, water, health care facilities and power curtailments. On the one hand, people are on the streets and government is sleeping and not in a position to mitigate woes of the poor populace of the area.
However, the local non-government organisations (NGOs) and educational organisations have threatened for shut down call if the basic necessities are not provided to them. About a dozen villages in the Gandoh belt, comprising a population of 50,000 lack all health and water facilities.
The area need to be brought under special economic initiatives of the Central and state governments so as to achieve the slogan of reaching the unreached otherwise the national flagship programmes can remain illusive and futile.