CURATED BY – RAJIV KHARE | CITYCHIEFNEWS

Kanker, Lack of basic amenities has become a big problem in Mankot village located in Amabeda tehsil of Kanker district of Chhattisgarh. The lack of essential services like electricity, roads and clean drinking water in the village has made the life of the villagers extremely difficult. The lack of basic necessities in this village with a population of about 60 families has exposed the truth of government schemes and rural development.

Even after 75 years of independence, electricity has not reached Mankot village. Villagers hear assurances during elections every time, but electricity has not reached the village till date. Children are forced to study in the light of torches. At the same time, people have to go to other villages for mobile charging and other electronic needs.
The Government of India had set a target of providing electricity to every village and house under the Rashtriya Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) in 2005 and Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) in 2015. According to government data, electricity had reached 100% of the villages in the country by 2018, but the reality is that this claim is not completely true in the remote areas of many states like Chhattisgarh. According to the rural electrification data of 2021, 2.8% of the villages in Chhattisgarh are still deprived of electricity.

To reach Mankot village, the villagers have built a five-kilometer-long kutcha road by volunteering. But this road gets washed away during the rainy season, cutting off the village from the mainstream. Due to this, sick persons have to be carried on cots to be taken to the hospital.

The condition of drinking water in the village is even more pathetic. Villagers are using wells and jhirias, but these sources also dry up in summer. Under the Nal-Jal Yojana, water tanks and pipelines were laid in the village in 2020. About Rs 80 lakh was spent for this, but only a few families got the benefit of this project.

The villagers informed the district administration about these problems several times, but no concrete solution has been initiated so far. District Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Haresh Mandavi said that this matter is in his knowledge. Development work will be given priority as soon as the election code of conduct ends.

In states like Chhattisgarh, where governments talk about emphasizing the development of tribal and backward areas, villages like Mankot are still deprived of the light of development. The villagers hope that the administration will soon solve their problems, so that the coming generation can get better facilities.

This situation of Mankot village points to the lack of implementation of government schemes and administrative apathy. There is a need to implement development schemes at the grassroots level, so that every village of the country can be truly made a part of "Atmanirbhar Bharat".