At least 20 Kilometers from the district headquarters in a semi tribal village of Khudara in North Kashmir’s Bandipora, development has been a ‘distant dream’ but villagers are adamant this time not to ‘waste’ their vote despite being met with disappointments every time.
On Thursday, the village, which is tucked in the mountains away from the hustle and bustle of the towns and cities, Pheran clad young and old voters made a beeline at the polling booth set up in Government High school of the village.
Braving icy winds, the polling staff donned in protective gear monitored the temperatures of each voter joining the queues.
“Every time we cast our vote, we are left in the cold, our hopes crushed and emotions wounded, despite all this we do not waste our vote but keep reminding the authorities that we exist,” Sheer Ahmad, 70, said.
Sheer said abundant water resources surround the village, but there was no facility made by Government that it could reach their houses, “Our women have to walk and collect water from streams even in harsh weather conditions as taps run dry”.
Though recently the power has reached the village, according to the villagers, “we hardly see it illuminating our homes,” Riyaz, 25 said.
Much to the annoyance of the natives, a PMGSY road laid a few years back is not motorable anymore and has developed massive potholes, “getting a road link was a happy occasion but it is now a nightmare for us to commute,” Ahmad said.
50-year-old deputy Sarpanch from this village, Roshan Jahan, narrating her helplessness says, “to meet with disappointment is an everyday affair as officers at higher levels never listen to our pleas affecting the work we aim to do at village levels,” despite that she encourages people to in a hope that development will come.
Apart from all this, the villagers seek phone connectivity and the mobile internet, which they feel is a necessity in the ‘modern era’. “Our village also lacks phone connectivity and internet which is a must in the modern era for the benefit of our youth who are studying and also for us in times of eventualities,” Noor Khan, 55, said.
45-year-old Gulzar Begum says, “Gujjars’ have always been neglected and they have come to vote to have some basic facilities like water, roads and electricity.” She says ‘our children must get better opportunities in terms of education and jobs while also to get rid of the difficulties they have to face when patients are taken on cots to the hospital”.
56.33 per cent votes were cast on Thursday in Arin block for the fifth phase of DDC and Panchayat by-elections.