Rape victim's village spruced up for chief minister's visit: UP government spends Rs 30 lakh building area's first road... And they're planning a helipad next
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Until less than a month ago, Ballia was not a place most Indians could easily locate on the map. Tucked away in the eastern fringes of Uttar Pradesh, it is considered a byword for poverty as development has rarely knocked on its doors.
Mud tracks pass off as roads in this largely agrarian district. A cloud of dust rises every time a tractor trolley trundles past wheat fields on either side of the tracks. Smoke from firewood mixed with winter fog hovers uneasily over villages.
Most houses are made of brick but are shorn of plaster. The floors are mostly of mud, forcing its inhabitants to spread a thick of coat hay to keep the cold at bay.
Development work has started in the gang rape victim's village, which will now get its first road
But, the December 16 gang rape in far-away New Delhi has suddenly put this nondescript village bordering Bihar's Buxar district on the world map.
First it was the media that made a beeline for Ballia. Now, it is government agencies that have turned it into a beehive of activity.
An additional district magistrate, three magistrates of lower ranks, two superintendent engineers and more than a dozen engineers and junior engineers of the PWD are continuously shuttling between Ballia town and the village.
All this because chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is expected to visit the village on January 12 to give a cheque to the father of the gang rape victim, who died in Singapore after being brutally raped and tortured on a bus.
"We are looking for space to construct a helipad where the chief minister can land. He is expected to attend the terahvi of the victim," a senior officer said.
But the government's plans seem to have run into opposition from the villagers. A field that the officials had identified has been filled with water, presumably by the farmer of the plot of land.
Located in the eastern fringes of the Hindi heartland, Ballia had previously been considered a symbol of poverty as it has seen little development
Villagers' opposition
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is expected to give a cheque to the victim's father
"We had identified a plot where wheat is being grown. We had promised to give the farmer compensation for damage to his crop. But the villagers filled the land with water within an hour to scuttle our plan," the officer said.
"Now we are looking for some other land. Since many ministers are expected to come here by road to attend the programme, we have also approved Rs 30 lakh for construction of 7 kms of road. We are also cleaning all the drains in the village," he added.
The father said he would prefer if Akhilesh comes to his home to give the compensation cheque.
"I have heard that Akhilesh Yadav will hold a function near a primary school of the village and give me a cheque. But I don't want to go there. If he is really trying to help me, I expect him to come down to my place in the village and hand over the cheque," the father said.
The father's day starts at 6am with prayers offered to his ancestors under a papal tree. This is a ritual the villagers will follow for 12 days.
Shradh will be observed on the thirteenth day when food will be offered to Brahmins and fellow villagers.
"I have no peace these days. My 23-year-old daughter was brutalised and killed by rapists. But now I am traumatised by a large number of phone calls on my mobile phone, which is on roaming. I am poor and I don't have money to keep recharging the SIM card," he said.
The father revealed that he had got a call from Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit to say that her government's compensation cheque was ready and that he could collect it whenever he returns to the Capital.
But the father said he was unsure when he would go back as he had run out of money.
"I don't know how I will return to Delhi when I have hardly any money left. I am a very poor man. You cannot understand the kind of crisis I am passing through after 52 years of struggle," he said.
Dashed dreams
The father said he had sold off all his land to pay for his daughter's physiotherapy course in an institute in Dehradun.
"I sold 7 kattas of land four years ago to pay for her admission fees. I mortgaged the remaining 1.50 bighas to pay for the tuition fees. When she completed her four-year course last month, I was hopeful that she would get a nice job and support her younger brothers. But it could not happen," he rued.
A Class X dropout, he left the village 25 years ago in the hope of a better life in Delhi. His daughter was born in a rented house of Delhi's Uttam Nagar. Later, he bought a two-room house where he presently lives with his family.
In the initial days he had jobs as a paramedical worker in some Delhi hospitals. Later, he joined a pressure cooker manufacturing company.
"Then one day, a well-wisher in Indigo Airlines appointed me as a cleaner of aircraft at the India Gandhi International Airport. But I get only Rs 5,700 a month as salary, with which I have to support my entire family. So I do overtime almost every day and earn about Rs 5,000 more," the father said.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2259222/Rape-victims-village-spruced-chief-ministers-visit-UP-government-spends-Rs-30-lakh-building-areas-road--And-theyre-planning-helipad-next.html#ixzz2jGPeibOD
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