Even as Gujarat votes in the first phase today, there are some places in the rural areas of the state which have seen no light of development till date.
One such village is Malangdev Ota, 45 kms away from Songad block in Tapi district.
“Children from a school in Malangdev Ota have to travel daily about half a kilometre on foot across the river to get water from the hand-pump and have to water plants and use the same water for drinking purposes,” said CNN-IBN citizen journalist Rinesh Gamit from Shakti Legal Aid Human-Right Centre in Songadh.
Water scarcity. Image courtesy Rinesh Gamit
“There is no clean drinking water facility in the school. There is a bore well but there is no water in it. So the students have to get water from the hand-pump or the well,” said teacher Manishaben.
“I complained to the block chief and to the local MLA but nothing happened,” she said.
In Mangaldev Ota, even though the government spent crores of rupees there has been no change in the condition of the people, said the citizen journalist.
“The government has given out grants of thousands of crores for rural development. Why is rural development still lagging behind?” asked Gamit.
