Distressed by the pathetic state of a village in Dholpur district, devoid of basic infrastructure to sustain life, a medical student here has launched a campaign to improve the living conditions for about 350 villagers. As the village falls within the Municipal Council's jurisdiction, it is deprived of the benefits of schemes designed for panchayats.
No roads, no power
Situated on the banks of Chambal river, the nondescript Rajghat village – about 5 km from the Dholpur town – has no roads, electricity supply, water pipelines or basic medical facilities. The lone government primary school has only a few students. When the sun sets, the village is covered in utter darkness.
Ironically, the villagers living in the vicinity of the river have no access to clean drinking water. They drink highly polluted water directly from Chambal, where the animal carcasses can be seen floating. In this scenario, the bachelors in Rajghat are unable to find brides and only two persons have got married in the last 20 years.
Ashwani Parashar, a final year MBBS student in Sawai Man Singh Government Medical College here, told The Hindu on Wednesday that he was shocked to see the condition of Rajghat when he visited the village first time last year. “Seventy years after Independence, this village is covered in darkness and despair. My immediate response was to launch a campaign on social media.”
The 22-year-old medical student, whose hometown is Dholpur, was aghast to know that the villagers collecting water from Chambal faced an added risk of attack by crocodiles. Incidents of men and children being dragged away by crocodiles were reported in the past, but the villagers risk their lives as there is no other source of water.
Fundamental right
Ashwani said the lack of basic infrastructure not only depicted the State governments failure in Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s home district, but it also amounted to violation of the villagers’ fundamental right to dignified life under Article 21 of the Constitution. With this plea, he has moved a public interest litigation in the Rajasthan High Court, which has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and others.
Earlier, Ashwini’s letter to the Prime Minister's Office was forwarded to the State government with no tangible results. He has since launched a social media campaign with hashtag #SaveRajghat, which has drawn the attention of some philanthropists and non-government organisations.
“With the help of donors and crowdfunding, we intend to install a solar energy-based electricity system and a small solar water filtration plant in Rajghat. We also gave utility items and clothes to poor people in the village,” said Ashwini.
