Dream Projects of Hema Malini’s Adopted Village In Tatters

Exclusive: Hema Malini floated 1,100 projects to develop Rawal, but even now, the village lacks basic amenities.

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman

(Are the ‘acche din’ here for villages adopted by PM Modi's star MPs? Watch The Quint’s ground reports from villages adopted under the 'Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’ (SAGY))

The first such village that we visited was Rawal in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, which was adopted by actor-politician Hema Malini under the SAGY scheme in 2014.

Hema Malini, a BJP Member of Parliament, adopted Rawal village in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh under the SAGY scheme in 2014. The village has a population of 3,000 people.

Contrary to what was expected to be achieved under the SAGY scheme when it was first floated, our ground report shows that in four years, Hema Malini has failed to convert Rawal into an adarsh (ideal) village.

Main Objectives of SAGY?

The primary objective of SAGY was to have Members of Parliament oversee the development of their adopted village and cater to the needs of the inhabitants based within that particular adopted village. Some of the goals the MPs were to achieve under SAGY are:

• Education facilities
• Cleanliness
• Health facility
• Skill development
• Livelihoods
• Basic amenities (Electricity, Pucca houses, roads, WiFi)
• Good governance

The government kickstarted the SAGY project scheme with the goal to develop three Adarsh Grams by March 2019, of which one was supposed to have been developed by 2016.

The Quint spoke to the village head and the residents to understand how their lives had been impacted after being included in the ‘model village scheme’.

Roads are cleaned and dirt is removed whenever Hema Malini visits the village. Other days, it stays as dirty as usual.

Resident, Rawal Village

The bureaucrats claim that Hema Malini floated 1,100 projects for the development of the village. We checked six such essential projects.

1. Solar lights

After the village was adopted under SAGY, 40 solar lights were installed in the village. However, now all of them are non-functional.

These 40 solar lights were installed in the streets. It worked for two months and then stopped. Ever since then it is not functional.

Ravi Kant, Resident, Rawal Village

2. Roads

The construction of roads started long ago but has not yet been completed. It is causing more problems than before.

Brick road work started but nothing happened, there is no drainage system. In fact, our houses were being destroyed too. 

Resident, Rawal Village

3. Toilets

A few toilets were built in the village, but most of them are now unusable. The village is yet to be open-defecation free.

The tank that was supposed to supply water to the toilets was constructed, but everything was destroyed. We didn’t get any money to reconstruct them. The roads are in pathetic condition, full of dirt and buffalo dung. It gets easily flooded because of potholes.

Rajbati, Resident, Rawal village

4. Clean Water Plant

Hema Malini, who also endorses Kent RO, installed an RO water plant in the village. But ironically, the villagers say they rely on water tankers for clean water more than the RO plant.

An RO plant was installed but it’s not working anymore, nobody can use it. But yes, the water tank which was constructed by Hema Malini is giving us drinkable water. <i>Safai</i> <i>karamcharis</i> are not doing their jobs, there is dirt everywhere. Toilets were only constructed in half of the village.

Subhash, Resident, Rawal village

5. Education

A junior school exists in the village, but it has no power supply because of which the students complain of lack of focus while studying.

There is no fan or electricity connection here. MP Hema Malini has visited us. We told her about our problems. She said it will be fixed, but nothing happened.

Kamaal Khan, Student

A new primary school was built, but that is non-functional either. According to the village head, it is so because the whitewash of the school has been pending for months.

6. Healthcare

A new hospital was built in the village but it remains locked due to the lack of doctors.

This hospital was constructed five months ago, but there are no doctors or nurses for treatment. It opens sometimes, but is mostly locked. We go to Mathura for medical treatment.

Chandra Bhushan, Resident, Rawal village