Four Years On, PM Modi’s Adopted Village Still Not ‘Adarsh’

How ‘adarsh’ has PM Modi’s adopted village Jayapur become under his pet project Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana?

(Photo: The Quint)

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(Are the ‘achhe 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)) .

On 11 October 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) to commemorate the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan – a leader associated with ‘Sampurn Kranti’ (total revolution) against the Congress party.

The aim of the programme was that each Member of Parliament will ‘adopt’ at least three villages in their constituency and develop them into ‘adarsh gram’ or model villages by 2019. Prime Minister Modi adopted Jayapur village under the programme on 7 November 2014. This will be the sixth village in The Quint’s series named ‘Our MP’s Village: Achhe Din?’ We earlier reported on Lok Sabha MP Hema Malini, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s villages.

Main Objectives of SAGY?

The objective of SAGY was that MPs cater to the needs of their adopted villages and work towards their holistic development. Some of the goals that the MPs were to achieve under SAGY are:

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

The Quint tried to determine how many of these objectives have been achieved.

Development Only on Paper?

When you arrive in Jayapur, you can see a bank. The village even has roads constructed all across it, and in the lanes, you will find bricked roads. Street lights powered by solar cell panels can also be seen.

However, a closer look shows that all’s not as shiny as it seems.

The companies that were commissioned to ensure the development of the village created dubious paperwork as proof that the work has been completed in the village.

Laldhar, Mason, Jayapur Village

Even the village headman agrees that a rushed job was done, and hence, the roads that were built are now in need to be repaired.

There were technical flaws in construction of the roads. They could have done better work. All the contractors commissioned for these projects came from Gujarat. We would implement whatever they would tell us.

Narayan, Village Head, Jayapur

Smart Classes Without Electricity

“Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” and “Digital India” have been two of the most popular slogans associated with Prime Minister Modi. Hence, it was no surprise when it was announced that Jayapur would get smart classes.

What surprised us was that there was no electricity connection for the school. Solar panels were installed in the school but the locals said their batteries had been stolen, and without the batteries, those panels were of little use to the school administration.

Local Authorities Not Interested in PM’s Pet Project?

The locals allege that the authorities didn’t utilise the funds that were sent to them for the development of the village.

Whatever money was required was sent to the authorities. But those responsible to get the work done have kept it for themselves. There has been no development in the village. How can there be any development when there are so many corrupt officials living here.

Rajan, Resident, Jayapur

Another resident, Ramraj, claims that Dalit colonies got the shorter end of the stick when it comes to development schemes.

This is where the Dalit colony starts. Take a look at the situation yourself. He (Modi) contested the elections on the issues of Dalits and the poor.

Ramraj, Resident, Jayapur

Under the SAGY programme, one MP was supposed to adopt three villages till 2019 and the first adopted village was to be made ‘adarsh’ by 2016. It has been four years since Jayapur was adopted by the prime minister. It has seen it’s fair share of promises, funding and announcements. But most of them still remain unfulfilled.