No ‘Naya Kashmir’ For Manthori As Villagers Still Await Basic Facilities

Amid slogans of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ and ‘Naya Kashmir’ girls of Manthori Village in Jammu & Kashmir are leaving education due to lack of facilities while people lament for basic facilities. Even in this century, the residents of downtown Manthori in District Doda, Jammu & Kashmir are without road connectivity. The tovering claims of the government, especially after the Abrogation of Article 370, are proving hoax on ground as the government has failed to provide basic facillities to the resident of the village Manthori.

For the last 20 years, the residents of Manthori are awaiting for a connecting road despite various roads have propped up in the surrounding areas, all thanks to the partisan politics. The villagers say that they have moved from post to pillar to get the approval for road connectivity but all in vain. The construction of the road would have connected the surrounding areas with the village, which is at the centre of the area.

Nawaz Ahmed, a young resident of Manthori, believes that the construction of the road will provide relief to hundreds of residents of the village. People of the area particularly- elders, children, patients & students are facing a lot of inconvenience in the absence of road and other basic amenities. We have repeatedly knocked on the doors of the Administration, but every time we are deceived with fake promises.

“The issue isn’t just about our roads; we are lacking most of the basic needs of life,” Nawaz said.

“The village is just 15 to 20 kilometres away from District Headquarters, Doda, but it seems that the government have never considered it necessary to connect this village with the rest of the district,” he added.

“When anybody asks me about the reason behind the lack of basic needs in our village, I hang my head in shame; I am unable to understand the reason behind the ignorance of our village by Administration. For the last 30 years, nothing has changed in our village. In the 21st century, when we look at our village, we literally feel disregarded. We have every reason to believe that our village is deprived of all the basic facilities of life,” Akhter Hussain Naik, a 23-year-old student said.

“Administration has ignored us in every department be it education, health care, road or drinking water, we are suffering everywhere. We are facing numerous issues but the road facility & education are the core issues that need to be addressed. A school was established some 30 to 40 years ago in our village, but unfortunately, it hasn’t been upgraded for decades.

We have suffered a lot, but I hope that our upcoming generation doesn’t suffer the same. The most heartbreaking part of suffering is when we see young girls are saying goodbye to their education career due to the absence of higher education institutes in our village. Other students of our village need to walk 5-6 km daily on foot, it’s very difficult nowadays, especially for girls,” he adds.

A few years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the slogan “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” but that just seemed like a political slogan with no practical implementation. “Our girls are dropping their education due to the absence of a higher education institute in our village. The people of our village have given up their hope regarding this issue, and why not? When other schools which were established after ours have been upgraded but not ours?” he added.

The illiteracy rate is very high in the village and the primary reason for this is the absence of higher and senior secondary schools.

“We have produced many memoranda before the government & district administration for the construction of road, but each time we were forced back with never-ending promises. Road and hospital are the lifelines of any village or town, but our village has neither. In the absence of a road, we are disconnected from the rest of the areas, causing a number of problems to us,” said Abdul Qayoom, sarpanch of the area. People of the village Manthori blamed the government for neglecting and keeping them out of sight deliberately.

The government, as well as the district administration, has ignored us every time. We are still yearning to get the basic necessities of livelihood. Three roads have been constructed around our village within a radius of 2-3 km. But, our village has been kept disconnected deliberately. If roads are built for the public? Why have we been ignored? Why are each time roads taken more & more away from our village? He questioned. People living in far-flung areas have received connectivity, but we are just 20 km away from the district headquarter and we are being ignored, working like horses and donkeys to build our houses.

Mohd Saleem Lone, another habitat of the village Manthori said, “Among all the problems we are facing, the absence of hospital in our area is troubling a lot. Health care facilities are located several kilometres away from the distantly placed hamlets. In case of emergencies, we carry the patient on our shoulders in a cot and cross strenuous paths to reach the road & if the case is of a serious patient or pregnant lady. There is a high chance of death or miscarriage of children”.

Mohd Saleem blamed and cursed politicians for all these sufferings, “Politicians make misleading and false promises to take our votes. Besides physical suffering, we undergo psychological turmoil as well. We have to put our lives at risk and walk kilometres in the jungle to reach the road. Such is the ignorance of the government that a health centre was established in our village almost thirty years ago, but it is still waiting for a government building. Many health centres were established in surrounding areas at that time have been upgraded to sub-hospital having government buildings, but we have been left to suffer,” he added.

Note: Quotes of a few people have been taken from The Kashmiriyat on demand.

Mubashir Naik is a freelance Journalist. He tweets at @sule_khaak