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News Topical, Digital Desk : Villagers of the forest village of Jugaad in Mainpur tehsil, about 70 km from the Gariaband district headquarters, have been waiting for permanent electricity for the past twenty years. However, the Payalikhar police station near the village has 24-hour electricity supply.
This situation highlights the lack of basic amenities in many villages in Chhattisgarh, even 25 years after its establishment. Even 78 years after independence, many villages in the state still lack permanent electricity, a brunt of which is being borne by the residents of Jugaad village.
In this village of 70 houses and a population of 750, children are forced to study by dim light, women work in the dark, and the threat of wild animals is ever-present. Even basic needs like charging mobile phones are unmet.
Jugaad village has been waiting for electricity for 20 years.
Villagers say that residents of Jugaad village and several nearby villages have made considerable efforts to bring their problems to the attention of the government and administration, but their problems have not been resolved. Tribal youth Tekam Nagvanshi said, "Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees the right to equality, and Article 21 guarantees the right to live with dignity.
Not getting electricity is a gross violation of this." Complainant Bibek Agarwal said that the people of Jugaad village are forced to live like in the 17th century even in the 21st century.
Complaint reached the President
Seeing this problem facing the villagers, Bibek Agarwal of Raipur filed a complaint with President Draupadi Murmu. The complaint states that the neighboring village of Udayanti in the Mainpur development block has a smooth power supply, while Jugaad village remains in darkness.
After complaining to the administration and departments repeatedly and receiving no action, the villagers have appealed to the President to intervene so that a transformer can be installed in the village soon. Solar power was provided to this village in 2007 as an alternative electricity system, but this system has also been out of order for the past two years.
Villagers are also facing a 'government-elephant conflict'
The villages around Jugaad fall within the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve. Referring to the death of Jungle Singh in an elephant attack, villagers say they are grappling not only with elephant terror but also with a "government conflict" that leaves them starved for basic amenities.
Sohantin Sori, sarpanch of the village panchayat Taurenga-Jugaad, said, "Our lives have been spent in darkness, and so will our children's lives. We urge the government to provide electricity to our village.
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