CM Anandiben Patel reprimands babus for sitting on public grievances

“Na, bahen. Aa to tame avvana hata etle gai kale apyu chhe. Pani to amne char varshi thi nathi maltu (No, sister. Since you were to visit, we got water yesterday. Otherwise, we are not getting water for the last four years),” Bharat Mehta, who was sitting in the front row, complained. “I see. Since I am here today, you have got water. I am going to Rajkot after a while and shall find out why the water has not been reaching here for the last four years, but it has been supplied all of a sudden. If we do not pull ears (of authorities), the work will not be done,” CM said amidst laughter and cheer.

Patel further said that ministers and top officers of the state government were visiting 9,000 villages as part of the Gunotsav drive and were listening to the problems of the people. “If we do not get to know the ground reality, how shall we work? How shall we instruct officers properly? Had I not asked you this question and instead inquired with officers at a meeting, I bet they would have told me all villages get water. Only you can tell us as to what is lacking in your village,” Patel said to another round of applause, adding that sending top officers to villages was an attempt to get ground reports.

The CM then asked villagers if there was village panchayat office there. Residents said there was one, but in bad shape and added that the computer in it was not working. “Is taluka development officer (TDO) or district development officer (DDO) around?,” the CM asked. Rajkot TDO Raghuvirsinh Gohil, who was seated on the dais, stood up.

“Is the computer working properly? Is e-gram implemented?,” the CM asked Gohil. But before he could respond, the audience replied on his behalf saying it was out of order.

“Report me on this by late this evening when I reach Rajkot,” the CM instructed the TDO even as Rajkot DDO Manoj Kothari looked on from the stage. The crowd laughed on as Patel took the officers to task. Patel also said that officers put up a computer in Khairpara village of Narmada district by borrowing it for a day from local mamlatdar office when she went there for Gunotsav on Thursday. “Even the village sarpanch told me that the computer was there for a while. But my sources had told me that it was brought from mamlatdar office. I had to beg the sarpanch that at least he was expected to tell us the truth,” she said.

Patel then inquired if households in the village had toilets. Villagers, including women, let out a big “No” in unison. But some said “No” was not correct answer. The CM said the government was giving Rs 12,000 assistance to BPL families to construct toilets. But villagers said nobody had received the assistance. Patel then sought out Bedla talati or village secretary Umakant Nandan and called him on stage.

Standing near the CM, a bewildered Nandan, who was posted in the village just a few days ago, said that he had received 55 applications for constructing toilets. Out of them, 35 had been approved and assistance had been paid to nine of them. The CM also chided Bedla sarpanch Hemiben Makwana for the poor record in toilet construction and asked officers to speed up the drive.

She pointed out that 3,000 villages in the state had cent per cent toilet coverage. When the villagers also complained about poor shape of roads, insufficient health services and electricity to farmers, the CM assured to look into them.