Gadha Bahuda’s pride is now its disgrace

On Tuesday,the men left home early in the morning and no one knew where they had gone. Rampal’s three daughter-in-laws were present in the two ancestral houses but they refused to talk.

Gadha Bahuda is an Ambedkar village and equipped with basic services such as government schools,ANM centre,roads and electricity. Almost 90 per cent villagers live on farming.

Until Verma made it to the IAS,the village with a population of around 4,000 had only produced three primary teachers,one junior engineer in the housing and development board and a clerk in the local post office.

Villagers say most young people quit studies after matriculation. The number of graduates is less than 100.

A former minor irrigation secretary in Bihar,Verma faces a case of disproportionate assets amounting to Rs 1.44 crore along with eight other relatives. But the houses here are modest.

Neighbours say Rampal and his three sons earn their livelihood by farming their 12-bigha land. Villagers said Verma visited his ancestral home once every few years but never stayed for long.

“We were aware that Shiva Shanker was facing a case of disproportionate assets. Perhaps in the same case,the CBI and the police had raided his house in the village twice,first in 2007 and later about one year back,” said Neeraj Kumar,Rampal’s neighbour.

Neeraj said initially they thought it was just a departmental inquiry. “But when we read in the newspaper that his house was confiscated on Sunday,it was clear that he was involved in corruption at some level,” he said.

Villagers said Shiva Shanker was a meritorious student and they all felt proud when he was selected for the IAS.

“We had no complaint if he did nothing for this village after becoming IAS. But I am disappointed because he got involved in corruption,’’ said Shiv Mangal (58),who was a classmate of Shiva Shanker at the local primary and the junior high school.