PRIME-TIME CONCERNS

The shocking visuals8212;of a Union minister's brother allegedly using two boys to till his farm8212;is the only time Shahpur found a place on prime-time television. The debate over whether it was stage-managed continues but the village has other worries too

A few kilometers away from Mahnar in Vaishali district, a concrete road winds its way through farms and houses to reach Shahpur, the village of Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. It was from here that TV channels beamed pictures of children being allegedly exploited by the minister8217;s brother, Raghuraaj Singh. The visuals showed Raghuraaj using children in place of his oxen to till the land. Though a government probe said the children had been bribed to act as oxen, the reporters stood by their story.

However shocking the visuals may have been, these few hours on national television was the only time the village saw itself in the spotlight. Apart from the road built under the Prime Minister8217;s road project, there is hardly anything here that speaks of its VIP status. The road was built only a year ago and now the villagers want more.

8220;This road is a big gift for us. But we have nothing else8212;no electricity and no hospital. Also, water-logging has destroyed our agriculture,8221; said Birender Singh, a villager.

The village has had a brief fling with power8212;electricity, that is. The village was connected to the power grid during the previous RJD regime but the state had no electricity to supply to the village. 8220;Initially we had power for a couple of hours but later, the lights went out completely,8221; said Kamla Singh. Then, thieves stole the wires and over the years, the poles collapsed too. Now villagers in Shahpur see some hope8212;the poles have been erected and wires fastened.

The village has a middle school but now it wants a high school. The school is short of space and classes are often held on the verandahs outside. Agriculture remains the only activity in the village. A huge share of the agricultural land here is owned by upper-caste Rajputs8212;the minister is a Rajput too. His brother Raghuraaj Singh acknowledged that he owns around 30 bighas. He however said a good portion of it yields only one crop due to water logging. 8220;This year has been particularly bad. The rabi sowing season is almost over and the lands are still waterlogged,8221; Raghuraaj said.

If the landowners are worried about their agricultural produce, the landless, backward castes and Dalits are concerned about their livelihood. The younger lot among them has migrated in search of employment. Take Chandan Kumar, the boy who was shown on camera tilling Raghuraaj8217;s land. His father and elder brother work as cobblers in Kolkata. Though Chandan goes to school, his mother is looking forward to the day when he will 8220;grow strong8221; and earn for the family.

The flight of labour has increased as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has failed to yield the desired results. Ironically, the scheme is run by Raghuvansh8217;s Rural Development Department. 8220;Most of us have job cards but there is no job,8221; said 60-year-old Mirchai Ram. He said if it wasn8217;t for his age, he would have left the village to earn some money.