After the school tragedy,the makeover

Construction,certificates,promises as Bihar sets about making Gandaman a model village

The plot where the Gandaman primary school stood has been freshly measured and plotted. Villagers with disabilities are being identified and issued certificates. Hand pumps are being installed,and the village has been promised a high school,a primary healthcare centre on the 17-bigha plot where the primary school was running from a community hall,a better road,electricity all round,and an overhead water tank besides the hand pumps.

Gandaman,in Chhapra,has been a hotbed of activity since the July 16 midday meal at the primary school killed 23 children. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced that it would be turned into a model village. His government remains under criticism for its handling of the tragedy and for its conspiracy theories,but the work being done is now holding the villagers attention.

Our children are gone. But now that the government wants to do something,lets appreciate it, says Teras,who runs a small store in New Delhi and who lost his child to the Gandaman tragedy.

A mobile van is parked near the school. From here,disability certificates have so far been issued to 22 people. Dr A R Ansari,who treated many of the children at the Masrakh primary health centre,has no idea if any Gandaman villager ever had such a certificate issued earlier. We were just told to give it to 22 people after the midday meal incident, he says.

The village had got little attention from the government earlier. A half-metalled road connects it to Masrakh. Of its 2,500 villagers,85 per cent live below the poverty line,while nearly 80 per cent of the households are without electricity.

The village has a middle school besides the primary school,which has since been shifted. A group of children aged between six and 12 look curiously at the activities around them. Asked if they would eat the midday meal once they go back to school,most say no. Yes, says one,but only after the principal has eaten every item.

A contractor carries two hand pumps with pipes. One is for the Nonia EBC tola,the other for the scheduled caste tola,he has been instructed. The Nitish government has started looking at votes even in a tragedy, says an elderly villager. Of the 23 children who died,nine were Nonias,seven Yadavs OBC and four Brahmins,while one each was a Baniya OBC,a scheduled caste member and a Nai EBC.

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At the Nonia tola,several elders display their ration coupons and complain these have not been honoured by local dealers. The government had replaced ration cards with coupons to ensure 100 per cent disbursement of rice,wheat and kerosene oil. For coupons we buy for a full year,the dealer gives us rations for six to eight months, says Laldeep Mahato.

This is story of over 80 per cent of the villagers, says Sakaldev Mahato. But now that the CM has talked about development,dealers have been calling us to honour some old ration coupons.

Dularchand Mahato,who lost his eight-year-old granddaughter Rita,pointed at his thatched house and hoped he would now get a better one under the Indira Awaas Yojana. Ritas father,Nanhak,who works in Delhi,has opened a bank account and deposited the Rs 2 lakh he got as compensation. I will use it for the education of my other children.

A number of villagers work in other states. Those in Gandaman are engaged in petty businesses,animal husbandry and farming.