Around 4.5 years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted a village in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) — Jayapur.
On November 7, 2014, PM Modi adopted the village. He had said it was not he who was adopting the village, but the villagers were adopting him.
The village, with a population of only 4,200, was suddenly catapulted into the national spotlight. The once sleepy village, which did not even have a post office until 2014, became the centre of attraction for companies with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, NGOs and social activists.
Modi is now seeking re-election to Lok Sabha. In this period of time, a lot has changed in Jayapur. The village now has banks, ATMs, power supply, pure drinking water, skill academy, computer centre, toilets and other such facilities, said Narayan Singh Patel, Gram Pradhan (village head). In talks with Moneycontrol, Patel shared the development work, current condition and demand of villagers.
Power supply
Villagers in Jayapur, who were getting electricity for under three to four hours, are now getting 19-20 hours of electricity in a day. The credit goes to two 25-kilowatt solar power panels installed in the village.
"Power supply has improved to a great extent after the PM adopted this village. Now, we face outage for maximum 2-3 hours in a day, courtesy the two solar plants installed by Avaada Foundation," said Patel.
Banks and ATMs
Union Bank of India and Syndicate Bank have opened its branches in the village and installed ATMs. They came to the village only after its adoption under SAGY, said Patel.
Women empowerment
A stitching centre has been opened in the village. "We have opened a centre where women can come and learn stitching and embroidery work. A total of 131 women have graduated till date. Of them, 21 women have been employed with Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), said Deepak Jena, Assistant Manager, CSR, Avaada Foundation.
Digital Literacy
A computer centre has also been opened in the village to educate the youth about the digital world. It provides a diploma course for six months. As many as 115 youths have completed the course so far, said Jena.
Modiji Ka Atal Nagar
“Modiji Ka Atal Nagar” is a housing colony located in the south-west corner of Jayapur. According to Patel, the colony was built by early 2015 for members of the Musahar community — a Dalit sub-community. It comprises 14 flats, all of which are painted in matching hues of bright yellow and cobalt blue. The colony has been built on the same area the Musahars were staying earlier in their make-shift houses. It has been constructed by a private corporation — Allanasons.
Roads
Soon after PM Modi announced the adoption of Jayapur, construction of roads became the prime focus. It was reported that the road leading to Jayapur became bumper-free in the initial days. However, because of incomplete construction, most of these projects have now granulated and generated holes.
“CR Patil, a BJP MP from Navsari in Gujarat, had taken responsibility of road construction in the village. It started with full pace. However, it was not completed. This has resulted in pathetic road connectivity to the village,” said Rahul Singh Patel, a Law student from Jayapur.
Education
Narayan Singh Patel sought the attention of the PM towards the education system in the village. "We have a school up to class 5 here. The students need to go to other villages for higher studies. I request to improve the education system in the village," said Patel.
The de-facto village head is hoping for the re-election of Modi as PM, which he believed would bring further development to the village.
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