Gonda: With Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s efforts, electricity has reached Ramgarh Vantangiya village, a hamlet in the forests of Gonda inhabited by members of Vantangia tribal community, for the first time after 75 years of Independence.
It is worth mentioning here that continuous and dedicated efforts of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to uplift the backward and extremely backward sections of society have resulted in significant improvement in the lives of people of the Vantangiya community in the recent past.
Pathway from the approach road to the village illuminated
Even after nearly 75 years of Independence, the Ramgarh Vantangiya village, situated in the Hardwa Gram Panchayat of Gonda, remained disconnected from the main stream of development. The District Magistrate of Gonda, Neha Sharma, has now illuminated the pathway from the Forest department’s approach road to the Ramgarh Vantangiya village.
In line with the Chief Minister’s intention to develop the backward and extremely backward sections of society, District Magistrate Neha Sharma initiated efforts to integrate the Vantangiya community into the mainstream of development upon taking command of the district on June 12. Sharma personally inspected the Ramgarh Vantangiya village on June 16 and formulated a development strategy.
On the one hand, a proposal was sent to the government to establish two government schools in the villages to provide better education to the children of the Vantangiya community and on the other efforts were made to connect the village to the main road simultaneously.
District Magistrate Neha Sharma stated that ensuring that the benefits of welfare schemes reach every community is a priority of the state government and district administration is committed to achieving this goal.
Faces lit up as electricity reached the village for the first time
During the inspection by the District Magistrate, a complaint about the lack of electricity from the villagers was registered and was prioritized at the earliest. On Tuesday, work began to install poles and lights along the main village path, and for the first time people watched the village illuminated with the glow of electric lights, that brought smiles to the faces of the villagers.
Fuladevi (52) stated that it was nearly impossible to move around in the village during the evening because of the darkness and the fear of animal attacks. She said that she never thought they would witness such a change.
Another resident, Mamta, aged 16 years, mentioned that now they will be liberated from the darkness. Santaram (40 years old), a resident of the village, revealed that there is a temple dedicated to the village deity where Navaratri celebrations are held. He said that around Rs 20,000 were spent only on generators for lighting every year during the festival, but that won’t be necessary anymore. He expressed that for the first time in so many years, someone has paid attention to the issue.
Road construction work is in its final phase
The responsibility of constructing the road to connect Ramgarh Vantangiya village with the Forest Department approach road lies with Block Development Officer Raghavendra Pratap Singh. He mentioned that the road construction work has also reached its final phase. He said that the process of interlocking has been initiated and accessibility to this area will be conveniently established by the end of August.
CM Yogi empowers Vantangiya community
According to history, the Vantangiya community was settled in the forests of Purvanchal by the British. However, even after 70 years of independence, their existence remained unrecognized in revenue records, which led to their isolation from mainstream society and development.
However, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath declared Gonda’s Vantangiya villages as revenue villages, thereby integrating them into the mainstream in May 2018. This move allowed the residents of these forest villages to benefit from essential services like roads, rations, electricity, water, education, healthcare, and other basic amenities. Families of the Vantangiya community, who used to survive by cutting and selling firewood, were given the right to vote for the first time after independence.
