Asansol: Located on the outskirts of West Bengal's Asansol, Sidhabari village under Barabani Assembly was adopted by the then BJP MP Babul Supriyo under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana. Earlier, Babul Supriyo had claimed that following adoption, the village underwent tremendous development. But, the reality is something different.
After Babul Supriyo resigned as MP, Sidhabari village turned into an orphan. Current MP Shatrughan Sinha never took any initiative to develop it. The Sidhabari village has never been re-adopted. The scheme under which the village was adopted apparently ended after Babul Supriyo quit BJP.
In 2014, Babul Supriyo was elected from the Asansol seat. He adopted Sidhabari village of Salanpur Panchayat of Barabani Assembly constituency in the marginal area of Asansol under Adarsh Gram Yojana. The people of Sidhabari village started dreaming big but they did not get anything from the two-time parliamentarian.
The villagers said that after Babul Supriyo adopted Sidhabari village, he built some roads and started fish rearing projects. A submersible pump was installed to resolve the issue of drinking water in the village. Solar lights and high mast lights were put in place. But now, everything has turned upside down.
At Sidhabari picnic spot, next to the reservoir, the fish rearing project house is under lock and key, the submersible is in a bad state and the lights don't work anymore. The mud houses in the village are on the verge of collapse. Most houses do not have toilets. There is no high school here so students have to travel far away for studies.
According to local sources, Babul Supriyo was last seen campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. "After winning the election, he never came here. Even during the Covid pandemic, nobody came to take care of the villagers", a resident said.
Bye-elections were held in Asansol two years ago following Babul Supriyo's resignation and Shatrughan Sinha won on Trinamool Congress ticket. The new MP did not bother about the Adarsh Gram project. Sources said TMC MP, Shatrughan Sinha did not do anything for the village's development as the project was announced by the Prime Minister. With MPLAD funds, Sidhabari village got only a few solar lamps.
Shatrughan Sinha said he did not get enough time as an MP but promised to pay special attention to not only Sidhabari village but the entire rural area here.
Barabani MLA and Asansol mayor Bidhan Upadhyay said, "I stand by Sidhabari village. Nothing noteworthy has been done for the village under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana. Whatever development took place was due to Salanpur Panchayat Samiti and my MLA area development funds".
BJP's Asansol organisational district secretary Abhijit Roy said, "During the tenure of the BJP MP, the Centre had provided many projects for the village. But it could not be undertaken due to the non-cooperation of the local administration."
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