Kalimpong villagers hope panchayat will take responsibility of building a bridge now they maintain on their own

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, JUNE 23, 2023 :  Today, well into the 21st century, there are villages where no development has taken place, where villagers are deprived of even basic amenities.

One such area is under constituency no. 38 of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. To commute between Benda village in Kagey gram panchayat to Menchu village in Lingsekha Gram Panchayat, villagers, including students, are forced to use a bamboo bridge; that too built at their own cost. 

As the government has not built a bridge, villagers themselves have erected a bridge at their own cost with donations from residents of the two villages. 

According to residents of the area, patients and students are forced to cross the river during the rainy season by this bridge every year. 

The efforts to keep the bamboo bridge in place have been going on continuously since 2015. Now that the panchayat elections are being held in the hills, villagers hope that the bridge would now be built with panchayat funds. 

According to villager Subash Sampang Rai, the village has lagged far behind in terms of development as there has been no panchayat election in the past 23 years. The panchayat is the arm of the government closest to the villagers. 

The panchayat is the place where the grievances of the poor people can be voiced. 

“Even if you don’t get development, you will surely find peace in your heart if you complain,” says Rai. This time, however, people don’t want only assurances, they want concrete work