Water, power, school on Jayapur’s wish list for PM Modi

Residents of Jayapur are eagerly waiting for Friday when they will present a wish list to Narendra Modi as he comes to visit his adopted village for the first time after taking over as Prime Minister.

Modi adopted the village under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, the PM’s pet scheme under which every parliamentarian has to adopt a village in his constituency and remodel it as an ideal village.

About 35 kilometres from Varanasi, Jayapur has a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) connect. The Sangh adopted Jayapur in 2006, a factor that has also caused it to be ignored by successive state governments.

Now, eight years later, Jayapur’s residents are waiting for their MP, ready with a wish list for Modi. Durgawati Devi, the 51-year-old village head, has put toilets on top of the list she will present to the PM on Friday.

“Most houses in Jayapur do not have a toilet. My request for the PM will be for a toilet in every household in the village,” said Durgawati, who has been gram pradhan of Jayapur since 2008.

Even the Union government’s scheme to finance private toilets in villages across India has not made a difference to Jayapur, which has a population of over 4,000. Durgawati hopes Modi’s visit will change that.

The list includes requests for proper water and power supply for the village. Villagers also want Modi to start a junior high school for children.
Modi will go to the holy city for a two-day visit on Friday for the first time after his win.

Besides going to Jayapur, the Prime Minister will also meet party workers and other people at the local MP’s office — his office —in the city. Modi will also visit Assi ghat on Saturday. At this famous ghat, Modi is also expected to carry out cleanliness drive and make any big ticket announcement for ghats of Kashi.