Blind man opens eyes of villagers

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN/Rangpar: He may be visually impaired, but he sure does see things others don’t. Ratna Aal, 26, resident of Rangpar village, has been enlightening villagers on the inaction of panchayat for the last two years. The panchayat has claimed it has done development work like repair of road connecting village to highway, planted trees along the roadside and cut down gando baval. Aal, a farmer, got documents under Right to Information Act (RTI) to show none of these things have been done. “I’ve been trying to find solid facts that panchayat has done precious little in the village. However, talati and panchayat members have still not parted with certain information and have even given misleading information,” says Aal, who has studied till class X. In these documents the gram panchayat claims it has spent Rs 27,187 on tree plantation, Rs 18,503 on road repairs under different schemes, which have not been implemented. For instance, he says, panchayat claims there is no gando baval along the roadside, but anyone can see it growing and causing problems to passers-by. “Also, where are the new trees planted? Do you see them?” he asks this TOI correspondent while showing him around the village. Rangpar is a small village with around 750 people, 25 km from Wankaner in Rajkot district. When he first confronted the panchayat, it insulted him. Aal has met several officials with the documents but no one has taken notice so far. But, he is determined to carry on till the village gets justice and all facilities it’s entitled to under different government schemes. “Women have to walk at least two km to fetch drinking water during summer. I may be blind, but my vision is clear — no villager should suffer because of lack of basic civic amenities,” says the braveheart. Village sarpanch Ratabhai Gogia says, “We had cut down gando baval last year but it has grown rapidly. We had also repaired the road but lots of vehicles use this road so it is difficult to maintain it.” He claims to have planted trees, many of which did not survive.