Kishtwar: The flagship schemes like PMAY-(G), MGNREGA, Atma Nirbhar Bharat have transformed lives of many poor rural masses, here in Block Nagseni of District Kishtwar.
Mirza Begum, a widow and resident of village Kwar, Nagseni became a proud owner of a Pucca house after the Rural Development Department found her eligible for the benefits.
While narrating her story Mirza Begum thanked the Government and especially the young and hardworking BDO Nagseni Abhay Indu Sharma. “All my troubles have vanished due to the accommodation allotted by the government and I am in a very happy state of mind because to build a dream home is a distant dream for me,” she said.
Mirza Begum said ‘the new house has imbibed a sense of security among the family members and increased our recognition in the society as well.’
She said after becoming the proud owner of a beautiful house, the would be in laws of her daughter want to sermonize the marriage immediately.
Scripting a unique success story, the women folk of village Kwar Nagseni strived hard to become self-reliant by taking up the job of moulding mud into bricks locally.
Champa Devi, while narrating her story stated that unfortunately, at this juncture, the whole world is hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and like others, it was very hard and difficult to find daily wage work. “The non-availability and inflationary pressure on the brick rates had brought the construction work to a standstill. To overcome this hindrance, we took the initiative of moulding mud into bricks locally on our own to build our dream home sanctioned under flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Grameen (PMAYG- Housing for all) which has a fixed time limit for completion.
She further added that after watching them take up the work of moulding bricks, the locals appreciated their work and demanded the bricks for construction of their houses amid COVID-19 lockdown.
“This initiative made us self-reliant by strengthening our economic condition. We are now in a good position to feed our family” she maintained.
Block Development Officer (BDO) Nagseni Abhay Indu Sharma, stated that during the lockdown period amid COVID-19 there was non-availability of labours and bricks in the area. “We told and sensitized the local women folk about the cost effectiveness of brick moulding for themselves and how it will help in timely completion of their houses sanctioned under PMAY-G during the lockdown,” the BDO said.
“Normally a brick brought from outside districts costs Rs 12 to 13, but making the bricks locally by these women costs just Rs 6-7 which is almost half.” The BDO added. He further added that we have provided them 95 extra days of MGNREGA too.
The Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj also took initiative in repairing the old Irrigation Khul at Kassanpora Panchayat Kwar of Block Nagseni as this demand was raised during the Back to Village programme -I.
After fully functioning of 2km long irrigation Khul it has added a water discharge of irrigating about 250 Kanals of land.
After the renovation of the vital canal, the local farmers have taken a sigh of relief who were facing hardships due to scarcity of water.
