REBUILDING THE TRUST

THE WEEKLONG ‘BACK TO VILLAGE’ PROGRAMME—NOW IN ITS FOURTH YEAR—HAS SEEN HUGE PARTICIPATION IN RURAL J&K. THIS MAJOR OUTREACH THAT AIMS TO USHER IN EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT IS HELPING TO RESTORE FAITH IN THE ADMINISTRATION

- Moazum Mohammad

Under the early winter sky, there is an unusual festive rush in rural Kashmir. Roads have been tidied up with edges marked with white gypsum, and signboards announce the return of the ‘Back to Village’ (B2V) programme, a platform connecting the masses with the government across villages in Jammu and Kashmir. In Ganderbal’s Wanihama village, a 30-minute drive from Srinagar, locals arrive at the government school to register their grievances with designated officers drawn from 35 departments. Over the next few hours, the villagers put forward their demands, ranging from development of parks and repair of roads to laying of new power cables. As the officials break for lunch, an old woman urges them to visit her neighbourhood. They oblige and follow her to find that the lane leading to her house is still partially done up with paving stones. “I don’t know why the remaining portion was left out. Magar be chas amich umeed heth, tuh karav moun maslee theek yatee (I came with the hope that my grievance will be redressed),” she says in Kashmiri. The officials promise her it will be done, listing it as a ‘priority’.