The government at center and state have fought several elections, promising the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya. The magnitude of concern showed for the birth-place of Lord Rama is inversely proportional to that of the birth-place of Lord Buddha. Sidharth Nagar is the birth-place of Lord Buddha and it is struggling for attention from the government.

About Sidharth Nagar

Sidharth Nagar is a district in Uttar Pradesh. It is near the India-Nepal border. It is known for the ruins of Shakya Janapada is one of the most backward districts in India. This is the center of trafficking scams as the district shares its border with Nepal. Siddharth Nagar is also near to the city of “The CM” – Gorakhpur. It has a high rural population with agriculture being the source of bread for the families.

Siddharth Nagar is completely opposite to what the Siddhartha or Lord Buddha desired. Its citizens are living in trenches of poverty. The civic amenities are almost dysfunctional in the city. Black-outs are quite frequent in the city despite claims of electrification by our Prime Minister. Recently, two AK-47 rifles went missing from near the India-Nepal border. Siddharth Nagar is always in the headlines due to wrong reasons only.

Siddharth Nagar – Deflating Government’s claims

Despite the presence of BJP governments in the center and state, the development didn’t reach Siddharth Nagar. It deflates all the claims of Modi and Yogi governments. The frequent blackouts deflate the scheme of 100% electrification claim of the government. The uncontrolled trafficking of weapons and people gives a glimpse of law and order in the district. Siddharth Nagar also failed miserably in civic amenities. According to a story done by Amar Ujala, there are streets which sink in darkness post dust due to unavailability of street lights. Public toilets are only on paper with open defecation a dark reality. Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan hasn’t reached Siddharth Nagar yet. In spite of these flaws, the government is focussing on cattle safety as it is evident in the instructions given by the Deputy of District Magistrate.

Buddhists are not in high numbers and cannot be categorized as a vote-bank. Due to this, the government is treating the birth-place of their Lord Buddha in such a way. No promise ever made for the development of Siddharth Nagar. It could become one of the major tourist attraction due to its historical significance. Due to negligence that potential seems a lost cause.  The citizens of Siddharth Nagar have lost all hopes with the government and now they just want them to provide basic amenities. Even for that too, cows have become the priority.

The post The story of neglected birthplace of Gautam Buddha, Siddharth Nagar appeared first on Maverick Times.

On 29th April 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with his 56-inch chest claimed that all the villages have access to electricity. (Read More: Deflating the Claim of Rural Electrification) The blackout situation won’t defame him as “giving access” was his aim not continuous supply.

About Siddharth Nagar

Siddharth Nagar is one of the Country’s 250 most backward districts (out of 640). This is the center of trafficking scams as the district shares its border with Nepal. Siddharth Nagar is also near to the city of “The CM” – Gorakhpur. It has high rural population with agriculture being the source of bread for the families.

Electricity Problem

It’s been two days the residents of Siddharth Nagar has received electricity. In addition to this chaos, the Helpline Service of 1912 is a mess. Even after registering complaint to SDO – Naughar (Sub-Division Officer), the situation remained same. The electricity board responsible to provide electricity is Purvanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited (PUVVNL) – Varanasi.

As a result of this blackout, the city is on standby mode. Because of unavailability of electricity, the agriculture, communication and other electricity dependent activities suffer which ultimately dent the economy of the town.

Since the district has a large proportion of rural and suburb populations, the majority of population is not well-educated. Thus, they don’t know how to reach the top-tier and bring this problem to their notice. So, 1912 Helpline is the option left for them. And that too is almost defunct.

Our View

The Government should not make such claims if they are not ready for it. The priority should be to increase the capacity and quality of the electricity rather than adding numbers by putting lifeless electricity poles in the villages. The gap between demand and supply is huge and bridging them should be utmost priority. Faking claims in order to garner votes shouldn’t be. It has been a long time since they acted as Government, rather than A Political Party, advertising false claims to win elections.

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