Ghatti lacks water, not zeal to vote

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Hoshiarpur, February 5

Takkhni village, about 23 km from the district headquarters, has a cluster of 20-25 houses on the periphery known as Upparla Takkhni or Ghatti. People of this semi-hilly locality face an acute shortage of water. Women have to fetch water in pitchers from hand pumps that are a mile downhill.

Before every parliamentary or Assembly election, leaders come to the residents seeking their votes. They promise to solve their water shortage immediately after getting elected, but have so far never fulfilled it.

Despite all this, people of Ghatti have kept alive their enthusiasm to vote. Almost all voters out of the around 70 from the 20 houses casts his/her vote every time. And this time was no exception.

While there could be many — in other places — who don’t vote saying that their problems were not solved, the people of Ghatti are an inspiration to vote for sure.

Panch Seema Rani said, “Leaders of almost all parties came and made promises but never kept those. But we have faith in democracy. We are hopeful that one day, we will be heard. It is only the power of the vote that can make it happen. So, we never forget to vote.”

Waiting for their turn to cast their vote, Ghatti resident Hemlata and Shanti said, “Whether the leaders fulfil their promises or not, we will keep voting. We know that only our vote can help us solve our problems.”

Surjit Kumar said, “We always vote for sure. We know that if we don’t vote, nobody will even listen to our problems.”