Pratapgarh prodigies wait for promised land...

REHUA LALGANJ (PRATAPGRAH):Along the dusty tracks of Rehua Lalganj village in Pratapgarh, the chorus of students learning lessons can be heard from far. Sitting outside a ‘madai’ (a house made of mud), around two dozen students of various ages are busy studying under the warm winter sun in the hope of cracking the entrance of Jawahar Navodhaya Vidyalaya (JNV).
Constantly guiding them is Brijesh Saroj, fondly referred to as ‘Brijesh Bhaiya’ by the children.
Sons of a daily wage labourer, Brijesh and his younger brother Raju, shot to fame when they cracked the entrance examination of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in 2015. Given their financial considtion, the Samajwadi Part-led former state government, besides hundreds of good Samaritans, had stepped in to pay their fees. The then chief minsiter Akhilesh Yadav had promised the family a land to build their house on. Though the Saroj family has been given a ‘patta’ (land allotment papers) for a 1,200 square feet plot of land, they have not been given possession of the land yet. Yadav had also announced that the Rehua Lalganj village would be developed as a Lohia Gram and had instructed the then DM to allocate land to the Saroj family, where they could construct a house. However, there has been no government action on both the announcements.
“I was never eager to get the land allotted to us two years back. However, now when we I see these children sitting in the open I wish the state government could had provided us with a piece of land, just big enough for a tutor to teach these children when Raju or I are not here,” he added. In an attempt to do their bit for the society, the brothers tutor children for the JNV entrance for free when they return to their village during vacations. Though they are being supported financially by an NGO, Samdarshi Foundation, but they still do not have a proper room to tutor these children.
We will help boys if they give us details: Health minister
We need a consistent effort to change the situation. Earlier, it was my family struggling to pay our fees and now when my brother and I want to coach the poor students of our village, these kids have no place to sit and have to make do with the open space on side of the road,” said Brijesh, elder of the two who is studying at IIT-Bombay. Raju is studying at IITKharagpur.
SDM Lalganj, Komal Ram said, “Let the family come and submit application and we would see to it that the allotted land is given to them as soon as possible.”
Village head, Urmila Singh said, “The Saroj family has not been given possession of the allotted land because the then village head Amarnath Pal had submitted names of several people, who do not fulfil the eligibility norms of the scheme and hence the delay in the process.”
BJP spokesperson and UP minister for health, Sidharth Nath Singh, said, “We are sensitive towards the need of the people. If the boys could provide us with details, we will certainly help them by providing them whatever has been promised. I will be more than happy to assist them.”
Brijesh said that there are several families in the village that want to send their children for the free coaching sessions being run by the Saroj brothers, but they often drop the idea as there are no blackboards, benches or sheds for the children.
“Abhi to mausam thik hai, magar jab thand padegi to hum sab kaise aayenge sir,” asks Mohamad Adnan, a Class V student whose father is unemployed and his maternal uncle bears his family’s expenses.