A 55-year-old man has spent around ₹2 lakh from his own pocket to lay a mud road in Yadahalli village, Hunsagi taluk of Yadgir district, and fulfilled the promise that he made to voters during the Assembly elections.
Saibanna Pujari, a former gram panchayat president and a small farmer in Yadahalli village, has laid the mud road to a length of three kilometres enabling farmers to reach their agriculture fields without any hindrance.
Earlier, it was a small road. Therefore, farmers were facing difficulties during the rainy season when they were transporting seeds, fertilizers and other agriculture equipment in tractors or other modes of transportation to reach their fields. Therefore, the villagers had demanded a road when Pujari sought votes for Congress candidate in Shorapur constituency Raja Venakatappa Naik in the last Assembly elections. Responding to them, Pujari promised them a road, if Mr. Naik is elected.
“As per my word, I took up work on the road which has now made it easy for farmers to reach around 80 acres of agricultural fields and have fulfilled the promise that I made during the elections,” Pujari told The Hindu over phone.
Pujari belongs to the Kuruba community and has around 20 sheep. He also has five acres of agricultural land which is located in another part of the village. Apart from agricultural activities and sheep rearing, Pujari has been linked with local politics. He was a prominent follower of the former BJP MLA Narasimha Naik and had once served as gram panchayat president of Arakera under which his native village falls.
“I have been in politics for the period of two decades as I was a prominent follower of Mr. Narasimha Naik. But, I recently joined the Congress and became a follower of Mr. [Raja Venkatappa] Naik. I campaigned for him in the village during the last Assembly elections. I had to lay the road as I promised and I did it by spending ₹2 lakh from my own pocket, after Mr. [Raja Venkatappa] Naik won the elections,” Pujari said.
The local residents lauded Pujari for his work.
“Pujari’s work in laying a road for farmers will remain in the hearts of the people for long. He has done this without expecting anything from anybody,” Mallanna, a resident of Yadahalli, has said.
