It was Gandhi Jayanti celebrations with a difference at Minia Panchayat here. The panchayat is barely 18 km from Phulbani and comprises 22 revenue villages under Phulbani block with a population of more than 10,000.
Villagers did ‘shramdaan’ on the occasion to repair a 12-km long road from Kumuriguda Square to Gadadi village, which was constructed 15 years back. They took the step after repeated reminders to the district administration to repair the road stretch with large potholes had failed to evoke any response.
With a large number of villagers traveling on this route, vehicular communication was hit due to the bad road condition. People across all age groups from all the 10 villages joined hands to take up the work which continued for five hours.
“We had received no response from agencies like PWD, Rural Development and even the block officials. Hence, we decided to take up the work ourselves. And no other day was as auspicious as Gandhi Jayanti to begin the work,” said Debanarayan Pradhan, former ward member of Minia panchayat who also took part in the initiative. The villagers filled up the potholes and re-laid the road stretch wherever required.