Workers engaged in the construction of the road in Manipur’s Tousem subdivision
Calcutta, Nov 21 : The tireless endeavours of a family and the worldwide reach of social networking will soon pave a rocky road to address the basic needs of food, education and livelihood in Manipur’s Tousem subdivision.
Jeremiah Pame, assistant professor at
University of Delhi, is raising funds through a Facebook group, which
has now crossed the 7,000-member mark.
His brother, Armstrong Pame,
sub-divisional magistrate of Tamenglong, and the first IAS officer from
the Zeme tribe, took up the initiative to construct a road connecting
his subdivision to the district headquarters town of Tamenglong and to
Haflong in Assam.
His family then took up the task of garnering funds for the endeavour.
This stretch, part of the road connecting
Assam, Manipur and Nagaland and now popularly being called the Great
Indian Road project, is particularly hilly and worsens during the
monsoon, making it difficult to navigate.
“When we took up this project, some people
thought we were crazy. The road was virtually impossible to cut.
However, we were determined to walk the tough and crazy road. We have
received an overwhelming response and we can proudly say that we still
believe in humanity. There are many people in the world thirsty for a
good initiative. They just need an opportunity,” said Jeremiah.
People from all over the world — Canada,
England, the US, Israel, Kuwait, Belgium, Norway and other countries —
have responded and contributed to the cause. An elderly man, who heard
of the project, telephoned Jeremiah from London to say, “I was born in
India but I have been living in England for 45 years. I am 68. I had
lost faith in our country, because I have been hearing only about
corruption, scams, rape and murder. But this story gives me hope to be
proud of my country once again.”
The Facebook group and the website of the project, http://thegreatindianroad.in, list the progress, amounts contributed and the names of the contributors.
There have been some heartwarming
responses, like the farmer who contributed a tin can of rice cultivated
by himself or the child who gave Rs 50 from his pocket money. Rev.
Valson Thampu, principal of St Stephen’s College, who contributed Rs
10,000, said, “I am proud of Armstrong and all the people who are
working together.”
Moreover, the people of Tamenglong
yesterday organised a meeting where more than 700 households decided to
launch a door-to-door campaign to support the project.
With the response, the brothers are confident of being able to construct a metalled road.
The construction of the road was stalled
for 30 years till Armstrong Pame took matters into his own hands and
decided to build it with the aid of the villagers and the public.
It all began with Rs 4 lakh contributed by
the family members. Along with machinery, the villagers also pitched in
to provide food and supplies for the 15 persons who worked on the road.
No less than 50-odd villagers turn up to lend a hand with the construction everyday.
The road, from the district headquarters
to the subdivision, is nearly 60km and from the subdivision to Haflong
is nearly 45-50km.
The challenge is to make a new road and
clear the ground from Phoklong village to connect it with the main road
to Haflong, nearly 30km or so.
Jeremiah recalls the hardships faced by
the villagers when they were children. Several persons died of diseases
like malaria, typhoid and others because it took two days to walk to the
district hospital. Patients still have to be carried on makeshift
bamboo stretchers.
Moreover, children are forced to stay back
in the village instead of going to school. Farmers are unable to access
market facilities. Also, the practice of jhum cultivation leads to a scarcity of food in the monsoon.
Also on the cards is a bridge over the
Makhru river. “We have promised the villagers that the road will be
completed by Christmas. This is our Christmas gift to them. Hopefully
our online endeavour will be enough to garner funds to see the project
through,” says Armstrong.
Kote Elah, a contributor, says, “The
response of the group has encouraged me to believe that there are good
and honest people after all. This is a real eye-opener — to have faith
when there seems to be no hope. This is called government of the people
by the people and for the people.”
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