Road to prosperity: Ex-soldier gifts road to village on I-Day

An ex-serviceman has given a unique gift to his village this Independence Day — one kilometre road constructed from the money he received after his retirement.

An ex-serviceman has given a unique gift to his village this Independence Day — one kilometre road constructed from the money he received after his retirement.

An ex-serviceman paid for a one kilometre road for his village from the money he received after his retirement. (Arvind Yadav/ HT Photo)

Bhagguram Maurya, a resident of Heerampur in Varanasi, joined the Army as a soldier in 1978 and retired as an honorary lieutenant in 2012. After his retirement, Maurya resolved that he would ensure the construction of a road connecting Babatpur-Rajatalab to solve the problems of villagers.

“The villagers used to face a lot of inconvenience in the absence of a connecting road. I decided that I would do something to solve the problem,” he said. In 2002, Maurya received a medal from President Abdul Kalam and he was honoured again in 2012 by President Pranab Mukherjee.

When he mooted the idea, the villagers initially resisted as he wanted them to leave a portion of their land for the construction of road. However, he managed to convince villagers by telling them that not only the village would be connected to the link road, people could also stay healthy by using it for morning walk.

Maurya spent around Rs 4 lakh on the construction of the road. Maurya has now requested public representatives to ensure laying of interlocking tiles on the road. A few residents have also spoken to local panchayat representatives.

“I am left with no money otherwise I would have purchased interlocking tiles and laid them. I have requested minister of state for public works department Surendra Patel to arrange for interlocking tiles. I hope he will provide help to us,” Maurya said.