Hope floats for Badarpur village

A pledge by the local corporator, after an HT report on Wednesday, and a rejig of its boundaries after the recent realignment of legislative assembly constituencies have brought some hope for Badarpur Khaadar. Zia Haq reports.

A pledge by the local corporator, after an HT report on Wednesday, and a rejig of its boundaries after the recent realignment of legislative assembly constituencies have brought some hope for Badarpur Khaadar.

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“Through your esteemed newspaper, I promise that in cooperation with new the MLA, after this election, I would work to bring Badarpur Khaadar village into the mainstream of development policies,” Annapurna Mishra, corporator, said in an emailed assurance to HT.

The village — cut off from rest of Delhi by the Yamuna and hemmed in by Uttar Pradesh — will be represented by the legislator of Karawal Nagar Assembly segment after the coming polls. This should end its isolation and make it better administered, Mishra said.

Mishra claimed even electoral officials were not aware of this village. “The only fault of this village was that it was completely isolated in its legislative and municipal constituencies,” she said.

The director of UN’s Millennium Campaign Salil Shetty said from New York that his office would keep a track of the progress of this village from now on. “If the government actually takes some action as a result of this story, do keep us posted. Otherwise, we will prepare for more campaigning on this iconic case,” he said through an email.

Ashok Bharti of the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations, which has worked closely with the UN’s Millennium office to highlight the village’s plight, said geographical isolation was only an “excuse”.

“If it’s difficult to reach, how did 70 candidates land up for votes during last elections?” he said.