Where there is no need, light where there is darkness, there is waiting; questions raised on CSR’s street light scheme

Santosh Kumar Gupta (Correspondent)

Bijpur/ Sonbhadra –

Around 36 street lights installed in Sirsoti area by NTPC Rihand under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are now under question. The villagers have expressed displeasure over the location of lights in the scheme whose objective was to provide relief to the villagers from darkness.

Villagers allege that the places where street lights have been installed have very low population and only four-five families reside there. On the contrary, many parts of the village are still shrouded in darkness, where a large number of people live and face difficulty in commuting at night.

The biggest contradiction is that on one hand the NTPC management is calling this initiative a big step towards rural development, while on the other hand village head Vijay Singh says that he had given a separate list for installing street lights, but the work was not done as per the list.

Although NTPC Rihand representative Roshan said that the work has been done under the supervision of the village head, but the statement of the village head has further complicated the whole matter. Now the villagers are demanding that the entire matter should be investigated and street lights should be installed in the areas of real need, so that the intentions of CSR can actually be seen on the ground.

Shadow of questions on the shine of CSR

The villagers said – Not us, but the empty road got light. The light of CSR reached where there was less darkness, and where there was more darkness, people are still waiting for light. Villagers are raising questions that if the objective of CSR is to provide public welfare and facilities to needy areas, then why were less populated areas given priority? After all, on whose instructions was the location changed and on what basis was this decision taken?