Why voters in Uttarakhand village choose NOTA en masse in Assembly polls?

Pithoragarh: Exasperated with the administration's failure to deliver on a long-pending demand for a link road, villagers of Champawat's Aam Khark, that gave at least four freedom fighters to the country, have decided to vote for NOTA en masse in the upcoming Assembly elections on February 14.

Lack of connectivity has already forced about 65 per cent of the residents to abandon the village, they complained.

Villagers said they have been demanding a 1500-metre link road since 2007. Though the proposed project was included in the Zilla plan, it remains unexecuted to date. They said the link road, if constructed, will connect the village to Tanakpur-Champawat highway and resolve several of their day-to-day concerns.

Whenever elections near, we get assurances from leaders cutting across political parties of getting the road constructed if they are voted to power. However, they forget us after the elections. We are left with no option but to resort en masse to NOTA (none of the above) this time, Ganga Devi, a resident, said.

Despite being a village of freedom fighters, Aam Khark is devoid of education, medical and banking facilities, another villager Tara Devi said.

In the absence of a road, villagers have to travel about 25 km to reach Tanakpur for minor medical assistance and around 5 km to reach Shyamalatal for schooling, Mahesh Chaurakoti, resident of the village and district president of Swatantrata Senani Uttaradhikari Sangthan, Champawat, said.

Four Gandhian freedom fighters -- Ram Chandra Chaurakoti, Beniram Chaurakoti, Bachi Ram Chaurakoti and Padmadatt Chaurakoti -- were born in the village and contributed to the Quit India Movement of 1942, he said.

Due to the absence of road and basic facilities, over 65 per cent of the villagers have migrated from the village. Of the total 71 families before the formation of the state, only around 25 are left, Chaurakoti said.

He said officials or even lower rung government employees and technicians hesitate to visit the village due to the absence of the link road. As a result, even the smallest of glitches take long to be fixed, he said.

Even if there is a minor fault in power supply, we have to wait for months for a technician to address it, he said.