Roads: Villagers of Selchenmo and Hyla in Wangphu, Samdrupjongkhar heard that they would be connected by road.  So they formed vegetable cooperatives.  But the road never came.

And now the farmers of the two villages say politicians, who promised them the road, lied to them.  They grow vegetables in abundance but cannot sell it without road connectivity.

Selchenmo vegetable cooperative has 30 members, and Hyla has 19.

“We still remember the education minister promising us road from Morong to Selchenmo and then to Hyla, which would be around 12km long,” said Lhatu, 50.

Drupchu Wangdi, another villager, said that because the road was a pledge made by the education minister, Mingbo Dukpa, it is not in the gewog plan. “We’re hoping the government will bring us road.”

Some of the villagers think that the two villages did not get the road because the education minister did not get votes from Wangphu and Gomdar.

Khotsa, 33, said, “Villagers feel that because many voted against him, the education minister isn’t fulfilling the pledge.”

Wangphu gup Sangay Tenzin said that the road was not included in the 11th Plan, and gewog development grant would not be enough to construct the road to the two villages.

Education minister Mingbo Dukpa said no one raised the issue during his last visit to Wangphu and that pledges have to be aligned with the gewog plans. “We have to depend on the gewog’s plan and implement based on immediate needs. I’m everybody’s MP and there’s no partiality among the supporters.”

By Yangchen C Rinzin, Wangphu

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