Tribal man’s 7-year-long power fight finally ends

CHIKMAGALUR: He fought alone for seven years to get his home electrified.
For this, he frequented all the offices concerned, met officers, local leaders and pleaded before them with folded hands. But his pleas fell on deaf ears, until the district in-charge minister and district superintendent of police heard of it and came to his aid.
This is the story of Janardhana Gowdlu, a tribal living in Kallukudige village, a Naxal-infested area, on the foothills of Kudremukh in Sringeri taluk.Gowdlu applied for an electricity connection with Mescom for his small house. The electricity poles were not too far, and fed power to the houses of the rich and upper community. But, Gowdlu says the people of the upper community thwarted any move of the Mescom officials and pressured them against fixing an electricity pole to draw power supply to his house.
Gowdlu then frequented Mescom and gave a representation to the taluk panchayat. He met local leaders and asked them to convince the people of the upper caste to let Mescom do its job. The zilla panchayat member, who represented this area, raised the issue at the ZP meeting, but there were no listeners and Gowdlu’s family continued to live in darkness, their house lit with just kerosene lamps.
But help finally came when his plea fell on the ears of food and civil supplies minister D N Jeevaraj, who also represents the Sringeri constituency. He directed the officers to solve Gowdlu’s problem and district SP Shashikumar came to his rescue. He warned people from the upper castes and Gowdlu’s house was finally well-lit under the light of an electric bulb.
Gowdlu, whose unceasing efforts for seven long years finally helped his house see electricity, said it felt like he had won a battle when his daughter flicked the switch on and there was light.