Progress plank for Ramgarh candidates

Ramgarh: Development and better

infrastructure

will take centrestage on Monday when

Ramgarh

goes to the

civic polls

for the first time. The state urban development department notified the formation of the

municipal council

in 2014, with 18 panchayats across three blocks — Ramgarh, Mandu and Patratu — dissolved to form the Ramgarh municipal council.

Campaigning is in full swing across the town with vehicles fitted with posters and loudspeakers blaring the promises made by the candidates. Voters and politicians alike said development of the town would be the decisive factor in this

election

.

A survey conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment in 50 mining districts of 11 states last year found Ramgarh to be the most backward in terms of public amenities,

health

, education, drinking water and sanitation and livelihood.

City-based advocate Muneshwar Mahto said: “Villages have been converted into a town to form a municipal council. The people of these areas, once governed by panchayats, now have varied expectations with development taking centrestage.”

He said, “People here will vote for a candidate, not for a party or a symbol. We know each of the candidates by their face and we know how they are likely to perform. However, regional parties like

JMM

and

JVM-P

will play a bigger role in this election as their support base is stronger in villages.”

Government school teacher Anjay Agarwal echoed Mahto’s sentiments: “Outside the cantonment area, Ramgarh has seen little progress. We now expect the facilities that a town has. We will vote for the candidates who will work for the development of Ramgarh.”

Sources said the state government formed the 32-ward Ramgarh municipal council to control the

Ramgarh Cantonment Board

— which falls under the Union ministry of

defence

— that functions as a civic administration body and looks after the town areas under its command zone.

However, due to the presence of the regimental centres for two of the oldest infantry regiments of India — Sikh and Punjab — the urban development department of the state government cannot carry out any infrastructural and developmental activities on its own.

With the population of the town booming, real estate promoters are looking at areas outside the cantonment’s command area due to building and security restrictions imposed by the Cantonment Board. While peripheral areas of the town are witnessing rapid influx of housing and commercial establishments, growth in the command area is stunted.

The administrative and public institutions like the sadar hospital, civil court and Ramgarh jail are all located outside the periphery of the command area while the district headquarters is located at erstwhile Kothar village, 8km from the World War II garrison town.

Even the candidates are counting on promise of development to see them through to victory. BJP’s nominee for the post of vice-chairman, Ranjit Pandey, said the party will focus on mitigating the drinking

water crisis

in the mineral-rich town. “Our focus will be on the development of the industrial and mining areas. The town faces water crisis due to low ground water level. We have plans to use Rs 300 crore from the district mineral foundation for drinking water supply. We are confident of winning the municipal council elections by at least 10,000 votes.”

Mukesh Yadav, Congress nominee for the post of vice-chairman, said better infrastructure is their poll agenda. “The state government had notified the formation of Ramgarh municipal council way back in 2014. Even three years after that, the town doesn’t have infrastructure like adequate drinking water supply and healthcare. Our focus will be on strengthening basic infrastructure.”