Bihar elections: Will Kutumba vote for equitable access to water?

Farmers and local people in Kutumba Vidhan Sabha constituency (Aurangabad district, Bihar) do not get enough water to meet their irrigation and other agriculture-related and domestic water needs. With barely 2 hours of electricity supply daily it is not feasible to use boring pumps to draw groundwater to meet farming needs. About six months ago this severe water crisis forced farmers and a local activist Ganesh Paswan to stage a demonstration and indefinite fast. When administration made a promise to build a water canal up to Kutumba then this fast ended after 3 days. But no action has been taken since then by local administration to fulfill their promise of a water canal.

Ganesh Paswan who is key to this movement, is also the election candidate of Socialist Party (India) from Kutumba (222), Aurangabad, Bihar (election symbol: battery torch).

If Ganesh Paswan is successful in these elections, right to equitable access to water is among his top priority. Building a water canal to meet water needs of Kutumba farmers and improving electricity supply so that boring pumps can be used in areas where water canal is unable to reach are some ways to resolve this crisis.

Ganesh Paswan has been involved with several people's struggles in Kutumba, right to water being one of them.

Ganesh Paswan had also contested the 2010 elections. Another issue in Kutumba is that children of poor people are unable to regularly go to school due to bad or no roads. Constructing roads so that children can easily go to schools regularly, is another top priority. Unless children of the poor get proper education how else will we reduce social inequities?

Ganesh Paswan is contesting elections in a shoe string budget. Local poor people including farmers are giving small but important donations. If you will like to financially support Ganesh Paswan's election campaign please send your donations to below given account (and confirm your donation over email to ashaashram@yahoo.com).

Bank account name: Ganesh Paswan
Account number: 6082000100160442
IFSC: PUNB0608200
Navinagar, Aurangabad, Bihar

Ganesh Paswan's phone number: +91-9572-948822

Citizen News Service - CNS
7 October 2015