TAJ NAGAR, A DREAM REVISITED

BY  Ashim Sunam

TAJ NAGAR, A DREAM REVISITED

Krishan Kumar, a farmer who grows flowers in Taj Nagar village, anxiously waits for a local passenger train to Delhi. He sells these flowers to a wholesale dealer in Delhi. Some years back, life was not easy for him. He had to travel around three and half kilometers on foot to reach the nearest station from Taj Nagar. He always carried a weight of around 30-40 kilograms of flowers on his head. Each and every villager has his own story of struggle.

The heads of the village requested the government to build a station for them. They had first made this request 28 years ago. Each and every minister rejected their plea. According to the rules of the Indian Railways, the minimum distance between two local stations has to be 5 kilometers. Taj Nagar was 3.5 kilometers away from either of its two closest stations, which are Patli and Jatola Jori saapka station.

Suraj singh, a resident from Taj Nagar says “It was only due to the earnest efforts of Laloo Prasad Yadav, that we have a station in Taj Nagar. He is next to god for us”. Irrespective of the law, Laloo Prasad allowed them to build a station as it would benefit both the locals and the railways too.

Each and every family member contributed a minimum of Rupees 3000 and some of them even put in more than what they were asked. The villagers accumulated around 27 lakhs, and built the station without using a single penny from the government. On the contrary the Railways asked them to pay a sum of 5.6 lakhs for land, four display boards, project reports and administration before starting their work.

Krishan Kumar adds, “I have started to earn twice as much as I used to some years back, because now I save time on traveling so I reach home earlier than before”. His supply in Delhi has increased from 40 kilos of flowers everyday to around 70 to 80 kilos, hence increasing his profits too.

Revenue from Taj Nagar station is increasing every month. Dhramveer, the station master says, “The government’s income has increased from 90,000 rupees to 2.5 lakhs in a short span of 9 months for Taj Nagar station alone”. The government has thus increased the number of trains stopping at Taj Nagar from 14 to 18 trains per day.

The sarpanch of Taj Nagar, Mahender Singh feels very proud as the small village has achieved what many people thought to be practically impossible. They have proved true the age old saying “where there is a will, there is way”. The Sarpanch says, “Our villagers worked very hard to turn this dream into a reality.” Almost 25 villages around Taj Nagar use this station for commuting to different places. He later on adds, “Other nearby villages were also interested in lending a helping hand and contribute towards building the station in any way possible, but we did not accept it”.

The villagers feel the need of setting up a waiting hall in the station. There are neither any seating arrangements nor a shelter. There is also a high expectation from the villagers, as they want the station to be changed from a halt station to a flag station.  Amar Singh, a member of Panchayat says, “If Taj Nagar becomes a flag station, there will be employment for our villagers too and they can even open tea stalls at the station”.

Sanjay Chatturvedi, a resident of Delhi who works in a warehouse nearby Taj Nagar travels every day. He claims that the security in the stations must be provided by the government, especially in these small stations. He later on adds, “I have even seen dead bodies in the tracks which scared me a lot.”

People like Sanjay have reasons to smile as they can now spend quality time with his family. The credit goes to the villagers of Taj Nagar who has written an incredible chapter in Indian history.

~ by ashimsunam on September 25, 2010.