grim picture: Giridih secretariat

Giridih, Feb. 8: It’s official. There has hardly been any development in Giridih over the past five years. Right from tackling the problem of Naxalism to other sectors, including education and health, the district is lagging behind.

The truth has come from the district administration in the first five-year sectoral plan that it has prepared. The report was submitted to the Planning Commission of India on January 29. The 207-page report has been prepared by deputy development commissioner G.S. Minz and district planning officer C.B. Tiwari, along with team members. The report also dwells on the opportunities in the district.

“We have tried to show the true picture and have also suggested the route of development route,” Tiwari said.

At very beginning of the report, the administration accepts that “the area was deprived of basic developments despite its minerals and heritage”. As per the economic scenario, it says that “the district was once an industrial place for mica and coal but both the industries are at the verge of closure, which created an enormous amount of unemployment. The working people are now selling coal by digging illegal coal mines putting their lives in extreme danger…Children are also involved in this unfair trade”.

On the Naxalite threat, it states that “the poor economic, social scenario compounded by the hilly terrain, which limits accessibility, helped Maoists strengthen their base in the district…Some of the biggest massacres and bank robberies have occurred in Giridih during recent times”.

“Several posts are vacant at the Indian Statistical Institute and National Sample Survey Organisation, as no one wants to be posted in Giridih because of poor infrastructure and its quarry town ambience,” the report adds. It also comments on the steel units’ contribution to pollution.

Regarding education, the officials say, “the district is facing a pathetic education status…Women literacy is very low”. Due to inadequate medical facilities, especially in the rural area, people face different health hazards, the report pointed out.