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The choice of some villages adopted by MPs in Gujarat under the Prime Minister's 'Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna' has invited criticism from Congress which claimed that they were already developed, a charge refuted by the MPs.
There are three such cases which have come to the light where villages have good infrastructure, but MPs have still gone ahead to adopt them, informed sources said.
Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat Mansukh Mandaviya adopted Ugamedi village in Gadhda taluka in Bhavnagar district under the 'Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojna'.
According to the Sarpanch of Ugamedi, the village has been developed as a tourism spot due to river-linking project and the villagers churn a good source of income from diamond industries and agriculture activities.
"The village has a population of around ten thousand. The villagers have linked two rivers Sonal and Keri with the cost of around 90 lakhs and also made a dam with the help of a donor of this village," Sarpanch of Ugamedi Vinubhai Anghad said.
"The village has also seen a good progress in diamond industry, as it is having around 100 diamond-cutting units, where people from the surrounding villages come to get employment," Anghad added.
On the question of infrastructure in the village, he said, "Our village has been developed by the villagers, but now it should also get some government aid. We had requested our MP Mansukh Mandaviya to adopt this village to make it a model village in the entire country and he did it."
Lok Sabha MP from Kheda seat Devusinh Chauhan has also chosen a less-laborious task by selecting another 'developed' village Vahelal in Matar Taluka in Ahmedabad district.
As per an office-bearer of village panchayat, Vahelal is also known as the village of 'NRIs' as most of the families have settled either in USA or UK.
"The villagers in Vahelal, which has the population of around four thousand, has roads and other basic facilities, but it also needs to be improved. The village has many hospitals and schools too," an office-bearer Sanjay Patel said.
