Youth at Batkote vote for basic amenities

Pahalgam, Sep 18: The youth in Pahalgam turned out to vote in large numbers on Wednesday to get basic amenities like healthcare and banking services.

A group of youth outside Batkote polling station of Pahalgam constituency said voiced their concerns over lack of basic amenities and said that most of the times, the candidates who won the elections often forgot about the people and failed to address the basic issues.

“We cast our vote to get a hospital here. We have to travel 30 kilometers to Anantnag for medical care, which is neither affordable nor feasible for many here,” said one of the young voter outside “Youth Polling Station” established to attract young voters.

“A hospital is a critical necessity for this region,” said another voter.  The voters said the area does not have even an ATM and they hope that once a new government is formed they will get an ATM in this area. “We have to spent around Rs 100 to RS 200 rupees to visit the ATM,” another voter said.

Residents also said that high-tension electric wires were hanging precariously above their homes. “Despite the clear risk to life, no attention has been given to this issue. No one is paying attention to these wires. We want these basic issues to be resolved, and that is why we are voting today,” another voter added.

However, not all voting stations reflected this atmosphere of civic engagement. At another polling booth, tensions flared between supporters of different candidates, leading to heated arguments and accusations of misuse of funds.

The exchange of allegations and counter-allegations was seen between the supporters of different candidates.

“During the past the funds were utilised for personal use while the major issues remained unutilised,” said an angry supporter while pointing his fingers towards his opponent. “Our area has been developed properly, it is at par with any town of Kashmir. We are satisfied with our leaders and the DDC chairperson,” yelled the opponent supporters.

Amid this heated argument, another elderly resident said that attributing development to any leader or representative was a futile exercise as whole funding was done by Govt of India. “J&K is UT now and for the last five years, whole funding was provided by Govt of India,” the elderly voter said.