The people of Narpura village of Dhaulpur district of Rajasthan were unhappy because their long standing need of drinking water was not getting fulfilled. The entire population of the village, which was 827 in number, was facing the problem, with women being the worst hit as they had to fetch from other villages which were distant. Even then they were not getting clean water because of which the villagers were often falling ill.
The Child Protection Committee, a community based organization, whose formation and strengthening was facilitated by Prayatn, submitted several proposals to the Sarpanch, but nothing was happening as the Sarpanch was not responding. When they started demonstrations, FIR was filed against them. They then decided to resolve the matter on their own by contributing Rs 300 per household and installed a borewell but that too failed. So, the issue of drinking water was appearing in their Village Development Plan every year and that too on the top. After so many efforts, the faith of villagers on the democratic system had started weakening.
In the above situation, the field staff of Prayatn told the villagers that elections of the State Legislative Assembly are due in the beginning of 2019, and in democracy, voter has all the power. The CPC members, in this situation decided to approach the local MLA Shobharani and told her that if the issue is not resolved, they will not vote for her.
When CPC members approached the MLA with written request, they received positive response. The MLA assured them that she will resolve the matter immediately. Upon coming back, the CPC members called state helpline number 181 and followed up the complaint that they had already registered. At the same time, they kept on reminding about it to the MLA and her PA. On the very next day, a vehicle came with the pipes for connecting the village with the water supply source in Pachgaon. Within 15 days, water supply in the village was started and the issue of drinking water supply was resolved. The success of the process reaffirmed the faith of the villagers in the democratic system. They felt that it requires patience, but it pays. They also realized that in democracy, their vote is their true power.