Jamshaid Ashraf’s Contributions – Infrastructure Development
Jamshaid Ashraf’s constituency has been Balia, in the Begusarai District. Unfortunately, in Balia, there had been no new developments for over 15 years – even though the previous MLA from there, who was from the RJD party, had also been the Urban Development Minister for some time. Everything was lacking, from hospitals and police stations, to even basic infrastructure such as roads hadn’t been built in 15 years! As a result of this, Balia was in a complete mess.
When Jamshaid Ashraf was elected as an MLA from Balia, his first focus was on improving this extremely neglected infrastructure. During his tenure, there were various projects that he initiated and saw through to completion, which are listed below:
- Government Offices (Anumandal Bhavan):
- Government offices were scattered throughout Balia, and were in a terrible condition – this meant that the Government officials were not located in the same place, so sharing of data and working together on projects was difficult, and the public had to run to various different locations for different Government offices.
- Jamshaid’s first act after becoming the MLA was the proposal and construction of Balia’s first Anumandal Bhavan.
- This led to the aggregation of all government offices in one place, which streamlined getting the work done and opened the doors to clean development of Balia.
- Roads:
- Due to 15-20 years of negligence, there was no maintenance and no new construction of roads in Balia – when Jamshaid was elected as an MLA, there was not a single proper road in Balia.
- Jamshaid took up this massive challenge and promised the people of Balia that within 5 years, he would have all the required and important roads renovated, as well as new ones constructed.
- In some parts of Balia, roads had never been constructed due to which villages were facing severe hardship – for example from Mir Alipur to Madhu Sudanpur. Jamshaid got these roads and bridges constructed with the Pradhanmatri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY).
- In addition, the Awadh Tirhut Road, which was in a terrible condition for the past 25-30 years was also rebuilt by him, allowing for much better connectivity and transport of goods and people within his constituency.
- In the entire Diera area of the Balia constituency, there were absolutely no roads at all. Jamshaid got all the new required roads constructed through Pradhanmatri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) and Mukhmantri Gram Sadak Yojna (MMGSY) – this was the first time that something like this had ever been done in Balia – such level of infrastructure development in such a short span had never been attempted nor successfully carried out before.
- Healthcare:
- There were no proper hospitals in Balia – as a result the people had to travel all the way to Begusarai for a decent hospital – which was not only troublesome but also often caused serious problems with people who needed urgent and emergency hospitalisation.
- Jamshaid had a 75 bed hospital built in Balia in order to provide people with this basic necessity that had been ignored and ensure that the people of his constituency had access to proper healthcare.
- Police Station:
- In Dandari block, there was no police station at all. This meant that if people needed the police for anything, they had to travel to Sahebpur Kamal.
- This lack of a police station also made it harder for the police to monitor and have a frequent presence in Dandari Block.
- Realising the necessity of a police station in Dandari block, Jamshaid proposed for a police station here, and ensured one was constructed and made fully operational.
- Registration office:
- Similarly, there was no registration office in Balia, and people were forced to travel to Begusarai which was rather difficult and inconvenient.
- The first thing he did after becoming the Minister for Registration was to sanction and construct a registration office in Balia.
- Vakalatkhana (Lawyer library):
- In Balia court, there was not a single Vakalatkhana for lawyers – usually a must in every court, which meant that the lawyers didn’t have a place to sit, there was no venue for the people to discuss their cases with the lawyers, and there was no law library – severely inconveniencing lawyers and the public who were their clients.
- Jamshaid had a Vakalatkhana constructed with the funds he had as an MLA.
- Prominence and Development through Nagar Nigam conversion:
- In the history of Bihar, for the first time, a cabinet meeting was held outside Patna, at Jamshaid Ashraf’s constituency, in village Barbighi.
- Begusarai, which used to be a Nagar Palika, was, in this cabinet meeting, converted to a Nagar Nigam, which led to greater funds for development and higher level of recognition.
- Simultaneously Balia, Teghra, Bakhri and Bihat were given the status of Nagar Panchayat and Nagar Parishad, leading to better governance and more funds for development.
With such strident developments in infrastructure, Jamshaid more than delivered on his promise that he had made to his constituents, and really helped in Balia’s development and growth.