CHAKWAL, Dec14: These days, the Punjab government is doling out heavy funds to its MPs so that they could win the hearts and minds of people by launching development projects before the upcoming general elections.

However, there are some remote areas in the Chakwal district where the MPA and MNA have never made their appearance after getting votes in 2008.

A case in point is Khanwal village, some 20km to the northwest of Chakwal city. The road to this village is also the sole source of travelling to many other villages like Dhoke Budha, Jamalwal, Shahpur, Narang, Ghugh, Haraj and Thaneel Kamal.

This road has not been repaired after its construction decades back and is in a shambles now. The villages fall in the constituencies of NA-60 and PP-20. “Our vehicles keep on getting damaged on a daily basis due to this broken road,” said drivers who ply their passenger vans on the road. They said they had voted for the PML-N in the hope that it would launch development projects in the area. However, after reaching the assemblies their representatives ignored them. The residents of these villages said what else change their leaders would bring if they could not repair a single road.The biggest worry of the villagers is the pathetic condition of the Government Primary School for Girls. The school was built four decades ago. There are three classrooms. The roof of one of the rooms caved in during the Monsoon rains last year while the walls and roofs of the other two rooms continue to pose a threat to the students and their two teachers. The walls have developed cracks and the roof is crumbling.

“I have written many letters to my officers about the condition of the school building but no action has so far been taken,” said Tahira Yasmeen, the head teacher. She added that after the roof of the classroom caved in, she had to accommodate the students in the two rooms. Currently, 47 students are studying in the school.

“Who would be responsible if the crumbling walls of the rooms fall,” asked Tariq Murtaza Hashmi, a resident of the village. Lashing out at the elected representatives, he said not a single development project was launched in the village during the current PML-N government.

When contacted, District Officer Elementary Education (girls) Shahida Hashmi said she would look into the matter.

When the attention of MPA Iffat Liaquat was drawn towards the plight of the road and the school, she claimed that she would try to fix the problems soon.