Lucknow: Jaunpur, a well known district in eastern UP, is either know for its internationally renowned “jalebis” or its criminals.
The district now has earned another distinction — a village that has a member in the IAS or PCS cadre from every household.
According to reports, the Madho Patti village in Jaunpur now stands at par with the Ghahmar village in Ghazipur where every household has at least one member in the Army.
“It was in 1914 when Mustafa Hussain, father of well-known poet Wamiq Jaunpuri, joined the civil services. Then in 1952, Indu Prakash became an IAS officer and since then, every family encourages its members to join the elite cadre. In fact, at one time, four brothers got selected to the IAS cadre and one of them, Vinay Kumar Singh, retired as chief secretary of Bihar,” said Arvind Kumar, a local teacher.
Since then, every young student wants to join the elite service cadre and makes a conscious effort for the same.
“You will find students studying in intermediate, going through guide books for IAS and PCS examinations. They start young and also try to brush up on their English since the medium of education in most schools here is still Hindi, said the teacher.
Another village elder, Ram Narain Maurya, said that the only thing that makes this village unique is the fact that parents teach their children to compete with others who have become officers.
“It is peer pressure — hamara ladka bhi afsar banega — that makes these children work hard. Each child wants to fare better than their neighbour’s child and we are happy because it puts the entire village in a bigger league,” Ram Narain Ma-urya said.
However, even though almost every household in Madho Patti has a member in the civil services, the face of the village remains unchanged. The roads are potholed, medical facilities are very basic, electric supply is even more erratic and there is not a single coaching centre for IAS aspirants.
“This is because most of the boys have been given non-UP cadres and they cannot do much for the village at the government level. It is the state government that should recognise the contribution of the village and provide facilities for the young generations,” said Jamuna Prasad, a farmer.
