BJP MLA Krishna Paswan has publicly blamed local infrastructure development for an incident that will infuriate the residents of the Khaga constituency in the Fatehpur district, Uttar Pradesh. Krishna Paswan’s surprise quality inspection of the newly constructed road, which was shared uncontrolled on social media, revealed a road surface so delicate that it has caused waves of “thin crust pizza” comparisons on the internet.
Road Inspection
The event took place when MLA Paswan visited one of the constituent villages in response to the residents’ repeated complaints about Public Works Department (PWD) and private contractors’ work of inferior quality. In the video, which has gained millions of views, Paswan is visible using her hand as well as a shovel to take off the “just laid” asphalt’s upper layer with ease.
The road allegedly completed just a few days before lacked a proper foundation. While the MLA was breaking pieces of the road surface as if it was a dry cracker, the social media audience was quick to draw parallels to a thin crust pizza.
“Playing with Public Funds”
Preparing to address the situation in a very strong and direct way, MLA Paswan visibly showed his anger at first by not only refusing the substandard quality but also to the site engineers and representatives of the construction firm with whom he spoke.
“Is it a road or a sheet of paper?” MLA Paswan was said to have asked the officials present there. “It’s basically a steal of public money and a betrayal of people’s trust. I won’t turn a blind eye to such corruption in my government.”
The MLA got support from the local residents who pointed out that the road was already getting damaged by light bicycles and pedestrians only. One villager said, “It took us years to get this road, and it was gone even before 48 hours.”
Official Action
After the inspection, MLA Krishna Paswan has sent a letter to the District Magistrate as well as to the higher PWD authorities asking them to stop any further payments to the contractor immediately.
No further payments to the construction agency will be made until further notice for the project in question. The technical team is on the site taking core samples of the road to determine its actual thickness and bitumen content. The MLA has asked that the contractor be blacklisted from getting government projects in the district in the future.
A Broader Infrastructure Concern
The incident has once again brought to light the debate regarding the “Double Engine” government’s infrastructure push in Uttar Pradesh. Even as thousands of Kilometers of roads are coming up, the critics and the local representatives are raising the alarm about the absence of proper supervision at the grassroots level.
For Krishna Paswan, who has become synonymous with her strong grassroots connect in Khaga, this inspection is being interpreted as a move on her part to break away from the local level corruption and to primarily blame the bureaucracy.
As the “thin crust” video is still trending, the PWD has given an assurance that a “full restoration” of the road will be done at the contractor’s own cost. Nevertheless, for the inhabitants of Fatehpur, this incident is still a sour memory of the divide between bureaucratic assurances and ground, level implementation.
