{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "The Ballia village that gave the nation Nirbhaya now begs for a road, while goats roam its hospital",
  "summary": "Medwara Kalan in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district, the ancestral village of Nirbhaya, still has no pucca road, no school beyond class 5 and a hospital overrun by goats. Fed up with broken promises, villagers have decided to boycott the coming election with the slogan no road, no vote.",
  "content": "A village in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district was once on everyone's lips across the country. This is Medwara Kalan, the place that drew national attention after the 2012 Nirbhaya case, a crime that shook the entire nation. Back then people poured onto the streets demanding justice, and a fresh conversation began about the safety of daughters. Yet 14 years on, this very village has become a picture of neglect and decay. The roads promised so much development have crumbled into potholes, and the hospital built in Nirbhaya's name has turned into a shelter for goats. The daughters of this village have been raising their voice for the past five years, but the officials and leaders responsible remain in deep slumber.\n\nNot a single pucca road to reach the village\nSubhash Pandey, a resident, says the government gave the village a great deal after Nirbhaya's killing, but all of it now lies ignored. The hospital opened in Nirbhaya's name is today run by goats. A pharmacist turns up once in a while, and there is no trace of a doctor. At best one can find medicine for a cough or fever here. There is no arrangement at all for bandages, ointment or an IV drip. Sonu Paswan says the village has been craving a road for years, and there is not a single pucca road to come and go.\n\nDeliveries happen on the way, lives lost without treatment\nMohan Murari Rai says that when a pregnant woman has to be taken for delivery, the baby is often born on the road itself. For want of a road, three patients have died right in front of him. Prem Narayan has demanded that a road be built. The village youth Shiv Ji Pandey says with despair that he may now have to die unmarried, because the rains are about to begin and no one is willing to come with a marriage proposal to this village. He feels his wedding will simply never happen.\n\nStudies come to a halt for four months in the rains\nStudent Poonam Kumari says that during the monsoon, studies stop completely for nearly four months. The road is so bad that falling off the cycle halfway is a certainty. Amrita Kumari says the state of the road has utterly ruined their studies. According to Divyani Pandey, education has been pushed into a deep crisis. Nikki Patel says studying in the rainy season is nothing short of a challenge, with falling off the cycle on the way to school, dirtied uniforms and a breaking cycle now part of daily life.\n\nNo school in the village beyond class 5\nGoldy Patel and Anchal Sharma say the elderly travel by auto with their lives in their hands, because the road has so many potholes that even the village field is better. The youngest children suffer the most, with their basic education falling apart. Divya Pandey says the real root of both education and health is the road. There is no school in this village after class 5. Three routes connect the village, and all three are unpaved tracks that shut down during the monsoon. From this alone one can imagine the conditions in which these people live.\n\nNo road, no vote: village decides to boycott the election\nChandrabali Yadav, who sells milk, says the route is so bad that his vehicle has been completely wrecked, and his own hands and legs have been broken several times. Elderly Basant Kumar Pandey remarks pointedly that along with his legs, the leaders too have gone lame. The whole village has resolved to boycott the coming election and not cast a single vote. No road, no vote has now become the village's rallying cry. It will be worth watching whether the picture of this much-talked-about Nirbhaya village finally changes, or stays exactly as it is.\n\nWhat this means for you\n• Across India: The story shows how, despite big promises, many villages still struggle for basics like a pucca road, a school and medical care.\n• In Ballia (Medwara Kalan): Unpaved roads shut down in the rains, there is no school beyond class 5, and the hospital built in Nirbhaya's name lies useless, directly hitting pregnant women, patients and children's schooling.\n\nQuestions & Answers\n\n1. Why has Medwara Kalan village been in the news?\nIt is a village in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district that came into the spotlight after the 2012 Nirbhaya case as Nirbhaya's ancestral village.\n\n2. What is the condition of the hospital built in Nirbhaya's name?\nThe hospital is now a shelter for goats. A pharmacist comes occasionally, there is no doctor, and only cough and fever medicine is available.\n\n3. What is the road problem in the village?\nThere is no pucca road to reach the village. All three unpaved routes are full of potholes and shut down during the monsoon.\n\n4. What harm has the lack of a road caused?\nMohan Murari Rai says three patients have died right in front of him, and women often end up delivering on the way.\n\n5. How is children's education being affected?\nStudies stop for nearly four months during the rains, and there is no school in the village beyond class 5.\n\n6. What decision have the villagers taken?\nThe entire village has resolved to boycott this election, raising the slogan no road, no vote.\n\n7. When did the Nirbhaya case take place?\nThe incident happened in 2012 and shook the entire country.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/uttar-pradesh/ballia-ke-jisa-ganva-ne-nirbhaya-ko-janma-diya-vahan-saraka-nahin-sirpha-gaddhe-aura-bakariyon-ke-havale-aspatala-2567",
  "category": "Uttar Pradesh",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-24",
  "tags": [
    "Nirbhaya village",
    "Medwara Kalan",
    "Ballia",
    "Uttar Pradesh",
    "rural road",
    "election boycott",
    "ground report"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}