50 men at a village in Hathras protest critical drinking water situation in their village
Fifty men in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district have proposed to "auction themselves" to raise money to provide for drinking water in their village.
Residents of Nagla Maya village allege that there is an acute shortage of drinking water in their village. They claim they have met many officials and raised the issues of water scarcity but no one cared.
Fed up with the poor quality of drinking water, the men mostly in their twenties, have formed a youth public welfare committee and said that they will conduct an "auction of themselves" to protest the critical water situation in their village.
"The administration cites lack of funds for not addressing our problem. So we decided to auction ourselves on the Republic Day to raise money," said a young protester.
One of the protesters also claimed that as many as 60 villages in the region with lakhs of residents are affected by the scarcity of drinking water.
After the protest, the Hathras district administration took notice of the matter and assured of appropriate action.
"A letter has been sent to the government in order to resolve this problem and appropriate action will be taken. Action will also be taken against those who are involved," said Rama Shankar Maurya, the District Magistrate of Hathras.