Villager Gives Land For Safe Landing

US PRESIDENT Bill Clinton may not get to know about it, but he is beholden to Naila-resident Jagdish. It is on this farmer's fields in Naila that the presidential helicopter will land and take off during his stay in the Rajasthan capital.

Jagdish's land holding was among four sites shortlisted, and finally chosen for the helipad, by US security officials who went through the area with a fine-tooth comb. Jagdish, of course, is delighted by his 15 minutes of fame and reflected glory.

The helipad that stands on his fields is about a kilometre from Fatehgarh fort (a Clinton destination) and 18 km from the presidential suite in Raj Vilas Hotel.

 

Jagdish told The Hindustan Times he did not demand any compensation from either the US or the Indian government for the damage that the construction of the helipad has caused to his fields. But the strangulating American security drill being imposed on this village has caused resentment locally. A Naila resident remarked: "We get the impression that we will be forced to close our windows and doors when Clinton passes through the village."

At Fatehgarh fort, which houses a government primary health centre, Mr Clinton is to witness a mock panchayat session. There have been "dress rehearsals" for the event: under the watchful eye of US officials, the sarpanch his team have gone through the motions of The Meeting with The Most Powerful Man In The World.

In a room of the haveli, some 20 women from Dabaloi village will be showing the President their milk-testing equipment.

Said Dabaloi dairy farmer Sajna Devi Meena: "We women of Dabaloi no longer wear a veil (ghoongat). Our dairy farms are modernised."

Unlike villagers in the Gurgaon district of Haryana, who renamed their village as Carter Puri, the villagers of Naila want to maintain their original identity. But Clinton-admirer Jagdish says he has changed the name of the school he runs to Clinton School.