Yesterday Sudesh Mahto (pictured), the home minister of Jharkhand, wed fiancee Neha, a law student, in her home village of Dimbudih. The “VVIPs” were out in force:

Many of the ‘Who’s who’ of the state along with some of the political bigwigs of the country including Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad [Yadav] and senior BJP leader L K Advani graced the occasion but, Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda did not attend the function as he was indisposed.

State Road Construction officials worked overtime to construct new roads, Energy Department employees erected electric poles, intelligence sleuths and senior police personnel made tight security arrangements at the venue, which falls in the Naxal-infested zone, with STF jawans keeping a hawk eye vigil.

The festivities, which continue tomorrow with a reception for 50,000 in Mahto’s village Lagam, have brought a flurry of rural development activity to the area. To accommodate the minister’s 300-vehicle motorcade, an all-weather road was constructed between the two hamlets. Places along the route have received electricity for the first time.

‘Thanks to the marriage of the minister our village got connected with roads and we saw electricity,’ said Ganesh Mahto, a resident of Silli.

The villagers are happy for more than one reason. Besides roads and power, many have also got short-term employment thanks to the construction work. Incidentally, the home minister is also in charge of road and construction, so there was no problem in getting funds.

‘We had been making rounds of offices to get electricity connection for the past decade. But the minister’s marriage brought electricity to the village,’ said another villager.

Indeed, the wedding has alerted villagers to a whole new development strategy:

But the best part of the marriage was the glittering, almost blinding electric lights, which villagers saw for the first time since Independence. “May every daughter of this village be married to a VIP,” prayed one of them.

The villagers should not to count on those lights glittering too often. Jharkhand’s power situation is dire. The state electricity board is mired in dispute over reforms, and its two thermal plants generate no more than 10% of their installed capacity. Even importing power from outside, Jharkhand is plagued with power cuts.

Then again, Mahto, a former footballer, has also vowed to “wipe out Naxalism through games and sports.” So perhaps he has an integrated theory of social progress, not just an over-reliance on pixie dust. Social scientists would be wise to stay on the case.