Villagers' hopes dashed as Charles fails to announce grants

Jodhpur, Mar 29: Hopes of Artiya villagers, who eagerly awaited Prince Charles visit today, were dashed when Prince failed to announce any special package for their village today (Mar 29, 2006).

Although Prince Charles and his wife Camilla seemed impressed with water conservation methods employed by the villagers, villagers were hoping that this visit would prove fruitful for their village in terms of grants and aids from the British ruler.

Say villagers:''We were told the Prince might announce some donations for the development of the village. We welcomed him and his wife so warmly but he failed to announce anything. This has really made us sad.'' Artiya village , some 50 km from Jodhpur in Pali district, was decked up for the occasion in such a way that village almost resembled a village fair and looked stage managed, say eye witnesses.

There were small makeshift stalls of carpenters, blacksmiths and even vegetable vendors. Villagers said there are actually no carpenters and blacksmith in the village and vegetables usually come from nearby villages.

Interestingly, sources say some villagers were not even aware of Prince is from which country and why he was visiting their village.

When questioned, one of the villagers said: ''Shayad America ka yuvraj aa raha hain.''

UNI