KHARGONE (MP): Straining at the yoke, they smile for the camera but throbbing veins on their necks give away their struggle, as their father's voice echoes from inside a 28-feet-deep well, "kheencho, kheencho."Another load of earth removed, sisters Jyoti and Kavita pause to catch their breath on their father's farmland in Khargone's Bheekangaon village in Madhya Pradesh . Graduates both, they dug an irrigation well for the family - along with their engineer brother - after the administration allegedly forgot about it after digging 10 feet.Their father, Babu Bhaskar, who spent everything he earned on their education, wonders whether to feel proud of them for their labour of love, or sorry because they have been reduced to manual labourers. He clambers up and gives them a hug. It's been like this for the past four months.The sisters told TOI that after three years of running from pillar to post, they realised that the administration wasn't going to dig the well for them. They decided - in peak summer - to do the spadework themselves so that their father and uncles can prepare for next summer."Nobody helped us. The well was sanctioned but officials ignored us completely," said Jyoti and Kavita, both arts graduates.Babu and his brothers Lakhan and Champalal own three acres of land on Jhirniya Road. Summer is always hard on the region and lack of water has often led to massive losses in the past."We survive on farming. Without water, it was becoming difficult. That's when I was sanctioned a well under MNREGS in 2011," said Babu. Lakhan mortgaged his share of land to raise Rs 50,000 for the well. "The land is still mortgaged. We filed a complaint with the CM helpline but to no avail," he said.Jyoti and Kavita could not see their father and uncles suffer. In April, with the mercury touching 40 degrees Celsius, they decided to deepen the well themselves. They persuaded their father, uncles and aunts to start the job - and the girls led by example."We have no oxen. My educated daughters pulled out soil and rocks out of the well for four months with a rope tied around their waist. They worked like oxen," said Babu. They continued digging till they reached the water table at 28 feet.Bheekangaon janpad panchayat CEO Arif Khan said the well was sanctioned in 2011. "The land was divided among the brothers in 2014. The scheme is applicable only for one beneficiary," he said, refusing to explain why it wasn't dug for the brother whose land it is in.Now that the well is dug, Babu plans to plant soybean. But he worries for his children. Jyoti has enrolled in BEd course and her father is struggling to raise money for the fee. Deepak is looking for a job.Tomorrow is when they dig deeper.

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