Hau Gaon

Namaskaar Bharat.

I am Sankar Ram, the Sarpanch of Village Kuran. You will find it difficult to find Kuran on your maps so let me tell you something about my village. Kuran is a 100 % tribal (Garasia and Bhil) village of Block Bali in District Pali, Rajasthan. It is quite remote and the closest city is Udaipur which is 175 kms away. The village consists of 323 households settled in 13 hamlets. Only 39% people are educated which means they can sign. People here are mainly agriculturists with small holdings of land. Agriculture depends on rainfall and we grow maize in Kharif and wheat in Rabi. There are 36 hand pumps, a majority of them are non-functional and we also have six ground level reservoirs but there is inadequate water supply. 5% of the people have toilets and the rest do it in the open. There is acute malnutrition. We do have electric poles but we get power no more than 2 hours a day. We also have one primary school and one Anganwadi both of which are in a dilapidated condition and children don’t like going there. They rather play in the open and help their parents in daily chores.

About a year and half ago some people from Jaipur and Mumbai came to our village and they met me and the other village elders. They said they wanted to do some developmental work in our village and wanted to make Kuran into Adarsh Gaon or a Model Village. I smiled at them and asked what is a Adarsh Gaon. They allowed us to define what development ought to happen so that Kuran becomes a model village. I called a large number of villagers into a community hall and asked them what development they wished to see in Kuran. They got into small huddles and then a few women sat down on the floor with chalks in their hands to draw out a list of things to do. Take a look at what we did and asked for:

 

The people from the cities saw everything and then agreed to put in money and people over the next 3 years to create a Hau Gaon which is Adarsh Gaon in our language.  They started the process by doing a complete study of all the households which included number of people, education, health, agriculture, sanitation and financial condition. A complete base line study was conducted and a social mapping of the village was done. This would help us understand from time to time about how we were when the project started and how much progress had been achieved. All the villagers came together and stood under a peepul tree and took an oath that they will work with all their might to make Kuran into a model village.

Today after a year and half, I am happy to inform you about what has happened so far in my village on its journey to become Hau Gaon.

A Model Village Development Committee has been formed and it consists 19 members including me. This committee meets twice a month and plans the activities and reviews action taken by various sub-committees which looks after each of the priority areas like education, health, agriculture, etc.

Nineteen self-help groups have been formed and with our small contributions we have managed to generate over Rs 4.50 lacs as savings. This has helped us mobilise over Rs  10lacs from banks and the State Government.

Since we are were dependent on monsoon rains, the NGO helped us in a big way in conserving water. Over17 ha of land has been treated with various soil and water conversation activities like field bunding and trenching. 8 loose stone check dams have also been built in the village Kuran helping in soil and moisture conservation.

Agriculture too has seen much improvement. Over 120 households as compared to 68 in the previous year have adopted improved wheat cultivation practices. 50 households have raised vegetable nurseries and will transplant in their small holding. 49 households have planted fruit orchard-  pomegranate, Guava and lemon. Low cost drip irrigation system has been installed in the orchards.

 MVDC members were taken to place near Jaipur where a farmer has installed 6 Polly Houses. There they saw how modern techniques could be used to improve agriculture and earn more profits from small holdings.Two families of Kuran have been identified who will do greenhouse based cultivation with support from National Horticulture Mission.

 A lot of good has happened on the water and sanitation front. A 3 day sanitation drive was organized where the community mind sets were engaged and people who would defecate in the open were put to shame . I too went from home to home to encourage people to make toilets and children took out rally. Eighteen of our people were trained as masons and were shown how to build toilets. 42 toilets have been built and we will make sure every house in Kuran in the next 6 months will have a toilet of their own with adequate supply of water. 31 hand pumps have been repaired and fresh clean water supply has been made available at the school, anganwadi and primary health centre. The women folk in my village are also happy that these people have brought in new technology which allows the water to be carried in contraptions like a wheel which can be rolled and taken from source to homes. Even young children are able to playfully help their mothers in the work.

The anganwadi today looks so colourful and beautiful. It is today crowded on all days with children flocking there to play with the new games and toys and of course the building is so attractive. Take a look at the old and the new anganwadi.

The school building too has transformed and children are going there regularly. A number of our children dropped out of primary school. They have been taken to a month’s residential education camp after which they will be able to join back their regular classes. While a number of people in the village have mobiles, our children now are exposed to computer education. A Community Information Resource Center (CIRC) has been established and is fully functional. The CIRC offers digital literacy (one month Intel Easy Step Course) and services (photocopy, and online services and a total of 209 of our children have benefited.

No one would step out of their houses after dusk. Today we have 18 solar powered lamps fitted at all the key places in the village and we can now step out without fear late in the evenings. The lights are nice and bright.

 My people have also taken on to beautifying the village by planting trees along the pathways and we are also putting covers against each tree so that they can grow well without the fear of cattle eating them away.

A lot has been done. A lot more will be done. Elders of my neighbouring villages come to our village to see the progress. They have made a petition to the people who come regularly from Mumbai and Jaipur that they should transform their villages as well the way they have done with Kuran. There is an old saying that a journey of thousand miles begins with the first step to which I say the journey of creating a hundred Hau Gaon begins with Kuran. 

Padhaaro Maahrey Gaon Ma.

Dhanyawaad,

Sankar Ram

PS. Tata AIG, Mumbai along with Centre for Microfinance, Jaipur are endevouring this transformation project in remote Rajasthan as part of the CSR program.