IRS officer Dr. Satyapal Meena’s efforts to transform his dilapidated village Dhanora into a model one have become a model worth replicating across the country. With toilet facilities in every household which is well connected with the sewerage line and treatment plant, wider paved roads, solar lights, full-fledged library, community, and wellness centers, well-equipped schools, water conservation structures – all made possible through effective public participation in community development – Dhanora transformed itself and earned the accolade of becoming India’s first smart village.
But Dr. Meena doesn’t want to limit his efforts to his native Dhanora village. He has launched the ‘Soch Badlo Gaanv Badlo’ initiative (change your village by changing your thinking), a volunteer-led community initiative based on the “giving back to society” concept. Along with his teammates, he is on course towards transforming multiple villages and ameliorate the quality of lives of its residents. He spoke exclusively with Indian Masterminds about his new endeavor.
MISSION `SOCH BADLO GAANV BADLO ABHIYAN’
The initiative is based on the principle of “payback to society”, and therein rests the fulcrum of the efforts of the team, where they aim to bring about modest and humble, yet seminal changes, in the lives of the rural people.
“The villagers are skeptical and non-cooperative when it comes to community development, which is the reason why the objective of holistic village development could not be achieved despite huge budgetary allocation every year for rural development. From my long and varied experiences of working in rural areas, I can state categorically that public awareness and active public participation are the keys to rural development. To transform the villages into rural development centers, we launched an awareness campaign-cum-mass movement called “Soch Badlo Gaanv Badlo Abhiyan” to change the underlying thought process of the village residents, and to encourage them to take active participation in village development and Government schemes,” Mr. Meena told Indian Masterminds.
‘Soch Badlo Gaanv Badlo Abhiyan’ is driven by innovative ideas that stem from practical experiences of having worked in rural areas and a proper appreciation of the nature and complexity of grassroots problems and issues, which then are sought to be addressed with active participation of villagers and support of local administration. Such initiatives won’t require any government funding and can be done at community level through public participation. Almost 17 different activities to address issues related to sanitation, cleanliness, water, environment, health and education, have been identified which don’t require massive financial interventions, yet have the potential to dramatically alter the living condition of the villagers. Youth (particularly the girl child) & women are placed at the center of any development initiative undertaken by SBGBT.
CAMPAIGN FOR THE PROJECT
The campaign was initiated by young volunteers who passionately believe in the “payback to society” concept. These young men and women, who volunteered themselves for this campaign, have their roots in the villages and are working in different parts of the country in varied fields. These volunteers, having themselves struggled against hardships to build a better life for themselves, passionately believe in helping their fellow villagers achieve qualitative improvements in their standards of living. They came together and started brainstorming for formulating the detailed strategy for the campaign, and started fieldwork in May 2017. Presently more than 2000 volunteers are carrying out this campaign mainly in the eastern districts of Rajasthan, but many are also spread out in others parts of the country. It is worth noting that every single one of them is offering her time and services entirely out of one’s own volition, without any form of remuneration whatsoever.
The primary objectives of the campaign are:
- to create public awareness and social consciousness amongst residents,
- to provide financial support to underprivileged students,
- to strive for the empowerment of women, especially girls,
- to guide and develop skills for self-employment,
- to make people aware of various government schemes,
- to make people aware of the ill-effects of intoxication through awareness rallies,
- to provide blood to the needy people through blood donation camps,
- to work for water conservation and environmental promotion,
- to ensure active participation of villagers in village development, to solve local problems locally through mutual cooperation, cohesion, and public participation
“The initiative has touched the problems of the villages and helped them in resolving the same at village level with active public participation. The volunteers are working as a bridge between administration and villagers to educate people about government schemes and to ensure that benefits reach eligible beneficiaries,” said Mr. Devendra Pratap Singh (one of the coordinators).
A ROAD TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT
Following are the initiatives under the umbrella of `Soch Badlo Gaanv Badlo Abhiyan’ that Dr. Meena and SBGB Team are running successfully to ensure holistic development of the villages and villagers.
Soch Badlo Gaanv Badlo Yatra: Under this project, the teams have undertaken a plethora of meetings and awareness programs in more than 100 villages to create mass awareness among the people. The people were convinced to come out of their retrograde mentality in order to facilitate the removal of encroachments so as to broaden the narrow streets and pathways of villages. This instilled a higher level of consciousness amongst the villagers that resulted in various meetings at local levels to remove the encroachments and broaden the narrow lanes of the villages and beautification the same. The team has also undertaken concrete steps towards the eradication of liquor and other forms of addiction. The women of the villages have shown overwhelming participation in this direction as they bear the brunt of the problems due to the addiction of males in the families.
Green Village-Clean Village: The team has been continuously striving towards the preservation of the environment in general and water conservation in particular. The Green Village-Clean Village program of the Team has dual dimensions. First is planting trees every year during the monsoon and preserving water. This aims at environment preservation and water conservation. Under this, the team is carrying out rejuvenation of water bodies and resources to make the villages self-sustainable. Second, involved running cleanliness programs in the villages by removing encroachments and carrying out the redevelopment of old structures. The youth have participated zealously in such programs which have led to the broadening and beautification of village pathways & streets.
SBGBT’s Educational Programs: ‘Aao Padhen Aage Badhen Abhiyaan’ and ‘Shiksha Paao Gyaan Badhaao Abhiyan’ are the key projects under this category. The genesis of such initiatives is the team’s unflinching belief that children are the future of the villages and ultimately the future of the nation as well. With the aim of creating an entire community of children who aspire for quality education, and in whom the right value systems and civic sense can be inculcated, “Aao Padhen Aage Badhen Abhiyan” has been launched. Under this program, the team has distributed “JEEVAN DIARY” containing motivational quotes of iconic personalities for inculcating civic values and for developing revulsion amongst them for common vices. Besides, the sayings of these legendary figures are meant to inspire the children to pursue excellence. Around 20,000 children have participated in the program so far, making it one of the most popular activities carried out by the team. Also, under the “Shiksha Paao Gyaan Badhaao Abhiyan”, a talent hunt competition is regularly organized in schools which helps in motivating village students for pursuing higher education and identifying meritorious students amongst them for being awarded financial support for future education.
Concept of Utthan (Utthan Sankalpana): The SBGBT is initiated and leading the concept of Utthan. Under this initiative, the team has established “Utthan Bhawan” at Saramthura, Dhaulpur through crowdfunding from where “Utthan Coaching”, “Utthan Library” and skill development center are being run successfully. These institutions are helping needy students to study and prepare for competitive examinations, especially those girls who have been married early and could not continue their studies in bigger cities. “Utthan Bhawan” is a ray of hope for thousands of rural students. Awareness and motivational seminars are regularly organized at Utthan Bhawan. This project aims to uplift the level of education amongst the rural children, who are, needless to say, devoid of various enabling resources. Utthan project is focused on reducing the unemployment and dependence of the youths on government jobs. The team is helping and motivating volunteers to establish and run “Utthan Libraries” and “Utthan Coaching Institutes” in various villages. These centers become the center for change in the villages and help prepare valuable human resources for the nation. The team has set up various “Bal Sanskar Kendras” to inculcate values in children and motivate them to get an education.
* Utthan Patrika: It is an annual book of SBGBT which includes the activities of the whole year being carried out. The Patrika is motivating and guiding youth for working for villages. It is also recognizing the efforts of the villagers for self-development.
* Manas Utthan: A “Manas Utthan” program is being run to promote social and cultural activities in which a large number of villagers take part and people are being taught meditation, spiritual practices, and discussions on social issues.
Empowerment of Women: The team has its “women wing” working for issues related to women empowerment. The team motivates village women to take part in decision-making and participate in the overall development process. Women Panchayat in Dhanora village is a living example that has played a stellar role in the transformation of Smart Village Dhanora. Young rural girls who have been victims of child marriage and could not continue their education are studying at Utthan Bhawan and shaping their future. With a lack of awareness of personal hygiene, especially during menstruating days, several village women tend to suffer from health issues. To avoid this, the volunteers spread awareness regarding menstrual hygiene, usage of sanitary napkins, and the precautions that should be taken. The SBGBT is hoping to start activities to support women for making them financially self-dependent.
Raktdaan-Mahadaan: The volunteers of the team have worked towards providing a fresh lease of life to countless individuals through organizing Rakt Daan-Mahadaan programme in various parts of the country. They have worked tirelessly towards not only organizing blood donation camps with the help of trained medical staff, but have also contributed towards more complex tasks such as eradicating the misconceptions relating to blood donation and encouraging voluntary and frequent donation of blood to save lives. To do away with blood supply shortage and address people’s skepticism towards donating blood, SBGBT has launched a 24×7 active blood donation group which encourages villagers to donate blood to anyone in need, on a real-time basis, all across the country.
Gram Vikas Samiti: The concept of ‘Gram Vikas Samitis’ (Village Development Committees) is focused on mobilizing local resources for village development and supporting the Panchayat in its development activities. It also seeks to address problems associated with brain drain from the village and encourages educated people having roots in villages to work for their fellow brethren who have been left behind in the process of development. These village development committees have been registered under the respective Cooperative Society Act, and collect voluntary contributions from the villagers. The said fund is utilized for developing the most essential amenities in villages. Further, these committees educate people about the working of Gram Sabha, Gram Panchayat, and various schemes of the government. It also acts as a bridge between the district administration and the villagers for ensuring that the benefits of flagship schemes of the Government indeed reach the targeted beneficiaries. These committees are sensitizing the government machinery of their responsibilities and try to facilitate developmental works so that the vision behind Government programmes can be truly achieved at the grassroots level.
“We created awareness about the functions of `panchayats’, different government schemes and ways towards their implementation. This exercise also created awareness among people of all groups, even among children and women,’’ said Mr. Mani Ram (one of the coordinators).
Channelizing the youth energy in the right direction: SBGBT has played a vital role in diverting the boundless energy of the youths towards creative works that seeks to promote human welfare. The youth, instead of wasting their valuable time in unproductive and demeaning works, have chosen to create a different social and recreational standard that culminates in the overall growth of people surrounding them. The youth have also taken significant help of technological and digital tools in their fight against social evils as well as addressing infrastructural issues of the villages. They strive for promoting transparency and accountability through technological interventions such as Sampark Portal, RTI, CPGRAMS etc. in order to reach out and to sensitise the Administration. They have given a clear message that not only are they mindful of their rights, but are equally ready to participate in the process of socio-economic development of the villages.
“We strongly believe that even our smallest efforts do play a quintessential role in changing the lives of the rural people. Therefore, we appeal to people to join these initiatives to create a better future of our villages, make collective efforts, and try to create a responsive and harmonious environment for everyone around us. By doing this, slowly but certainly, we would be able to set in a great change in the overall ideology of the rural populace” said Mr. Devendra Singh Dhanera (Chief coordinator of SBGBT).
Corona Free Village Initiative: During the pandemic, the volunteers have played a crucial role in making the villages Corona free. The team formulated an 11-point action plan to achieve the goal of Corona Free villages, mainly focused around awareness generation. Accordingly, the team, in coordination with local administration, has started an awareness campaign and reached almost 250 villages to make the villagers aware about “COVID Appropriate Behaviour” through pamphlets, audio messages and booklets. The team has constituted a “Covid Response Team of Doctors” for providing telemedicine facilities to remote areas and helped the local Heath Centre reach out to positive cases and provide necessary medicines. The Volunteers even go from door-to-door to spread awareness about the importance of getting vaccinated during the ongoing pandemic and helped in organizing camps for vaccination. The local administration has placed on record its highest appreciation for the efforts put in by the SBGBT in addressing challenges emanating from the Covid pandemic
“Humanity First” campaign during COVID-19: Through social media platforms, efforts were made by SBGBT’s motivated and highly committed team to locate migrants in need of ration and other essentials, and through seamless coordination with the local administration, necessary arrangements were made for doorstep delivery of the required goods at their homes. The team also provided PPE kits, masks, sanitizers, etc. to doctors, health workers, municipal workers, and police persons in large numbers, in addition to making direct financial contributions to the district administration’s funds.
Dr. Satyapal Singh Meena does not wish to transform villages into cities but aspires to bring modern facilities to the doorsteps of the village residents, while simultaneously preserving their culture and authenticity. He wishes to strengthen the efforts of the Government to reach out to the person standing in the last mile. His team is acting as a bridge between villages and the administration. He appeals to all of us, individually and collectively, for our cooperation, towards ushering in a new dawn of development and prosperity in our villages and talukas. We only need to take one step forward, and the community at large will respond wholeheartedly by taking several steps forward.
