http://expressbuzz.com/states/andhrapradesh/small-farmer-makes-it-big-in-micro-irrigation/360690.html
KARIMNAGAR: A small farmer of Eedula Gattipalli in Manakondur mandal is setting an ideal to others by cultivating irrigated dry (ID) crops through micro-irrigation.
The farmer, Madishetti Ravi, cultivated cabbage in his 47 guntas (5,640 yards) of land and he obtained an yield of 16 tonnes despite the drought conditions and power problems.
Speaking to this paper, Ravi said that he used go get only 11 tonnes of cabbage before switching to drip irrigation.
“But after I began using modern irrigation method as advised by the agriculture officials, my expenditure on power and fertilisers has come down,” he said.
“I invested `25,000 in cultivating the crop and after meeting all expenses, there is a profit of `62,000,” he revealed.
Knowing about the profits, other farmers in the village are thronging Ravi’s fields to know about the benefits of micro-irrigation.
In the wake of the drought conditions, officials had decided to bring 4,000 hectares of land under drip irrigation in the district and 70 per cent of the target has been achieved so far,” said microirrigation project director Sangeeta Laxmi.
“Farmers are cultivating groundnuts, leafy vegetables, cotton, chilli, mango, banana and papaya through drip systems and cutting down expenditure on power and fertilisers.” “To encourage farmers adopt the modern farming techniques, the government is giving 100 per cent subsidy on drip, sprinkler irrigation equipment to SCs and STs, 90 per cent subsidy to small and medium farmers,” Sangeeta Laxmi added and urged farmers interested in adopting the modern irrigation methods to consult the micro-irrigation project office in the district headquarters
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Meeting Project Objectives Differently
Meeting Project objectives differently
Blind people work together and make parts of Boilers at Trichy for IOCL’s Paradip Refinery project …..… An experience sharing.
21st December 2011 has etched an unforgettable memory in my mind. I was at Tiruchirapalli on a mission to expedite supplies of Boilers at BHEL’s works for Power plant of IOCL’s ongoing Paradip Refinery Project. BHEL has outsourced non-pressure parts of these boilers to certain vendors nearby Trichy. ‘ORBIT’ is among such outsourced vendors, who is making Pins & Clamps of these boilers for our project. We decided to visit ORBIT also for review and expediting balance supplies.
When we reached ORBIT works, we were greeted by their President Mr. P.R. Pandi, who himself is a blind person. To my utter surprise, the whole ORBIT workshop is run by blind persons. Though I was aware of certain special schools and institutions for blind persons but never heard about any manufacturing industry run completely by such persons. What I saw next inside the workshop is quite difficult to believe.
I had never witnessed such well coordinated and coherent working by blind persons. People were segregating the raw material, feeding the raw material on cutting, shearing and punching machines with the help of their fellow blind friends, collecting the final products and bagging them after quality checks. The whole manufacturing process was efficiently done and finished product was meeting the quality standards. I was lost in deep admiration seeing their untiring efforts for making vital parts for my project and emotionally touched. Their interpersonal understanding and collective effort was exemplary and far better as compared to normal workers engaged in other industrial units. Below photos depict it completely but silently…
People were working with no ego and communication was being made not with vital sensory organs like eyes, but with their hearts. I was thrilled and compelled to think that dedicated and sincere working by these special people is a great example towards values of humanity which defies all laws of Project management. Calm and peace prevail here in their coordinated rhythm of working against any feeling of industrial acrimony.
What came next was even more surprising. A physically handicapped welder was doing welding on the job and was assisted by a blind helper. We saw his blind helper almost running and going to store room next door to fetch the electrodes quickly. When enquired how he could do such job with much ease, my fellow companion from BHEL, Mr. Jai Ram told me that every worker working here is fully conversant with the layout of workshop and does the job with calculated steps – concepts of time and motion study, well grasped by them by heart. I was overwhelmed by their indomitable spirit, everlasting zeal and working in perfect harmony.
At the end, ORBIT president Mr. Pandi requested me ‘Sir, if you come across any blind person, please direct him to me, we will make him our team member here’. I controlled my emotions, advised them to maintain timelines and quickly moved out with mixed feelings, thinking and admiring effort and passion of ORBIT in this endeavour and with firm conviction that Paradip Refinery Project will soon be a realised dream.
Arvind Kumar
Chief Project Manager-PDRP
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
Refineries Head Quarters, New Delhi
Mobile: 9582262166
Email: kumarar@iocl.co.in
PS:I would like to thank IOCL Management & BHEL team for giving me an opportunity to have such wonderful experience with a noble cause during project expediting at BHEL,Trichy.
Blind people work together and make parts of Boilers at Trichy for IOCL’s Paradip Refinery project …..… An experience sharing.
21st December 2011 has etched an unforgettable memory in my mind. I was at Tiruchirapalli on a mission to expedite supplies of Boilers at BHEL’s works for Power plant of IOCL’s ongoing Paradip Refinery Project. BHEL has outsourced non-pressure parts of these boilers to certain vendors nearby Trichy. ‘ORBIT’ is among such outsourced vendors, who is making Pins & Clamps of these boilers for our project. We decided to visit ORBIT also for review and expediting balance supplies.
When we reached ORBIT works, we were greeted by their President Mr. P.R. Pandi, who himself is a blind person. To my utter surprise, the whole ORBIT workshop is run by blind persons. Though I was aware of certain special schools and institutions for blind persons but never heard about any manufacturing industry run completely by such persons. What I saw next inside the workshop is quite difficult to believe.
I had never witnessed such well coordinated and coherent working by blind persons. People were segregating the raw material, feeding the raw material on cutting, shearing and punching machines with the help of their fellow blind friends, collecting the final products and bagging them after quality checks. The whole manufacturing process was efficiently done and finished product was meeting the quality standards. I was lost in deep admiration seeing their untiring efforts for making vital parts for my project and emotionally touched. Their interpersonal understanding and collective effort was exemplary and far better as compared to normal workers engaged in other industrial units. Below photos depict it completely but silently…
People were working with no ego and communication was being made not with vital sensory organs like eyes, but with their hearts. I was thrilled and compelled to think that dedicated and sincere working by these special people is a great example towards values of humanity which defies all laws of Project management. Calm and peace prevail here in their coordinated rhythm of working against any feeling of industrial acrimony.
What came next was even more surprising. A physically handicapped welder was doing welding on the job and was assisted by a blind helper. We saw his blind helper almost running and going to store room next door to fetch the electrodes quickly. When enquired how he could do such job with much ease, my fellow companion from BHEL, Mr. Jai Ram told me that every worker working here is fully conversant with the layout of workshop and does the job with calculated steps – concepts of time and motion study, well grasped by them by heart. I was overwhelmed by their indomitable spirit, everlasting zeal and working in perfect harmony.
At the end, ORBIT president Mr. Pandi requested me ‘Sir, if you come across any blind person, please direct him to me, we will make him our team member here’. I controlled my emotions, advised them to maintain timelines and quickly moved out with mixed feelings, thinking and admiring effort and passion of ORBIT in this endeavour and with firm conviction that Paradip Refinery Project will soon be a realised dream.
Arvind Kumar
Chief Project Manager-PDRP
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
Refineries Head Quarters, New Delhi
Mobile: 9582262166
Email: kumarar@iocl.co.in
PS:I would like to thank IOCL Management & BHEL team for giving me an opportunity to have such wonderful experience with a noble cause during project expediting at BHEL,Trichy.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Report on Personality Development Programme for Abhyasikas
SEVABHARATHI, SECUNDERABAD
Report on Personality Development Programme conducted on December 5, 2010
Sevabharathi-Secunderabad Vibhag conducted a two and half hour interactive session on personality development for class X students (both boys & girls) studying in Abhyasikas (study centers for boys) and Kishori Vikas Kendras (study centers for girls) in and around Secunderabad, at Hindu Public school, Sanatnagar on December 5, 2010. At present 16 Abhyasikas and 17 Kishori Vikas Kendras are running in Secunderabad Vibhag.
A total strength of 150 participated in this programme. This programme was taken by
Sri Jaladurgam Ramu, Psychologist, consultant in CARE Hospital and an expert trainer for the corportae IT profesionals, in association with Sri Ramkumar Raju of Manavatha Navodaya Foundation.
The main intention of the programme is to enrich the inclination of students towards education and to build their personality. This emphasises on how to overcome the general weaknesses and misconception of pupils towards learning the subjects. In a nutshell, session covers all the mistakes committed while studying and also enhances the ones self confidence levels to set the targets and to reach them efficiently and with elegance. As this being an interactive session, entire session was lively and every student could recognise their inherent strengths. This programme certainly enriches their studying pursuits for the future.
Report on Personality Development Programme conducted on December 5, 2010
Sevabharathi-Secunderabad Vibhag conducted a two and half hour interactive session on personality development for class X students (both boys & girls) studying in Abhyasikas (study centers for boys) and Kishori Vikas Kendras (study centers for girls) in and around Secunderabad, at Hindu Public school, Sanatnagar on December 5, 2010. At present 16 Abhyasikas and 17 Kishori Vikas Kendras are running in Secunderabad Vibhag.
A total strength of 150 participated in this programme. This programme was taken by
Sri Jaladurgam Ramu, Psychologist, consultant in CARE Hospital and an expert trainer for the corportae IT profesionals, in association with Sri Ramkumar Raju of Manavatha Navodaya Foundation.
The main intention of the programme is to enrich the inclination of students towards education and to build their personality. This emphasises on how to overcome the general weaknesses and misconception of pupils towards learning the subjects. In a nutshell, session covers all the mistakes committed while studying and also enhances the ones self confidence levels to set the targets and to reach them efficiently and with elegance. As this being an interactive session, entire session was lively and every student could recognise their inherent strengths. This programme certainly enriches their studying pursuits for the future.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Anti Cancer Drug developed by Cow Urine gets Patent
RSS-developed cancer drug gets US patent
PTI, Jun 17, 2010, 02.49pm IST,
NAGPUR: An anti-cancer drug extracted from cow urine and developed by an affiliate of the RSS has got a US patent for the third time for its anti-genotoxicity properties, a senior official has said.
The drug developed by RSS-backed Go Vigyan Anusandhan Kendra had earlier got the US patent as a bio-enhancer with antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs.
The research for the drug brand named ‘Kamdhenu Ark’ was carried out jointly by the Anusandhan Kendra and National Environmental Engineer Research Institute (NEERI), Acting Director of NEERI Tapan Chakraborty said.
The research found that Re-distilled Cow Urine Distillate (RCUD) was useful for protecting and repairing DNA from oxidative damage, Chakraborty and Sunil Mansinghka of Kendra told reporters yesterday.
Oxidative DNA damage is a leading cause of ageing, cancer and other diseases.
RCUD works against genotoxicity, a harmful action on a cell’s genetic material, they said, adding research has strengthened the efficacy of ‘Kamdhenu Ark’ as an anti-cancer drug.
The research was carried out on three patients, two of them having throat and uterus cancer, Mansinghka said.
http://timesofindia .indiatimes. com/articleshow/ 6058657.cms? prtpage=1
PTI, Jun 17, 2010, 02.49pm IST,
NAGPUR: An anti-cancer drug extracted from cow urine and developed by an affiliate of the RSS has got a US patent for the third time for its anti-genotoxicity properties, a senior official has said.
The drug developed by RSS-backed Go Vigyan Anusandhan Kendra had earlier got the US patent as a bio-enhancer with antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs.
The research for the drug brand named ‘Kamdhenu Ark’ was carried out jointly by the Anusandhan Kendra and National Environmental Engineer Research Institute (NEERI), Acting Director of NEERI Tapan Chakraborty said.
The research found that Re-distilled Cow Urine Distillate (RCUD) was useful for protecting and repairing DNA from oxidative damage, Chakraborty and Sunil Mansinghka of Kendra told reporters yesterday.
Oxidative DNA damage is a leading cause of ageing, cancer and other diseases.
RCUD works against genotoxicity, a harmful action on a cell’s genetic material, they said, adding research has strengthened the efficacy of ‘Kamdhenu Ark’ as an anti-cancer drug.
The research was carried out on three patients, two of them having throat and uterus cancer, Mansinghka said.
http://timesofindia .indiatimes. com/articleshow/ 6058657.cms? prtpage=1
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A Study Tour on Hindu Seva Pratishtana - By Vasu
Sri Vasu, A Pracharak of the RSS from Indur (Nizamabad dist) completed a study tour of Hindu Seva Pratisthana and has written an excellent report in Telugu on the various initiatives & inspiration he derived from the work of HSP.
The article is posted at http://lokahitam.com/getarticlefromdb.php?Article_Id=685
AND the scribd link below
Vasuji's - Hindu Seva Pratisthan Tour
The article is posted at http://lokahitam.com/getarticlefromdb.php?Article_Id=685
AND the scribd link below
Vasuji's - Hindu Seva Pratisthan Tour
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Nanaji Deshmukh - An Inspiration
http://www.expressb uzz.com/edition/ story.aspx? 1 March 2010
Nanaji’ as Nana Deshmukh was known in political and social circles, which he dominated for almost six decades, is no more. Many who were inspired by him in politics and outside saw and knew him as a towering idealist; his admirers and friends experienced and rated him as a great political strategist. Joining the RSS at a young age and becoming its pracharak (whole-time volunteer), he was undoubtedly a great organiser. He had intimate friends in high places everywhere. He was equally at ease with both the noble Bhoodhan movement of Vinobha Bhave and the gutter politics of Delhi. He had friends even in the garrisons of his adversaries. When Jawaharlal Nehru had banned the RSS in 1948, Nanaji Deshmukh began organising the underground movement. From where? Believe it, from the house of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, a minister in Pandit Nehru’s government. It was public knowledge that Nehru had regarded RSS as his archenemy and had even declared that he would not give an inch in India for the Bhagwa (the flag of the RSS) to fly. Still Kidwai, a great friend of Nehru, had no issues about keeping Nanaji in house and more — allowing him to organise underground activities. This indicates the magnetic personality of Nanaji who must have been then in his twenties!
My association with Nanaji Deshmukh started with my friendship with Ramnath Goenka. Ramnathji and Nanaji were not only great friends, they both thought and felt about the country almost alike. The mutual trust and admiration that they had was rooted wholly in their love of the motherland, totally devoid of any kind of personal interest. The Nanaji-Ramnathji combine felt that no goal other than what they thought was the good of the nation. Ramnath Goenka had shaped the Indian Express not as just a newspaper. It was an active partner with all nationalist forces in the cause of the country, setting the agenda for political and social discourse. Ramnathji never knew what fear meant in life. So was Nanaji. And these two courageous persons could effortlessly infect many others of high relevance, journalists or others, with fearlessness. It was the Ramnathji-Nanaji duo that persuaded Jayaprakash Narayan to agree to lead the Bihar movement in 1974, which changed the political picture of the country.
An incredible incident made Jayaprakash Narayan to agree to the plea of Nanaji and Ramnathji to lead the movement against Indira Gandhi. I came to know of this in the late 1980s when at a dinner in the Express Towers in Bombay I asked Nanaji and Ramnathji how they brought JP into the movement. Nanaji described the thrilling and unbelievable episode. A historic meeting of Ramnathji, Nanaji, Achyut Patwardhan, the hero of the 1942 underground movement and Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, a great Hindi poet, took place sometime in 1973 in the Indian Express Guest House in Bangalore. Ramnathji, Nanaji, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Achyut Patwardhan, began insisting that JP should lead the movement as Indira Gandhi had become highly autocratic and had begun destroying the institutional framework of democracy including the judiciary and bureaucracy. Incidentally, Dinkar was one of the greatest friends of the Nehru family and particularly of Indira Gandhi herself. But that did not detract him from doing what he thought was his duty to the nation. JP was hesitant mainly because of his health. He was a diabetic and had acute prostrate gland issues. He said that he would not be able to live for long and his health did not permit him to undertake such an arduous task. Ramnathji assured him that he would have his prostrate operation done in Vellore, which he eventually got done later. But JP could still not make up his mind. At that point, Ramnathji suggested that all of them should go to Tirupati, have darshan and prayers and from there, go to Madras as it was known then, and continue the discussions. And they all left for Tirupati.
During the darshan at Tirupati, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar openly prayed to Lord Balaji, to the hearing of JP and the others, that whatever remaining years of life Dinkar had the Lord should give them to JP to help him serve the cause of the motherland. And they all returned to Madras and to Ramnathji’s house in the Express Estates in Mount Road. Within hours Ramdhari Singh Dinkar fell on the lap of Ramnath Goenka and died — yes he died when JP, Nanaji and Achyut Patwardhan were around. It was clear that Lord Balaji had answered Dinkar’s prayers. JP’s decision to lead the movement came in no time. Despite my several requests Nanaji had refused to write about it in the Indian Express. When I asked him how will the people of India know about it, he said that he had written in his diary and he would like it to be known after his death. Now that he is no more I felt free to write about it.
After the operation JP began to lead one of the biggest mass movements against corruption in free India and that led to the imposition of Emergency, arrest of all national opposition leaders and a ban on the RSS. That was the best period in the life of Nanaji. He was one of the initiators of the underground movement that finally exploded as the Janata wave when in 1977 Indira Gandhi, with a view to securing mandate for her autocracy declared elections to Parliament, not knowing that, without her intelligence agencies having a whiff of it, the underground movement had generated a political tornado against her. Nanaji was the architect of the Janata Party. He contested elections for the first time and won. He refused to join the ministry when Morarji Desai insisted.
Later when the Janata Party split and the Bharatiya Janata Party was formed in 1980, Nanaji announced that he would like to retire from active politics as he was attaining the age of 65. A new role — that of a social worker — to lift moral and spiritual values and to promote economic and social well-being of the distanced people awaited him. He started his work first in the most backward districts of Gonda in UP and next in the equally drought-prone and poverty-ridden Bead district in Maharashtra and finally settled to do a more comprehensive work of socio-economic progress with moral values covering some 500 villages in Chitrakoot district. The President of India Abdul Kalam visited Nanaji’s Chitrakoot project, praised and blessed it as the most suitable one for India noting that almost 80 villages in the district had become litigation free. That was his final karma bhoomi even though the whole country was his karma bhoomi. He once told me that when he was a child many days he had had nothing to eat. But that did not turn him into a naxalite. But his introduction to the RSS at the right age, and association with the right persons, had turned him into a great nationalist who lived for his motherland’s glory and nothing else.
comment@gurumurthy. net
Nanaji’ as Nana Deshmukh was known in political and social circles, which he dominated for almost six decades, is no more. Many who were inspired by him in politics and outside saw and knew him as a towering idealist; his admirers and friends experienced and rated him as a great political strategist. Joining the RSS at a young age and becoming its pracharak (whole-time volunteer), he was undoubtedly a great organiser. He had intimate friends in high places everywhere. He was equally at ease with both the noble Bhoodhan movement of Vinobha Bhave and the gutter politics of Delhi. He had friends even in the garrisons of his adversaries. When Jawaharlal Nehru had banned the RSS in 1948, Nanaji Deshmukh began organising the underground movement. From where? Believe it, from the house of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, a minister in Pandit Nehru’s government. It was public knowledge that Nehru had regarded RSS as his archenemy and had even declared that he would not give an inch in India for the Bhagwa (the flag of the RSS) to fly. Still Kidwai, a great friend of Nehru, had no issues about keeping Nanaji in house and more — allowing him to organise underground activities. This indicates the magnetic personality of Nanaji who must have been then in his twenties!
My association with Nanaji Deshmukh started with my friendship with Ramnath Goenka. Ramnathji and Nanaji were not only great friends, they both thought and felt about the country almost alike. The mutual trust and admiration that they had was rooted wholly in their love of the motherland, totally devoid of any kind of personal interest. The Nanaji-Ramnathji combine felt that no goal other than what they thought was the good of the nation. Ramnath Goenka had shaped the Indian Express not as just a newspaper. It was an active partner with all nationalist forces in the cause of the country, setting the agenda for political and social discourse. Ramnathji never knew what fear meant in life. So was Nanaji. And these two courageous persons could effortlessly infect many others of high relevance, journalists or others, with fearlessness. It was the Ramnathji-Nanaji duo that persuaded Jayaprakash Narayan to agree to lead the Bihar movement in 1974, which changed the political picture of the country.
An incredible incident made Jayaprakash Narayan to agree to the plea of Nanaji and Ramnathji to lead the movement against Indira Gandhi. I came to know of this in the late 1980s when at a dinner in the Express Towers in Bombay I asked Nanaji and Ramnathji how they brought JP into the movement. Nanaji described the thrilling and unbelievable episode. A historic meeting of Ramnathji, Nanaji, Achyut Patwardhan, the hero of the 1942 underground movement and Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, a great Hindi poet, took place sometime in 1973 in the Indian Express Guest House in Bangalore. Ramnathji, Nanaji, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Achyut Patwardhan, began insisting that JP should lead the movement as Indira Gandhi had become highly autocratic and had begun destroying the institutional framework of democracy including the judiciary and bureaucracy. Incidentally, Dinkar was one of the greatest friends of the Nehru family and particularly of Indira Gandhi herself. But that did not detract him from doing what he thought was his duty to the nation. JP was hesitant mainly because of his health. He was a diabetic and had acute prostrate gland issues. He said that he would not be able to live for long and his health did not permit him to undertake such an arduous task. Ramnathji assured him that he would have his prostrate operation done in Vellore, which he eventually got done later. But JP could still not make up his mind. At that point, Ramnathji suggested that all of them should go to Tirupati, have darshan and prayers and from there, go to Madras as it was known then, and continue the discussions. And they all left for Tirupati.
During the darshan at Tirupati, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar openly prayed to Lord Balaji, to the hearing of JP and the others, that whatever remaining years of life Dinkar had the Lord should give them to JP to help him serve the cause of the motherland. And they all returned to Madras and to Ramnathji’s house in the Express Estates in Mount Road. Within hours Ramdhari Singh Dinkar fell on the lap of Ramnath Goenka and died — yes he died when JP, Nanaji and Achyut Patwardhan were around. It was clear that Lord Balaji had answered Dinkar’s prayers. JP’s decision to lead the movement came in no time. Despite my several requests Nanaji had refused to write about it in the Indian Express. When I asked him how will the people of India know about it, he said that he had written in his diary and he would like it to be known after his death. Now that he is no more I felt free to write about it.
After the operation JP began to lead one of the biggest mass movements against corruption in free India and that led to the imposition of Emergency, arrest of all national opposition leaders and a ban on the RSS. That was the best period in the life of Nanaji. He was one of the initiators of the underground movement that finally exploded as the Janata wave when in 1977 Indira Gandhi, with a view to securing mandate for her autocracy declared elections to Parliament, not knowing that, without her intelligence agencies having a whiff of it, the underground movement had generated a political tornado against her. Nanaji was the architect of the Janata Party. He contested elections for the first time and won. He refused to join the ministry when Morarji Desai insisted.
Later when the Janata Party split and the Bharatiya Janata Party was formed in 1980, Nanaji announced that he would like to retire from active politics as he was attaining the age of 65. A new role — that of a social worker — to lift moral and spiritual values and to promote economic and social well-being of the distanced people awaited him. He started his work first in the most backward districts of Gonda in UP and next in the equally drought-prone and poverty-ridden Bead district in Maharashtra and finally settled to do a more comprehensive work of socio-economic progress with moral values covering some 500 villages in Chitrakoot district. The President of India Abdul Kalam visited Nanaji’s Chitrakoot project, praised and blessed it as the most suitable one for India noting that almost 80 villages in the district had become litigation free. That was his final karma bhoomi even though the whole country was his karma bhoomi. He once told me that when he was a child many days he had had nothing to eat. But that did not turn him into a naxalite. But his introduction to the RSS at the right age, and association with the right persons, had turned him into a great nationalist who lived for his motherland’s glory and nothing else.
comment@gurumurthy. net
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
India's 'green and clean' village
India's 'green and clean' village
Author: Jyotsna Singh
Publication: BBC News
Date: September 25, 2009
URL: http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/south_ asia/8259789. stm
A small village in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya has
become the envy of its neighbours.
Large crowds of visitors have been thronging to the village curious to
find out why Mawlynnong has earned the reputation for being arguably the
cleanest and best educated in India - all its residents can read and
write and each house has a toilet.
That is no mean achievement in a country that is still struggling to
educate its population and address basic water and sanitation issues.
About 90km (55 miles) from the state capital Shillong and barely 4km
(2.4 miles) from the Bangladeshi border, Mawlynnong is much loved by its
inhabitants who work hard to keep it clean.
Bamboo dustbins
It is five in the morning and pouring with rain. But that does not deter
a group of volunteers in the village from rising early to sweep the
roads. It is a process that is repeated several times a day.
"Some cleaners have been hired by the village council to sweep the
roads - but many villagers take turns to make sure they are swept
several times a day because it is not possible to pay so many people,"
says young volunteer Henry Khyrrum.
The streets are all dotted with dustbins made of bamboo. Every piece of
litter and almost every leaf that has fallen from a tree is immediately
discarded.
Plastic is completely banned and all waste disposal is environmentally
friendly. Rubbish is thrown into a pit dug in a forest near the village
where it is left to turn into compost.
The villagers here say that lessons in hygiene start in school so that
children can be taught from an early age how to keep their surroundings
clean and green.
Mawlynnong is one of the wettest parts of the country - and while many
parts of India are suffering under drought-like conditions this year,
the south-western monsoon has not disappointed the north-east.
While the supply of clean water and sanitation is a huge problem in
India's teeming cities, it is an even bigger challenge for the
authorities in the country's villages where these facilities are almost
non-existent.
Keeping it clean now comes naturally to most people here. The village
headman says the village council - or Darbar - maintains very strict
discipline.
'Global warming'
"There is a fine imposed by the village council for anybody found to be
throwing litter around or cutting trees. You see, the fine is just one
dollar for each such offence committed. But due to the humiliation and
embarrassment that our self-respecting people feel at being fined, they
make sure to follow the rules," says village headman Thomlin
Khongthohrem.
"Besides, the council carries out strict inspections of the sanitation
facilities in each house.
"Workshops are also being organised to make people aware of the dangers
from global warming."
Experts say Mawlynnong, like the rest of the state, has a very effective
local governance system. The society is matrilineal - meaning that land
is passed down through the female side of families - making women
economically more powerful.
Mawlynnong's reputation for being clean and green has been well
documented, and its Khasi tribal inhabitants are known to be worshippers
of nature.
Their reverence for nature is seen by some as an effective way of
preserving the forest cover.
Thambor Lyngdoh, in charge of a sacred community forest in a
neighbouring village, says the while it is true that many Khasi people
are "nature worshippers" the drive for cleanliness and education is not
about faith only.
"Even today we are very strict about how the forest can be used," he
says.
"People are allowed to take whatever they need from the forest for their
own use. But they cannot take anything more than that for any kind of
commercial use. They are punished for any violation."
Local initiative
Mawlynnong's reputation for cleanliness has even earned it a place on
the state's tourism map.
Hundreds of visitors from all over India now visit the village
throughout the year. Most of those visitors are impressed with what they
see.
"This is the first time I have come to this place. I really want to
congratulate the villagers who have made the place so beautiful and the
cleanest in the continent. There is something special about the place.
We just came to see why it has become so famous. It really is clean and
you have to give them 10 out of 10 for that," says Sanjay Saraogi, a
tourist from Shillong.
Another tourist, Euginea, says the rest of country should learn from
Mawlynnong's experience.
"I have come to this village to see its cleanliness and I think
everybody should follow the example of the villagers," she says
Mawlynnong's success is entirely driven by local initiative. It has been
so successful that the state government has been prompted to promote
eco-tourism in the area but the locals are resisting this.
"There is a fierce sense of self-determination among these people. There
are certain rules they have followed traditionally. They do not want
government to borrow ideas from outside and impose it on them," says
Deepak Laloo, a member of the Meghalaya Tourism Development forum."
The villagers are treading a path that the rest of India should be keen
to follow.
Author: Jyotsna Singh
Publication: BBC News
Date: September 25, 2009
URL: http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/south_ asia/8259789. stm
A small village in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya has
become the envy of its neighbours.
Large crowds of visitors have been thronging to the village curious to
find out why Mawlynnong has earned the reputation for being arguably the
cleanest and best educated in India - all its residents can read and
write and each house has a toilet.
That is no mean achievement in a country that is still struggling to
educate its population and address basic water and sanitation issues.
About 90km (55 miles) from the state capital Shillong and barely 4km
(2.4 miles) from the Bangladeshi border, Mawlynnong is much loved by its
inhabitants who work hard to keep it clean.
Bamboo dustbins
It is five in the morning and pouring with rain. But that does not deter
a group of volunteers in the village from rising early to sweep the
roads. It is a process that is repeated several times a day.
"Some cleaners have been hired by the village council to sweep the
roads - but many villagers take turns to make sure they are swept
several times a day because it is not possible to pay so many people,"
says young volunteer Henry Khyrrum.
The streets are all dotted with dustbins made of bamboo. Every piece of
litter and almost every leaf that has fallen from a tree is immediately
discarded.
Plastic is completely banned and all waste disposal is environmentally
friendly. Rubbish is thrown into a pit dug in a forest near the village
where it is left to turn into compost.
The villagers here say that lessons in hygiene start in school so that
children can be taught from an early age how to keep their surroundings
clean and green.
Mawlynnong is one of the wettest parts of the country - and while many
parts of India are suffering under drought-like conditions this year,
the south-western monsoon has not disappointed the north-east.
While the supply of clean water and sanitation is a huge problem in
India's teeming cities, it is an even bigger challenge for the
authorities in the country's villages where these facilities are almost
non-existent.
Keeping it clean now comes naturally to most people here. The village
headman says the village council - or Darbar - maintains very strict
discipline.
'Global warming'
"There is a fine imposed by the village council for anybody found to be
throwing litter around or cutting trees. You see, the fine is just one
dollar for each such offence committed. But due to the humiliation and
embarrassment that our self-respecting people feel at being fined, they
make sure to follow the rules," says village headman Thomlin
Khongthohrem.
"Besides, the council carries out strict inspections of the sanitation
facilities in each house.
"Workshops are also being organised to make people aware of the dangers
from global warming."
Experts say Mawlynnong, like the rest of the state, has a very effective
local governance system. The society is matrilineal - meaning that land
is passed down through the female side of families - making women
economically more powerful.
Mawlynnong's reputation for being clean and green has been well
documented, and its Khasi tribal inhabitants are known to be worshippers
of nature.
Their reverence for nature is seen by some as an effective way of
preserving the forest cover.
Thambor Lyngdoh, in charge of a sacred community forest in a
neighbouring village, says the while it is true that many Khasi people
are "nature worshippers" the drive for cleanliness and education is not
about faith only.
"Even today we are very strict about how the forest can be used," he
says.
"People are allowed to take whatever they need from the forest for their
own use. But they cannot take anything more than that for any kind of
commercial use. They are punished for any violation."
Local initiative
Mawlynnong's reputation for cleanliness has even earned it a place on
the state's tourism map.
Hundreds of visitors from all over India now visit the village
throughout the year. Most of those visitors are impressed with what they
see.
"This is the first time I have come to this place. I really want to
congratulate the villagers who have made the place so beautiful and the
cleanest in the continent. There is something special about the place.
We just came to see why it has become so famous. It really is clean and
you have to give them 10 out of 10 for that," says Sanjay Saraogi, a
tourist from Shillong.
Another tourist, Euginea, says the rest of country should learn from
Mawlynnong's experience.
"I have come to this village to see its cleanliness and I think
everybody should follow the example of the villagers," she says
Mawlynnong's success is entirely driven by local initiative. It has been
so successful that the state government has been prompted to promote
eco-tourism in the area but the locals are resisting this.
"There is a fierce sense of self-determination among these people. There
are certain rules they have followed traditionally. They do not want
government to borrow ideas from outside and impose it on them," says
Deepak Laloo, a member of the Meghalaya Tourism Development forum."
The villagers are treading a path that the rest of India should be keen
to follow.
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