HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT-UTTER PRADESH
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AMARPURKASHI VILLAGE
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
A report on a visit to APK; November 1977
by Sedley Sweeny
THE SETTING
November in Northern India is very pleasant. The
monsoon is over, the ground is still green and the air
warm by day and refreshingly cool at night. The
villages nestle snugly amidst neatly managed fields of
sugar cane, millet, sorghum and potatoes, giving an
appearance of tranquil prosperity to the casual
observer. I was filled with a feeling of timelessness in
an unchanging and unchangeable India. For all the
luxury hotels in New Delhi, the bus'es and lorries,
State airlines and steelworks, atomic power and
chemical plants, the new tractors and implements
with such limited life-expectancy, life within the
village goes on as it has for centuries; slowly,
patiently, obedient to the demands of the seasons and
^the caprice of weather, official and moneylender.
"^Half-a-million villages containing practically the
whole population of the country still toil endlessly to
keep body and soul together; to save enough of
their produce from drought and flood, from tax
collector and middle man, from decay and predator
to fill their bellies and raise their children. On the one
hand the earth seems so rich and productive, on the
other the people are so poorly nourished that it is a
wonder they have the energy to continue the struggle.
Amarpurkashi village contains some 100 families;
about 700 souls in all. The houses are mainly of mud
with one or two small rooms and a tiny kitchen, and
are surrounded by small courtyards in which the
animals are tethered and fed. A few of the streets are
bricked and wide enough for a bullock cart to pass,
the rest are narrow and mud surfaced with open
drains from the houses and cattle yards. Around the
edge of the village are three ponds into which the drains
discharge. Some houses have wells with pumps,
others rely on communal wells; very few are
connected to the electricity supply. There are richer
villages in the Punjab and elsewhere, but there are
also many which are much poorer. Amarpurkashi
and the surrounding villages which make up the
Project can fairly be described as typical insofar as
the standard of living and health of the nation is
concerned. But in one respect they are far from
typical, for they have within them a new spark of
hope, a new awakening to the possibility of better
times to come. This new light stems from Mukat
Singh’s imaginative Village Development Project on
which he has devoted all his energy and resources for
the past seven years.
INTRODUCTION
I had known Mukat Singh for a number of years
and was impressed by his Village Development
Project and by his own enthusiasm and sincerity. But,
having seen several projects in India, I was reluctant
to commit myself to positive support until I had seen
his work on the ground. I was therefore delighted
when, on a visit to my smallholding in December
1976, he invited me to come to Amarpurkashi. My
previous work in India had been with Tibetan refugee
children; I had not lived in an Indian village nor had I
been able to look closely at Indian agriculture. Later,
when I organised and ran the Tibetan Farm School in
Wales, I did so in the instinctive belief that whatever
the difference between Welsh and Indian conditions,
the principles of good soil, crop and animal
husbandry were universally the same. In this belief I
was often criticised by those who said that nothing 1
could teach in Wales would have any relevance in
India. Now was my chance to find out.
I arrived at Amarpurkashi on 9th November and
stayed for two weeks. Originally I had planned to
stay longer, but for various reasons was forced to
shorten my stay in India. Nevertheless I was able to
look closely at the people, crops, animals and at the
various projects planned or already operating. I also
had long discussions with Mukat on the social and
political life in India, its effect on the lives of the
villagers and on his own aspirations and
achievements. As he clearly pointed out, many
Western observers think only in terms of positive
plans and projects against a background in their own
countries and fail to grasp the significance of the
enormous additional problems of the developing
world in general and of India in particular. At first I
was impatient when Mukat countered my suggestions
with the snags and difficulties, as I was when he
spoke of his plans to hold protest meetings and
marches whenever bureaucracy or corruption
threatened the wellbeing of his villagers. Although
I still think that to some extent I was right — battling
against others is a negative and destructive
occupation — it is also true that unless the evil forces
of corruption and obstruction can be controlled, the
effort put into projects will largely be wasted. This, in
a nutshell, is the problem of India (of which more
anon); a problem that had made many Western
wellwishers, as well as educated Indians, turn away in
hopeless frustration.
In the end I was forced to agree with Mukat that
India cannot be written off unless at the same time
one abandons hope for the world. This conviction
has led him and his brave Australian wife to give up
secure jobs in England and devote the rest of their
lives to improving the lot of India’s half-billion
villagers. Such vision, courage and determination
must be supported, whatever the risk of
disappointment and failure.
THE LAND
The soil is strong clay-sand mixture of great depth
overlying an excellent water table. The surface is
mainly level and 75% of the land is irrigated from
Government and private tube wells plus a number of
private open wells with bullock-driven bucket pumps.
The soil is inherently fertile although the organic
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Within the villages there are some very competent
craftsmen: carpenters, wood turners, blacksmiths,
wood carvers, mechanics, wheelwrights and tailors.
Their skill is the more surprising in view of the almost
complete lack of proper tools, most of which they
make themselves. Their ability to improvise is
astonishing.
The health and general physique of the people is
far from good. An apparent shortage of first class
protein results in poor development from childhood
onwards, and the people are very susceptible to a
number of diseases including malaria, typhoid, TB,
dysentery, skin troubles and ‘fevers’. There must be a
considerable natural immunity to many diseases as a
result of the lack of hygiene and facilities, but I
expect that several diseases are endemic and cause a
degree of disability without becoming acute.
Medical services are minimal and doctors often
not qualified. The policy regarding infectious diseases
(eg Typhoid) is crude but realistic: ‘ . . we treat the
patient with medicine but have no facilities for
protecting the others’.
Apathy is the greatest problem, and this is what
Mukat and his wife are struggling to overcome. Too
often the villagers have been promised a better deal
by the Central or State Government, but ‘many’s the
slip twixt the cup and the lip’, and the attitude is ‘I’ll
believe it when I see it’. This has gone on for so many
generations that it is difficult to arouse interest in any
new idea. Nevertheless, there is a stirring amongst
the people of the Amarpurkashi group of villages and
the Project has made some progress, albeit with
disappointments and failures as well. Probably the
only way to stir the imagination is to show, by
example, a better way of farming and living and a
better understanding of nutrition and health. This is
long-term education in its truest sense and requires
great vision, wisdom and endless determination. It
can only happen in a community blessed with a leader
like Mukat Singh. Such men are rare, and it may be
argued that their contribution is but a drop in the
ocean. But if, in his lifetime the ‘yeast’ of his vision
can leaven ten villages and bring them to a higher
plane of life, others might begin to follow that
example. It will be a long haul indeed!
content plus micro-fauna and flora shows signs of
depletion. The land is divided into a large number of
small plots; a typical family farm consists of about 3
acres divided into 7 or 8 plots which may be
scattered. Two crops may be grown in one year on
the irrigated land; one being harvested in November
(mainly rice, sugar cane and pulses) and the other in
May or June before the monsoon.
THE CROPS
Almost any crop will grow and ripen well in this
area, and it appears likely to me that even on the very
small family farms it should be possible to feed the
people extremely well and still have surplus produce
to sell for those necessities unproducable within the
group of villages. As it is, about 75% of the land is
growing sugar cane for sale to the local plant where
prices are uncertain, to put it mildly. Rice, millet,
sorghum, wheat and barley are the main cereals; a
variety of pulses provide protein food, and vegetables
include potatoes, cauliflower, radish, tomatoes,
aubergines, leaf vegetables (spinach), marrows and
melons. Mustard and oil-seed rape are grown for oil.
Ground nuts, butter nuts and water nuts are also
produced as is a little jute for rope making. Chillies
are grown for spice and local fruits include Jackfruit,
mangos and bananas.
Crops are rotated to some extent, but the
preponderance of sugar cane limits the full
development of alternately cropping with cereals and
pulses, brassicaeand roots.
The exact extent of cash-cropping is difficult to
ascertain. In 8 families surveyed this varied greatly;
some consuming most of their own crops (except
sugar cane) others selling practically everything. I
think it is true to say that the villages as a whole are
committed to a cash economy and their agriculture is
designed to make money as the first priority and to
feed themselves as the second.
The crops suffer from a variety of pests and
diseases, and the use of pesticides is encouraged and
increasing steadily. There is also a growing use of
chemical fertilizers in conjunction with irrigation and
‘improved’ seed to grow the weightier crops which
make up ‘the Green Revolution’. That this scale of
cropping draws heavily on the humus resources of the
soil as well as on the minerals cannot be in doubt,
and it seems likely that this depletion is reflected in
the inability of crops to withstand disease and
predators. Unfortunately a great proportion of the
cattle dung is burned as cooking fuel and does not
find its way back onto the land except as ash. Some
farmers do make a little compost in pits using the
cattle dung during the monsoon when it is too wet to
make into cooking fuel. These pits do not seem to be
very well built or aerated, but do provide a limited
amount of humus for nursery beds.
THE ANIMALS
An average family of eight might own four or five
cattle, both buffaloes and cows. The castrated
bullocks of both breeds are the main source of power
for tillage and transport and still work the bucket lifts
at the open wells for irrigation of the land. The
implements they draw have changed little over the
centuries. The wooden ard plough with locally forged
iron share, the timber beam ‘leveller’ and the
universal ox-cart are to be seen everywhere. An
occasional ox-cart mounted on rubber-tyred lorry
wheels and a few animal-drawn disc harrows are the
only ‘modern’ innovations used by the majority of
farmers.
Now and again one comes across a well-grown pair
of bullocks in reasonably good condition; the sign of
a well-to-do, enlightened farmer. Most of the cattle,
however, are under-sized, painfully thin and weak. ’
Through lack of protein they develop very slowly; a
two-year old cow often being no bigger than a
6-month old Jersey heifer in Britain. Most of the
cattle are fed on the chaff of rice straw, millet and
sorghum stems plus a little dusty creeping bent grass
that grows by the roadside and perhaps the leaves
from the branch of a tree. Enlightened farmers might
add some oil-seed cake and add a little sorghum meal
THE PEOPLE
The villagers live in ‘extended families’ on average
about 8 persons to one house. Parents and
grandparents, children and grandchildren, in-laws
and others make up some of these families. Infant
mortality is high; in the worst case a woman had one
survivor out of 19 children born! Child marriages are
still common and many — but not all — of the
women are still in strict purdah. Domestic work and
care of buffaloes is done by the women, cultivations
and care of the bullocks by the men. Threshing,
winnowing, gleaning and grinding of corn and
chaffing of straw are shared by both sexes.
2
but the general level of nutrition is appallingly low.
Milk yields reflect the level of nutrition, buffaloes
generally giving more than cows. The potential yield
of these cattle is probably low compared with
European animals, but it is quite wrong to suggest
that improved breeding would increase production so
long as the farmers do not understand the principles
of animal nutrition (or are unable to afford proper
fodder).
A few farmers keep goats which seem to thrive
better than cattle in local conditions, but even they
are hardly show specimens. Even fewer keep pigs and
these are of a very poor quality. As far as I could
ascertain the vast majority of the people of these
villages are vegetarians, and one can see little
economic value in the many ‘dry’ cattle kept by the
villagers. These all eat the limited food and keep the
rest from growing to their full potential. There are
long-standing religious traditions which make it
impossible to alter this situation; what is more, the
majority of the cattle are owned by independent
individual small farmers and it would take more than
‘high level policy’ to make them change their ways.
A large number of semi-wild dogs inhabit the
villages, many of them in dreadfully poor condition.
Whilst I was there one teenage boy died from blood
poisoning from a dog bite; not the first time this had
happened.
A few free-range chickens pick up what they can
about the village, but do not lay many eggs.
THE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
The Indian Government ‘Block Development
Scheme’, started shortly after independence, had
substantial initial success, particularly in the
development of tube wells, canals and irrigation as
well as in the building of accessroads to villages which
were formerly cut off completely during and after the
monsoon. But more recently the scheme has not been
a success for the following reasons:—
a) The standard ‘Block’ of 100 villages was too
large and unwieldy.
b) The Block HQ setup was too remote and
unrelated to the village situation. The HQ Staff
were townsmen who did not care for village life.
c) Block boundaries were political instead of
rural/geographic.
d) The scheme was too rigid to allow for varying
village situations.
e) There was lack of commitment (after initial
enthusiasm and success) amongst Block
Development staff.
f) Help under the scheme went mostly to the better
off and bypassed the poorest who became even
poorer and more frustrated.
The ultimate success of any development scheme
must depend upon the involvement and enthusiasm of
the villagers themselves, but the level of Block
Development thinking is too abstract and remote to
stir the imagination and overcome the apathy of the
poorest people. Likewise, the State education
system, with its emphasis on paper qualifications and
status does not fit people to face the real problems of
village life.
The Amarpurkashi Village Development Scheme,
founded by Mukat Singh differs from the
Government ‘Block Development’ as follows:—
a) The scheme embraces 10 villages with common’
interests.
b) The villages were chosen because of their natural
and mutual attraction to Amarpurkashi (which is
c)
d)
e)
centrally placed adjacent to the main road).
The education offered (apart from the
Government primary school) is designed to stir
the imagination and awaken the realisation that
there is hope of better standards of life and health,
and to demonstrate how these aims may be
achieved.
Every effort is made to ensure that the
advantages flowing from the project shall be
enjoyed by all the villagers, and not only those
already better off.
The education and training is primarily intended
for the inhabitants of the associated villages, but
provision is made for training selected outsiders
in order that the concept may spread to other
groups.
The following projects have been started under the
Scheme:—
a)
The Junior High School has more than
120 enrolled. The syllabus follows the LLP.
standard courses, and there is additional
instruction in gardening and plans to include
some manual skills to fit the students for village
life. Great efforts are made to open the eyes of
the children to the possibility of creative thought
and to wider horizons.
b)
The Amarpurkashi Agro-Industrial Polytechnic
has been designed to provide discussion forums
and practical training as and when the need
arises. It does not work to any fixed term or
syllabus.
It is hoped to equip the
Polytechnic with its own workshop and with
tools for carpentry, metalwork and electrical
work. During my visit to APK, one general
course was planned for students from outside the
Project. The idea was to combine lively
discussions with practical training and tests to
foster initiative, leadership, observation and
practical manual work as well as to introduce the
principles of farm husbandry and nutrition.
Some 20 students were enrolled, but in the event
only 2 turned up. The instructors were given
some preliminary training (with my help) before
the students arrived, but the course never got
going whilst I was in the village. As this
happened at the same time as Mukat was taken
ill with suspected typhoid, it is hardly surprising
that the course was not a success, but I must say
that the syllabus had not been planned right
through and I feel that the course might have
been rather a ‘hand-to-mouth’ affair. Once the
Polytechnic has its own building and workshop
facilities, it should be easier to plan a thorough
practical course.
c)
The Children’s Centre has been temporarily
closed because there is no volunteer to run it and
it has not been possible to recruit a suitable local
girl. Apparently any suitably educated girls are
married and convention does not allow them to
go out to work. Efforts are being made to recruit
a new volunteer from abroad, but it strikes me
that in the long term the Centre should be run by
a local woman.
d)
Agro Hires. The Project has one good workshop
which is used mainly for tractor, diesel engine
and implement maintenance and repairs. It also
doubles for practical instruction when
Polytechnic courses are run, but is not properly
equipped, nor is it roomy enough for the latter
use. The 4-year old Zetor tractor has been off the
road for some months awaiting a new tyre and
e)
f)
g)
general overhaul. It is in very poor condition
largely due to lack of proper maintenance, and I
do not expect it will do much more useful work.
The new Massey-Ferguson tractor (made in
India) had done less than 200 hours work at the
time of my visit, but was already showing signs
of wear and damage. Fortunately I was able to
write down and give practical instruction to all
the drivers and mechanics in daily, weekly and
monthly maintenance and am certain that they
can' do all the tasks perfectly well if adequately
supervised. There are two young men on the
Establishment who hold degrees in agriculture;
Indal Singh Bhadoris (Mukat’s Deputy) and R.B.
Pandey, the Agricultural Adviser. Between them
it should be possible to arrange strict
supervision. The tractors are equipped with disc
harrows, spring tine cultivators, leveller board
and a trailer. Although the M-F 35 works
regularly in the fields on hire, I am doubtful if
the tractor hire service will ever pay for the
fuel, oil, repairs, replacement parts and tyres as
well as depreciation (which must be allowed for
at not less than 25% per annum) and driver’s
and mechanic’s wages. If all these costs were
truly reflected in the hire charges, few if any of
the farmers would afford the luxury of tractor
work, and once again it would be the poorest
who failed to get the advantage of the service.
The diesel pumping engine hire service, on the
other hand, seems to be doing well. The
operators and mechanics know the engines
completely and are able to do complete
overhauls with the tools at their disposal. Of 7
engines owned by the Project, 4 were in working
order and three being overhauled. These simple
engines are mounted on bullock carts and are in
regular use throughout the group of villages. The
animal drawn disc harrows are also provided by
the service. These, like the tractor-drawn discs
and cultivators, tend to be used until they break
down without much maintenance or greasing; a
habit I have observed at home as well as in
India!
Fertilizer Agency. This was started when
fertilizers were scare and getting into the hands
of the wrong people. It successfully corrected
this wrong. Recently, however, the Government
has subsidised fertilizers, the import duty has been
removed and co-operatives have been set up
which allow farmers to borrow the cost of
fertilizers against their future crops. The APK
Fertilizer Agency has therefore closed down and
confines its activities to keeping an eye on the
fair distribution by the co-operative. The
escalating use of fertilizers and pesticides by
farmers who know little about their long-term
effects or the possible dangers is, in my opinion,
a matter of great concern.
The Farmers’ Consultancy Service is run by Mr.
R.S. Pandey, BSc(Agric). He has a good
conventional knowledge of the theory of
agriculture and the beginning of some ideas of
the value of humus in the soil. I was not able to
see much of his work during my visit as he was
engaged in preparing for the Polytechnic course
that failed to materialise.
The Milk Collection Centre. This service seems
to have improved the price the villagers in the
three villages concerned get for their milk. There
has been talk of improvement of cattle breeding
4
to increase yield and profit, but I am convinced
that the first move should be to teach the farmers
how to rear their calves and feed their milking cattle.
Until they know how to make the best of their
existing stock, there is no point whatever in
thinking about breed improvement; indeed any
premature attempt at such would end m very
expensive failure. Like the better seeds of the
Green Revolution, better cattle require much
heavier, and more expert feeding and
management, and would die in conditions that
the indigenous scrub cattle can tolerate.
h)
The cattle and vegetable market scheme was
launched too soon and with insufficient
preparation and experience. There was jealousy
and fierce competition and the villagers did not
understand the idea of competitive cattle
showing. This project has been abandoned.
i)
The Hoffman Brick Kiln was built by Mukat
Singh as a private venture in 1970. Due partly to
faulty construction, partly to late delivery of
fuel, partly to incompetent handling of the flues, g
but mainly to the very early onset of the
1
monsoon, the first firing was a failure and a
substantial part of the kiln was washed away.
There has since been a concerted effort to get
support for the training of an operator and the
rebuilding of the kiln. This was nearly achieved
with the promised support of the I.T.D.G. and
Christian Aid, but due to several factors beyond
the control of Mukat Singh, these plans
collapsed and nothing yet has been done. There
seems very little doubt that a Hoffman kiln,
properly constructed and skilfully fired would
turn out better, cheaper bricks than the
traditional Bull’s Trench kilns which already
operate every few miles along the main
Moradabad-Chandausi road. If it were not
expertly run by a well trained operator it would
almost certainly be another costly failure.
j)
The Farmers’ and Labourers’ Organisation is
designed to act as a Union to stand up for
villagers’ rights against exploitation and
corruption. Under the leadership of Mukat Singh it
has had some success, but still has a long way to
f
go in rousing the poorest people to feel that they
have any chance of standing against the stronger
forces that exploit them. Nevertheless, it is a
start, and is having some effect.
SUGGESTED PROJECTS:
a) Small Industry Project. At the request of a
Tibetan ex-pupil now farming in Maharashta, I
took a hand-operated seed sowing fiddle to
India. At Amarpurkashi I showed the workshop
staff and a local carpenter how to copy it.
Together we made three copies and carried out a
successful demonstration of sowing wheat and
compound fertilizer. This implement, very cheap and
simple to construct, is most suitable for Indian
conditions. The market for it is wide open and
with proper promotion and a well organised
simple assembly workshop, it should be easy to
start a very lucrative cottage industry. The
capital cost would be far less than replacing the
worn out tractor, and the chance of the project
succeeding much greater.
b) Food storage is a very great problem in India.
Weather and predators destroy nearly half the
food grown. I suspect that much valuable food
grown in the villages is sold in the towns (rather
than eaten by the villagers) because it is not
possible to store it safely in the villages.
Considerable work has been done in China and
in SE Asia on design and construction of
ferro-cement food storage bins and silos. The
techniques are suitable for village workmen
although skilled supervision is required to ensure
good quality work. Designs and techniques are
available in an excellent publication by the
national Academy of Sciences, Washington,
D.C. ‘Ferrocement: Applications in Developing
Countries’, (sent free on request). This is a skill
that might be taken up by the APK Agro
Polytechnic to great advantage of the village
group community.
recent years man has tried to short cut this cycle by
direct feeding the plants by chemical fertilizers. Like
a man seeking strength through the whisky bottle,
this process shows remarkable effects in the early
stages, but sooner or later, the side effects begin to
show. More direct ‘feeding’ is required to produce the
same effect, biological balances are upset and the soil
and plants become sick; finally a state is reached
where a cure is extremely difficult if not impossible.
The nutrition of animals and mem by means of sick
plants gradually brings on lack of vitality and
increasing sickness in man himself.
There is a school of thought that suggests we are in
such dire straits today, when population is rapidly
outstripping resources, that we cannot afford the
luxury of quality food, but must increase quantity at
any cost. This policy might work for a generation
(albeit with devastating effects on the health of
mankind) but in the long run does not face up to the
needs of our successors. Mankind is selling the future
for the needs of today.
The policy of the Government of India is to
support village agriculture and small cottage
industries. This is excellent as far as it goes. But
unfortunately it has not faced up to the full
implications of the ‘Cycle of Life’ and the fact that
true health can only issue from a healthy, living soil.
The principles behind, this concept of health are very
clearly set out in the works of two great men, both of
whom developed their philosophies and practical
systems in India. The late Sir Albert Howard’s ‘An
Agricultural Testament’ develops the concept of the
living soil and its effect on the health of plants in
arguments of inescapable logic. The late Sir Robert
McCarrison in his book ‘Nutrition and Health’
describes his work, spread all over the Indian
sub-continent, in which he proved beyond any doubt
that nutrition and human health are inextricably
linked, and that the health of the food and, indeed
the health of the soil on which it is grown are every
bit as important as the items of food themselves.
It is extremely difficult for a small village
community ‘to go it alone’ and fly in the face of
Government and generally accepted agricultural
policy, even when the villagers know that the policy
will ultimately lead to disaster. Nevertheless, a
growing number of enlightened people are striking
out on organic lines with remarkable success. The
task is difficult but not impossible. By starting in a
small way and working forward step by step, a
community can make the change. But it requires
courage, determination and strong discipline.
It seems to me that two major changes are needed
in Indian farming today:—
1.
To get back to a basically organic system of
husbandry where the maintenance of the health of the
living soil is the foundation on which everything else
is to be built. This cannot be donie on any long-term
basis with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The use
of lime and basic slag as and when specifically needed
is not ruled out. These are soil conditioners which
regulate pH (acidity) and encourage the formation of
nitrogen-fixing nodules on legume roots as well as
encouraging soil life. They are not direct plant foods.
The most potentially dangerous fertilizers are the
direct-feed nitrogen chemicals which force rapid plant
growth which burns up the soil humus faster than
Nature can replace it, and can seriously reduce the
useful living organisms in the soil. These and
pesticides are at best makeshifts to provide plant
foods which a dead soil can no longer supply and to
hide the symptoms of pest and disease which are
SOME OF THE PROBLEMS
The new Janata Party Government has adopted a
policy based on ‘Small is Beautiful’ and promised to
support small-scale agriculture (there is virtually
a
nothing but small-scale in India) and village manual
9 crafts. This Ghandian policy, if it can be achieved, is
exactly what the villages need to bring about the
radical change that alone can save the masses from
disaster. To promise is one thing; fulfilment will
certainly prove much more difficult. In the first
place, Indian industry and big business saw
immediately that heavy investment in agriculture and
cottage industry would mean much less for them.
How could they maintain industrial growth, exports,
balance of payments, employment? There will
certainly be heavy pressure on the Government to
compromise. Second, there is the ‘immovable
middle’, that mass of administrative civil servants at
every level from Central to State Government, to
District, Teshil and Panchyat. These ‘faceless’ men,
with notable exceptions, are well nigh impossible to
pin down, unwilling to make any decision that might
put their jobs at risk, completely out of touch with real
problems and out of sympathy with poor people, are
generally lazy and too often corrupt. By the time the
Government’s intentions have filtered down through
them, they bear little resemblance to the first inspired
A ideas, and the investment will already be sadly
- dissipated. Finally there are obstacles within the
villages themselves. Selfishness, jealousies, nepotismand corruption exist there too. It would take an army
of Mukat Singhs to keep tabs on every individual who
might try to obstruct or make off with more than his
share of the booty. The problems can hardly be over
stated. They are enormous.
THE WAY AHEAD
The aim of the Amarpurkashi Village Development
Project is to improve the lives of the villagers in the
group, and, ultimately throughout India. From the
material point of view this means improvement of
health from better nutrition, hygiene and general
living standards. From better health will flow the
energy and drive needed to promote imagination,
initiative and to overcome apathy. Only when morale
is thus raised will it be possible for people to develop
their full spiritual and cultural potential.
The land is good, and can provide the health-giving
nutrition required by man if man will, in turn,
provide the earth with the nutrition it needs to foster
its own life and health. The whole process is a cycle
of life in which the waste products of man, animal
and plant must be carefully returned to the soil,
which, in its turn produces healthy plants on which
healthy animals and healthy men may be fed. In
5
themselves an indication of bad husbandry.
2.
To change to an economy where the production
of high-quality, health-giving food for use in the
village is the top priority, and the growing of cash
crops for sale is at all times second to the growing of
food to eat.
Which of these changes presents the greatest
difficulty is hard to say. Both of them involve a
complete break with generally accepted practice and
Government policy. I do not suggest that anyone
should try to change overnight. It would be wise to
start on a very small scale with limited experiments
carefully carried out. Then one can build on one’s
successes and move step by step to greater changes. In
the case of Amarpurkashi I would suggest that Mukat
Singh, as one of the larger and more secure farmers
in the group, should make the change over a period
of five years with the aim of becoming a model
farmer in self-sufficient smallholding with surplus
produce for sale to meet the cash needs of his family.
Others would be sure to follow his successful lead.
The gradual changeover must be accompanied by
education in nutrition which will be very difficult in
the conservative and prejudiced conditions of village
life. The present malnutrition and poor physique of
the villagers will only be improved when the people
realise that they must start by rebuilding a healthy,
living Soil on which they can grow healthy,
health-giving crops, which, in turn, they must learn to
harvest, preserve, prepare and eat in the right
proportions. This is a major enterprise in real
education which might form the basis of courses in
the Junior High School and the Polytechnic. All
other awakening and enlightenment on the social and
political planes is really a waste of time if the people
continue to be badly fed and of poor physique.
PRIORITIES FOR SUPPORT
All my experience with the problems of the
developing countries leads me to believe that in the
long term the only true and worthwhile help is that
which the people themselves provide from their own
efforts. Any sustained aid from outside makes the
recipients more and more reliant on hand-outs and
less able to stand on their own feet. This tendency is
compounded when aid takes the form of advanced
technology involving high capital investment. This is
not to say that advanced technology should be denied
to developing countries, but merely that they should
achieve only through their own efforts and feel
responsible for putting aside sufficient capital to
repair and replace it as it wears out. In the case of
Indian villages the move towards Western standards
must needs be slow if it is to be self financed. 1
believe that outside help is essential in the early
stages, but that it should be limited to
‘pump-priming’ support for low cost enterprises
which have a good chance of success, using the skills
available within the community concerned; or to
strictly time-limited aid in the payment of teachers’
salaries etc until the whole project is ready to take
over the responsibility. Only in cases of extreme
destitution or misfortune should outright
non-productive donations be made.
I must end by re-stating my conviction that the
principles of good soil, crop and animal husbandry
are universally the same. Nothing I saw in> the
Amarpurkashi village group in any way alters my
view; indeed I am more than ever convinced of the
truth of this statement.
FOOTNOTE
Mukat Singh was born the son of a poor farmer in
Amarpurkashi village in U.P. His achievements in
secondary school and university were entirely the
result of his own determination and effort. Some
eight years ago he and his wife gave up secure and
well paid teaching jobs in England in order to return
to his own village to help his people. From the
beginning it was his ambition that the Amarpurkashi
Village Development Scheme should become selfsupporting and not rely on aid from overseas. He
made great efforts to raise support in India to get the
project launched, but in the end was forced to look
abroad to Australia and Britain. A typical example
of his dilemma is the Junior High School which was
built and is run with funds that have been raised
abroad. The school is recognised by the U.P. State
Government who have praised the standard attained,
but have completely failed to give any financial
support.
Major S.B.I. Sweeny,
Brynoyre,
Talybont-on-Usk,
Breconshire.
uttfwz f>xm&sh-i.s
AMARPURKASHI
VILLAGE
PROJECT
P. 0. Bilari, Distt. Moradabad, U. P.
Implementing Agency
THE
SOCIETY FOR
AGRO-INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION IN INDIA
(Registration No. 799/69-70, U. P. Societies Registration Act. XXI)
PROGRAMMES IN
PROGRESS
1976
AMARPURKASHI AGRO-INDUSTRIALand study camp was held in co-operation
with the Delhi branch of the Service Civil
POLYTECHNIC
International. The aim was twofold; to
Founded in September 1970, the
bring together city and rural youth; and to
Amarpurkashi Agro Industrial Polytechnic
combine work and study. The campers
ie a new and unconventional kind of rural
built soak pits for a well and for house
polytechnic, remarkable for the fact that it
drains, cleared the compound of a village
does not run courses on a set, term by term
temple, and repaired village roads in one of
basis, but only when there is the demand
the project villages. In the study programme
and facilities for particular courses. Another
they discussed such topics as “Education and'
unusual aspect of this polytechnic is that all
how to reform it”, “Ruralisation versus ur
courses are planned with the co-operation
banisation” and the “Amarpurkashi Project”.
and advice of the students themselves, and
1.
no course is regarded as finished at the end
of the formal study period; rather a conti
nuous follow-up programme is considered
of prime importance.
In 1975, the courses included a
Project Worker’s Course, run from 15th-30th
May, for both the workers of our own
project and others wanting to start new
projects in other areas. The course began
with a seminar and then went on to practical
work which involved personal contact with
the farmers of the area, in the final stage of
the course, trainees were given individual
projects to complete.
From 18th-22nd October, a Youth
Orientation Programme was run to bring
together the semi-educated youth of the neig
hbouring villages and encourage an open
discussion of their problems. The free and
frank discussion of problems of employment
and careers proved a very rewarding experi
ence for the thirty rural youths who atten
ded.
From 26th Dec.-1st Jan., a work
Since the angines were acquired by
the Agro-Hires, regular courses on “Diesel
Mechanics for Farmers” have been run. In
1976, there have been a coures on Youth
Orientation and Vocational Guidance, Staff
Orientation and Training and a highly succ
essful Village Leadership course held on the
tanks of the Ganges at Rishikesh.
2.
KRISHI AUDYOGIK JUNIOR HIGH
SCHOOL
This school was founded in July
1971 with a dual purpose - to meet the local
demand for a good, conventional type school,
and to provide a testing ground for new edu
cational ideas and methods. Thus the school
has to keep to the programme of instructions
approved and issued by the State Education
Department of U.P. It has been given per
manent recognition by the U.P. State Go
vernment and is trying to get on the aid list;
at the same time experiments and improve
ments in the methods of teaching and disci-
pline has resulted in our students being
unusually bold, vocal, enterprising, receptive
to new ideas and full of initiative and confi
dence. Visitors to the school are always
pleasantly and unexpectedly surprised by the
students quick and lively response to their
questions.
Contact with interested people
abroad has enabled us to institute a system
of scholarships both for poor and for brilli
ant students. These are given on a yearly
basis and generally cover the students’ fees
and stationery expenses. In some cases,
clothing,allowances are also given. Recently
a. survey was carried out to find out what
sections of the community are using the
school most, and it was most interesting and
gratifying to discover that 43% of our stu
dents come from families owing less than 6v
acres of land. At present 173 students are
on roll, coming from the various project
villages.
period. No strict guidance is given in the
creative activities; instead the children are
encouraged to use their own imagination and
initiative in drawing, painting and modelling.
In the summer months, there is a weekly
bath day with soap and towels provided. A
manual flush toilet has recently been built
in the school yard, and the small children
are trained in its correct use.
It has been interesting to note that
after a year or so in the free and stimulating
atmoshphere of the Children's Centre, the
children become eager to go on to conven
tional schooling and are much more willing
to enter the local primary school and learn
reading and writing.
4.
AMARPURKASHI AGRO HIRES/
Aiming at providing essential servi
ces for the local small farmers, this has
proved the most popular of the project acti
vities. Begun in march 1972 with a Zetor.
2011 tractor, it now includes a thresher,
In 1972, the school received perma
trailer, cultivator, disc harrow and leveller,
nent recognition and yet four years later, we
as well as several bullock-drawn implements,
are-still waiting to get on the aid list. Ins
a plant protection sprayer and four diesel
pectors have visited the school and invariably
been full of praise. Why then does the aid
engines. In this area, all the holdings are.
remain beyond our reach ? Because we refuse
small so that personal ownership of a tractor
to stoop to the corrupt practices other schools
is quite uneconomical. On a no-profit, no
are forced to adopt in order to get aid from
loss bases of hire charges, the service eaters
the notorious education department.
for even the smallest of local farmers, who
find that the tractor supplements rather than
3.
BALKENDRA (CHILDREN’S CENTRE) replaces bullock-ploughing, particularly in
sugar cane fields.
Originally opened in December 1973,
this unique centre caters for children of pre
Unfortunately, despite its popula
school age and all girls who are not sent to
rity, the agro-hires has not been running
the local government primary school. Last
economically. This is because trained and
year, a second class was also begun for older
experienced staff have not been available
girls to learn sewing and other useful house
and
so staff have had to learn on the newly
hold crafts.
acquirep equipment. The equipment has
The Centre uses entirely modern .and
suffered considerably as a result. We hope
unconventional methods and consequently is
to replace the; tractor soon with a new one
something of an enigma to Indian visitors.
and then hopefully the service will run more
efficiently.
The children follow a daily programme of
creative activities using chalk, pencil, paint,
5.
WORKSHOP
clay and scissors; games; a snack that is both
cheap and nourishing; and a free
play
( 2 )
"'Newlyopened in 1-975, the work
shop aims at providing a reliable and reaso
nable repair and maintenance service for diesel
engines as well as a practical training ground
for polytechnic students. Though running
quite successfully to date, the desired expansion
- of the workshop has been delayed by the
difficulty in getting trained staff.
6.
FERTILIZER AGENCY
The Society managed to acquire a
licence for a sub-agency for fertiliser in June
1973 and since then has been selling it to the
farmers of the project villages at government '
controlled prices. Generally speaking, this
is a popular and successful facility but it is
sometimes severely hampered by the fact
that the monthly quota frequently does not
arrive on time or arrives at a time when the
farmer does not arrive on time or
arrives at a time when the farmer does
not need
fertiliser
and not at the
time he does; some times the store is full
of fertiliser and the farmers do not have the
cash to buy it; recently the prices have been
changing and we have been caught with old
stock bought at higher prices and rendered
virtually unsaleable by a sudden cut in price.
At present, there is a good supply of fertili
ser available and prices are lower than they
have been for some time, so the agency is
running well.
7.
inclined to leave after putting in a year’s
good work, the experience and knowledge
they gain here enabling them to get much
better jobs elsewhere.
LOCAL PROGRAMMES INITIATED BY
THE PROJECT
1. Milk Collection Centres and
Milk Producers, Co-operative Societies have
been established through the efforts and
encouragement of the project, in Amarpurkashi, Khanpur and Mohammed Jbcahimpur.
These buy milk from the locals at a good
price based on fat content and sell it to the
nearby Dalpatpur Infant's Food Factory.
2. Gramin Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan or Farmers’ and Labourers’ organisation
was founded in 1974 to bring together both
landed and landless people of the area so
that they could fight against corruption and
exploitation and the usurpation of their
rights. The association has been particularly
successful in getting better treatment from
the local sugar cane mill. However, it is
hampered by the very fact that its members
mostly constitute the poorest and least edu
cated section of the community, who are
understandably reluctant to pit themselves
against the powerful and corrupt elements
of society.
3.
FARMERS' CONSULTANCY SERVICE
(
Rural Electrification has been
one of the government’s schemes for some
time, but it was only when the project took
an active part in the attempts to get electri
city in the local villages that any success was
achieved. Now Amarpurkashi and Aarikhera not only have electricity but have success
fully installed community street lighting,
which other electrified villages have failed to
do. Street lighting requires co-operation
and a shared financial responsibility which
not all villages can achieve. The increased
use of electricity locally has also led to the
building of a new sub-station near Moham
med Ibrahimpur and the markedly increased
use of tubewells for field irrigation.
A qualified-agriculturist has been
working for the project since November 1971,
when an overseas organisation agreed to pay
the salary of an Indian agriculturist for as
long as he could be usefully employed by
the project. This service is a means by
which contact can be made and maintained
with a large part of the village population,
through personal relationships with advice
on seeds, fertilisers etc. and crop demonstra
tions and through fairs, exhibitions and edu
cation all programmes. Obviously, an agri
culturist with plenty of initiative and imagi
nation is requited, and such people are not
easy to get. However, we have had good
staff so far, though unfortunately they are
4.
3
)
Another convenience to farmers
obtained through the help of the project has
been the Sugar Cane Weighing Centre set up
during the cane season in tile mango graove
of Amarpurkashi. This facility enables
farmers to get their cane weighed with the
minimum of delay and inconvenience, instead
of having to line up for hours at the crowded
and poorly equipped mill.
5.
The increase in yield of sugar
cane locally, which can at least partly be
attributed to the facilities provided by the
project, has resulted in plans for a Sulphi
dation Plant for sugar cane to be built this
year near Shahpur.
Constituent villages of the Amarpu kashi Villages Project include
Amarpurkashi, Deori, Hamsapur, Khata,
Mohammed Ibrahimpur, Safeelpur, Shahpur,
Shamaspur and Vijaipur. The total popu
lation covered is a round 7,000.
Some Months ago, we conducted
a survey to find out who uses the facilities
and services provided by the project most.
The results revealed that our project is acti
vely supporting the government’s 20-point
Programme which especially aims at the
poorest and weakest sections of the commu
nity. In two of the project activities, the
Children’s Centre and the Milk Collection
Centre, over 60% of the participants own
less than 3^ acres of land.
■k
Aarikhera
Director :
MUKAT SINGH
M. Sc. (Agra), M. Sc. (London)
( 4 )
Amarpurkashi Agro-Industrial Poly-technic Project
JLzxxa,rr>-a.rlcaLslxi Village Development Project
P. O. BILARI, D/STT. MORADABAD.
UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA.
Implementing Agency
THE SOCIETY FOR AGRO-INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION IN INDIA
(Registered under the U. P. Societies Registration Act XXI, 1860)
S-u.^For’teca.
Toy-
People’s Action for Development ( India )
Dept, of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Government of India
Australian From Hunger Campaign (FAO.) Sydney, Australia
“Friends of Amarpurkashi”Based in U.K./Society for Agro-Industrial Education in India.
PROGRAMMES IN PROGRESS
Amarpurkashi Agro-Industrial Poly-technic
Krishi Audyogik Junior High School
Balkendra (Children’s Centre)
Agro-Hires
Workshop
Farmer’s Consultancy Service
Milk Collection Centre
NEWS LETTER
FEBRUARY, 1978
th Cttt
560 001
In The Beginning ..
...
Amar.
Voluntary action starts with the formation of a voluntary organisation.
te
purkashi Village Development Project began under a voluntary, registered bo y, no
‘■ihe Society for Agro-Industrial Education in India” founded by Mukat and yoti i
The following explains its aims and objects. Membership is open to anyone or inary m
bers are required to pay Rs. 10 (or its equivalent) yearly. There is no joining fee.
NAME
(i ) The Organisation shall be called and known as “The Seciety for Agro In ustna
Education in India”, herein after referred to as “The Society” with its head office at mar
purkashi, via Bilari, Distt. Moradabad, U. P. India.
(ii)
The Seociety shall be a non-profitinaking and charitable body.
AIMS
Diffusion of useful knowledge and eradication of poverty, unemployment & ignorance.
OBJECTS
(i) Organise and establish agro-industrial, acadamic and other related training and
production units in order to provide vocational training and work experience for the stude
nts and to support the related educational establishments.
(ii) Provide and arrange grants, incentives, loans and other facilities to students,
staff and other persons of the above institutions for training, visits and courses study to be
attended at home or abroad.
(iii)
Raise funds in cash and in kind to help achieve the above-mentioned aims.
(iv)
Undertake and carry out all other such activities as may appear necessary from
time to tims to achieve the aforesaid aims.
MEMBERSHIP
The membership of the Society is open to all people interested in the promotion of
the aims of the Society regardless of their class, creed, race, notionality or sex.
Of course, this is only part of the constitution. Further details are available on
request.
APK Staff, 1977-78
Director
Mukat Singh, M. Sc. (Agra), M. Sc.
(Lon.) F. S. S. (U.K.)
Deputy Director
Indrl Singh Bhadoria, M.Sc.(Ag. Extn).
Agriculturist
Radhey Shyam Pandey, B.Sc. (Ag.), B. Ed.
Agro-Hires incharge
Ganga Ram, Dip. A.P.K.
Workshop, in charge
Sharafat Ali Mechanic
Tractor Driver/Mechanic
Som pal and Poeran.
Head master (school sectiou)
Raviudra Kumar Singh, M.Sc. B.Ed.
Assistant Masters
Raj Pal Singh, Inter B. T.' C.
Rajenda Kumar Sharma, M.A; I.G.D.
(Bombay).
Mohd. Arkan, B.Sc; M.A. (Pre.).
Kapil Deo Rai, B.Sc;B.Ed;M.A.(Pre).
Atraj Singh, Inter B. T. C.
Office Assistants
Ganpat and Abdul Rehman.
Watchman
Hardwari.
Caretaker
Prem Maseeh.
Volunteer Assistant
Johu Mecntyre (Australia).
APK On The Move
taking a Junior Diploma course in rural life
The following is a report of the APK.
and farm mechanics. Futhre poly-technic
Agro-Hires
courses
are metioned
eslwhere
in this
newsletter.
A new 35 h. p. Messey Fergusson
tractor and also a 12 disc harrow have been
Krishi Audyogik Junior High School
added to the Agro-Hire service. Both the new
tractor
and the old
Zetor are working
steadiy at this time. Their use has earned
As from July last year, the school has
Agro-Hire as much as Rs. 400 in a day. There
been merged with the APK Polytechnic, foll
is still ample scope for more work to be done
owing a recommendation of the national
seminar on the problems of village develop
by the two tractors.
ment at Amarpurkashi in May last year.
Workshop
More emphasis is now being placed on farm
ing and farm mechanics, and the new arran
Pooran, with his knowledge of Fergu
gements have been readily accepted by both
sson tractors, has proved a valuable asset
students and teachers alike. Itis still too early
to the workshop since his appointment as
to gauge its success, if any. A survey recently
mechanic/driver. Pooran along with Shara
undertaken by teachers of both primary and
fatali, are now able to offer a complete rep
high school is of interest. We have establi
air service for Fergusson tractors and diesel
shed yearly drop-out percentages in an effort
engines.
to gauge continuing attendences at both
schools. The Junior High School percentages
Poly-technic
are pleasing, but the primary school percent
ages after the first year of enrolment are very
Approximately 14 q/0 of the time of
disturbing te say the least.
Junior High School children up to class 8 is
now undertaken within the Poly-technic to
Junior High School enrolments July
give them a basic understanding of farming
71. 16.7% droped-out the firstyear,
and farm mechanics, so necessary to their
the second, 15 % the third, none the fourth
later life. The senior childern spend about
and 30 % the fifth year. Enrolments July 72,
ll;6%
50 0/0 of their time within the poly-technic
2.4 % ; 39 % ; - ; -; 39 %. Enrolements July
in an effort to better equip them for their
73, 18.6 % ; 7 o/O ; 2.3 % ; - .
rural life ahead. There are two students
full time, 20
Primary School Enrolements July 66,
students in the 14-16 age group are under
80.2 % dropped out after their first year,
studying farm
mechanics
(
3
)
10.4%
the seccond, 7.3% the third, 1%
the centre twice daily and taking it to a near
the fourth, none the fifth. Enrolements July
by milk factory. The total milk collected
67. 88.9 % ;
daily is aboat a quintal. Fitrat Ali is finding
6 % ; 3 % ; -;.
July 68. 90.3 %; 2.1 %;
Enrolment
1 %; 1.1% .
his work more constant, but his job is far
more secure.
Milk Collection Centre
A truck is now collecting milk from
Residential School Planned At
Amarpurkashi
A residential school is planned for Amarpurkashi. A number of nearby villages have
primary schools but in name only. Pupils are admitted but are not taught, they automatically
pass the required examinations. Also, for some of the village students, there is no Junior
High School within 20 miles or so. Again even if there are such schools, they are in name
only.
Some of the farmers of these villeges make many sacrifices so that their children can
receive a good education. In many instances, farmers split their families and rent accomoda
tion in a town which has the necessary schooling for their children. They then have to travel
daily to and from their village to continue their farming. Amarpurkashi has long_recognised
the need and set up the Junior High School which tries to stimulate additional awareness
within the student. This progressive approach has proved very successful. Following the
the eompletion of Junior High School, Amarpurkasni has diploma courses available within
the Poly-technic at both Junior and senior level. A residential Primary and Junior school is
therefore planned, to meet other needs.
r 4 )
Farmers Consultancy Service
This
service
was first
development, 122 on
started in
appropriate science
November 1971 with the appotniment of our
and technology, 48 on education and 10 on
first (and
general topics.
famous) agriculturist, Prakash
There are about 70 periodi
Vir M. Sc. (Agronomy). His appointment
cals, we receive four national daily newspa
was made possible by the generous donation
pers, one regional and one local daily news-
of his salary by the Canadian University
peper 18 weekly publications
Service
Organisation for a period of two
The school library also has over 560
years.
At that time, Miss Patsy Ann Phi
books on appropriate subjects, an increasing
llips was the Executive Director of CUSO
uumber of villagers are making use of this
in Delhi and following her visit to Amarpur-
service.
kashi, forsaw the need for such an appoint
ment.
Formal teaching
Some 200 students and trainees are in
The service now has the following
contact every year.
staff; director, daputy director, agriculturist,
The salary
of the
They prepare their own
small plots for demonstrations.
teachers and instructors and village leaders.
agriculturist is
Informal Teaching
again being paid by CUSO for yet another
Abont 60 students were taken on a visit
two years, commencing from July 77 when
the present
to the Milk Food factory, DalpatPurand All
agriculturist Radhey Shyam
India radio station,Ram Pur. They have also
Pandey was appointed.
<;.o
taken part in Voluntay Physical Work(Shr am-
The function of the service is for far
dan) Mohd. Ibrahim Pur and Shah Pur. The
mers consultancy through formal teaching
staff, students and trainees, as well as some
informal teaching, library andreadid room,
the villagers, all take partin organising cuch
personal contacts, meetings
and coordina
of events as fairs, exhibitions, farmers-days
tion with government and non-government
and other cultural celebrations.
agencies working In the field.
Persona! Contacts
Library
People Come and ask advic on personal
Over the years, a very comprehensive
matters, relating to all aspects of their lives.
range of books, periodicals and newspapers
has been received.
Meetings
At present the library
In villages of the project area are held
has 166 books on agricultural and rural
(
5
)
whenever theree is need for collective discu
ssion.
During October and November last
blished with all so that
knowledge and
facilities can be used to our best advantage.
year, such meetings were held in Khata,
ShamasPur, Aarikhera, Mohd. Ibrahim Pur,
Some of these people are, representa
Shahpur, Safeel Pur, Deori, Vijai Pur and
tives of IFFCO and Pant Nager Agricultural
Hamza Pur. At Amarpurkashi, there is dis
University; staff of Community
cussion every evening at the project office.
ment Block, Baniakhera; local staff of the
Their attendances vary from 10 to 100.
Soil Conservation Dept; Cane Co-op. Society,
Develop
Bilari; and the Ajudhia Sugar Mill, RajaKa
Co-ordination
Sahaspur.
There are anumber of official and non
official bodies working within the
areas.
rural
Amicable relations have been esta
Determined Villager Catches Thieves
Lahan Singh of Amarpurkashi, recently found that the only way of his getting Justice
done was to do the job himself, even though it proved costly.
About the middle of December, his two mail buffaloes were stolen. He approached the
Bilari police but was told to look himself first, if he didn’t have any sccess, then he could file
a formal report.
He looked fot eight days at the many cattle markes eventually finding one of his buff
aloes. He found that had been sold to three different people in those eight days. He approa
ched the Bilari police, and after paying Rs. 5, he was legally entitled to the return of his
buffalo. His other buffalo was still missing. On checking the ownership of the first buffalo of
the last eight days, he found that the name of the witness of the first sale was a genuine one.
By persurtaion and determined interrogation , Lakhan soon established the names of the
other two men. The police had still done nothing. The three men Khushali, Ram Kumar &
Tula had sold the buffalo for just Rs. 270, each receiving Rs. 90.
On approaching the police with his find, Lakhan then had to pay for the police to go
and arrest the thieves. The three readily admitted their theft and told where the second buffalo was. Again Lakhan had to pay police transport costs.
It had taken 25 days and approximately Rs. 500 for him to reclaim what was rightly
his. The approximate market price of two buffaloes is Rs. 800.
( ' 6
)
'
Report of the Australian Visit
Jyoti
much of her former country, but now I had
and I visited 'Australia at the
the apportunity to see it.
invitation of the Australian Freedom from
Hunger Campaign, who have helped fund
My first impression were the people,
projects here at Amarpurkashi for the past
three years.
their healthy outlook. In the main, they lead
very affluent lives, they live in nice modern
They invited us to lend support to the
houses with all the necessary conveniences,
opening of their yearly fund raising campaign.
they drive motor cars, eat plenty of woole-
The Australian Freedom From Hunger
• Campaign supports many projects such as
some food, earn good wages. Their childern
have every opportunity to learn from exce
ours, Jyoti and I were very honored to have
llent schools and universities.
been singled out by them and be asked to
visit Australia to assist publicising their imp
But Jyoti, after her time here in India
ortant work of fund raising, and for us to
remarked: “ I don’t see people, only cars.”
have the chance of telling people first hand
Further, she told me of the Australian cus
tom that is usual if wanting to visit friends -
about Amarpurkashi.
you tell them beforehand that you are com
Our visit was just over two and a half
ing so that they can prepare for your visit.
months duration, in which time we travelled
How very different it is to here in India,
over 16,000 kilometres by air, about 5,500
by road and spoke to about 11,500 interested
I did find that some of the Australian
people. We also had countless television,
people whom I came in contact with,appeared
radio and press interviews during pur most
only to have time for themselves, but then
enjoyable visit.
there were many ( and I mean . many ) who
became very interested in our work here,
We arrived in Australia at the end of
always asking questions which we were only
July, it was still their winter. We had no
idea at this stage what lay
too happy to answer.
ahead or of
the interest our visit would hold. We had
Two such people were a Dutch couple,
received some prior briefing from the FFHC
Ans and Toins now settled in Australia.
committee on what they expected from us, we
thought it best if we spoke from our hearts,
I found the response of the university
and because we did, we are sure that this is
students I spoke to very poor, but the exact
why we were endeared to so many people. It
opposite must be said of the many secondary
was a joyful return to Australia for Jayoti
after an 11 year absense. She had told meso
(high) schools and also service clubs that I
(
had the honor to address. Good discussion
7
)
Australian states we were to visit. We sta
always took place also at the FFHC commi
yed at another very modern hotel, at the
ttee meetings that I addressed.
airport we were interviewed by both televi-
People ( or rather visitors such as our
on and the press.
selves ) are generally critical of the media
people. But we found their coverage of our
visit very good. Their interest did surprise
Our time in Perth was spent giving
us. Every state we visited the television ,
talks to various organisations and schools,
radio and newspaper people were normally
and meeting lots of nice people.
there to greet us. We found both the Queens
We then moved on to the state of Vict
T a sm a n i a media the most
oria, where we stayed at the Victoria Hotel
land and
responsive.
Melbourne. Our first visit to this state was
to last 11 days. We were kept busy giving
On arrival at Sydney airport, we were
talks, meeting people. We spoke to as many
met by the Australian Freedom From Hunger
as four organisation in one day.
CampaignNational Director, Barry O’Hagan.
We decided to stay in Sydney that night
One of the many happy moments of
before journeying on to Adelaide, Jyoti ’ s
this particular visit was our visit to Mater
home town.
Christi Girls College in the Melbourne sub-
urv of Belgrave. The girls were unawere of
Our first night in Australia was spent in
our visit, only that morning they had been
a very modern hotel. It had all the luxuries
shown Jyoti’s film, they were indeed surpi-
one could ever want, color television, refri
sed when we arrived “in the flesh.” We had
gerator, radio, central heating, air condition
a most enjoyable time there, their questions
ing, telephone, own bathroom.
were many, they appeeled for more infor
mation of our work at Amarpurkashi.
The following day, we flew to Adelaide
(South Australia) for week’s holiday with
It was here, at this school, that we
Jyoti’s family. She was very pleased to sae
first met
them after an absence of 11 years.
Ans
She had come
her
On Sunday , August 7, we left Adelaide
child.
Our
(mentioned
previously).
to the school to enrol
appearance
interested
by air for a five day visit to Perth, Western
her, she introduced herself, and asked us if
Australia. This was our first assignment, we
we could spare the time to talk to her com-,
both did not know what to expect. On the
munity group the following day. Her inter
plane, a stewardess approached us and said
est was such that we could uot refuse despite
how she had seen Jyoti’s film “ India and
our busy schedule. And what on enjoable
Jan Myers”. She said she was honored to
day we had. Their intense interest was indeed
have us on her flight. These encouraging
very gratifying to both Jyoti and myself.
words were very gratifying and made us feel
We only wished we could have spared them.
very confident to the task ahead.
more time.
Western Australis was the first of the
(
From Melbourne we flew to Hobart,
8
)
Tasmania, which is an island state at the
have a well-earned rest and prepare us for
bottom of the main Australian continent.
the busy times that still lay ahead.
The visit was of five days. We stayed with
In Sydney, we gave talks to important org
Mr., and Mrs. Mac Hazelwood who visited
anisations and service clubs, and visited the
us here at Amarpurkashi earlier this year.
Hawkesbury Agricultural College, which is
The Tasmanian people were very attentive to
one of New South Wales most important
our talks.
agricultural Colleges. We also attended a
private screening of Jyoti’s film, “India and
The next state we visited was Aust
ralia’s smallest, but most important, the
Jan Myers”, filmed here at Amarpurkashi
two years ago.
Australian Capital Territory, in which the
capital of Australia Conberra is situated,
The next state we visited was Queensl
While there, we were given a dinner by the
and. We first visited their famous “Gold
.slate FFHC in a restaurant called the Taj
Coast,” a popular tourist beach resort. Here
Mahal, we also met Dr. Kestevens of the
we gave talks to various organisations and
Australian Department of Primary Industry
met many people before travelling on to
and chairman of the National Projects com
Brisbane (the capital) by bus. Our visit to
mittee, FFHC. We had television, radio and
Queensland was to last seven hetic but very
press interviews. It was very encouraging
enjoyable and informative days. We were
to us to see how much importance people
kept busy with talks, television, radio and
were making of our visit.
press interviews. After three days, we flew
to Central and Northern Queensland, what
We than flew to Sydney, New South
a day 1 We left Brisbane at about 8.30 a.m.
Wales. On arrival we were driven to News
and our first stop was Rockhampton, a dis
castle, a big town about 100 miles from
tance of 500 miles. There we were intervie
Sydney. We were thrilled to attend a civic
wed by to television Stations, plus gave a
reception in our honor given by their mayor
talk to interested students. We then flew
Aiderman Anderson and his wife, Mrs. And
onto Townsville, a distance of about 450
erson. Also present were many prominent
miles where we were interviewed By two
citizens. The reception was ofcourse covered
radio stations, their local paper, and addres
by the mass media Following, we had dinner
sed a meeting of FFHC area Collectors../
with ' Dr. and Mrs. Goel, president of the
The flight from Rockhampton to Tow
local Indian association, at which there were
many prominent members also present. After,
dinner, we gave an address to the many
local supporters of FFHC. The following
morning, Jyoti was interviewed by the local
radio station.
nsville was one we both will never forget.
Our plane from Rockhampton set down at
Mackay, a town about midway between
Rockhampton and Townsville. After some
time there, I enquired what time the plane
was to continue its journey to Townsville.
We were then driven back tb Sydney.
The man garbled something (which I didn’t
That weekend we had free, it enabled us to
understand) and then asked us to step on to
(
9^)
the luggage scales and be weighed. But on
I also addressed meetings within their capi
leaving the air terminal building to board
tal of Hobart.
the plane to Townsville, I soon understood
why ! Our plane was a tiny Cessna aircraft
which only had seven seats. Believe me, our
hearts were in our mouths for the whole
journey, the flight was very rough.
While there, I visited children at one of
the local schools who were conducting a
“starve-a-long”
that day.
The
children
donated the moneys they would have spent
on their lunch to help causes such as ours.
We flew back to Brisbane (non-stop)
the next day to give further talks there and
I was told that most schools throughout
Australia have similar such days.
to meet more people sympathetic to our
cause.
My next and last state to visit was South
Australia, Jyoti’s home state. Her parents,
The following day, we .returned to Syd
ney (New South Wales) where we had tele
Jyoti and the children joyfully welcomed me
on my arrival at Adelaide airport. The follo
vision, radio and press interviews, gave an
wing day was free, it gave me a chance to
address at the launching of “Hunger Week”
see some of Jyoti’s home town.
■ in their famous Hyde Park, attended an
Indian Community meeting, and again made
contact with lots of people.
Back to work! There weremany talks to
give, again the television, radio and press
interviews. I addressed students of their big
Roseworthy Agricultural College, also the
On leaving Sydney, we made a short
return visit to Canberra (Australian Capital
Territory). Here we had important discussi
Urrbrae Agricultural High School.
Both
these institutions prepare young people for
a rural career.
ons with the staff of the Australian Develo
pment Overseas department and also spoke
at two of their prominent colleges.
One day when walking along an Adel
aide street, a man rushed past, stopped,
then turned and said : “I know you, I saw
. We then returned to Melbourne (Victo
ria) where we attended a presentation cere
mony where FFHC was handed a chque of
SA22.500 by the premier of Victoria, Mr.
Hamer.
a film about you on television.” It was this
sort of impromptu recognition that helped
make being in Australia that much more
enjoyable. By recognising us, wherever we
went people were automatically associating
themselves to our cause.
That night, I flew to Tasmania for a
return visit, Jyoti and Shobhana flew to
Jyoti and I also attended an enjoyable
Adelaide to stay with her parents. As well
luncheon with local members of the India
as the many television, radio and press inter
Australian Association. I continued to meet
views I attended, I also visited some of Tas
many people and many of Jyoti’s friends.
mania’s rural towns where I gave many
My stay in Australia had come to an end.
talks and again met lots of interested people.
It had been very enjoyable, but a little
(
10 )
exhausting at times.
Canberra).
Our stay was not without
incident.
The police regarded this threat as most
When in Canberra the second time, I regi
serious, and for the remainder of our stay,
stered our concern with the India High
they accompanied its everywhree safeguar
Commission there, following the troubles
ding us. Luckily, no physical attempt was
they were experiencing by Austfalian(Anand
made to either Jyoti, the children, or my
Margis.) The commission suffered damage
selt.
and some personnel were hurt in the various
I tearfully left Adelaide on Monday,
.scuffles.
October 17. My visit to Australia had lasted
On reaching Melbourne, we were poli-
just over two and a half months.
telp requested to stay within our room until
In conclusion, there are many, many
such time as officials from FFHC would
come and explain this
unusual attitude.
people who helped make our stay in Ausra-
They arrived and showed a letter they had
lia a very enjoyable and enriching one. It
received threatening our lives. The crudely
woule be unfair to single out individuals,
memory)
but I must pay special thanks to the Austra
“Gruff williams is not alone, another Singh
lian Freedm From Hunger Campaign who
.from FFHC will suffer the same fate.”
made it all possible, it was an ezperience
(William was one of the men arrested in
we will both never forget.
composed message said (from
troubles at the Indian High Commissian in
Met
Programme of Visit to Australia
by
John
Massan,
interviewed at
airport by ABC television and newspaper
July 31, Sunday:-
“Western Australian.”
Stoy in Perth at Park Towers hotel.
Arrive Sydney.
Met by Barry O’Hagan, National
August 8, Monday:-
Director, and Bill Hobin, Chairman.
Gave speech at - Cloister. Sq. .for .“Deve
Stayed night Travelodge HoteL
lopment week.”
August 1, Monday:-
Spoke Norbet College, Perth.
Left for Adelaide for a week’s holiday
Dinner
with Jyoti’s sister, Cynthia.
Massam.
August 7-12, western Australian
VISIT
August 9, Tuesday
August 7, Sunday:-
Arrive Perth.
with
Mr.
and
Dinner with Dr. Mills,
FFHC.
Mrs.
chairman state
August 10, Wednesday
Interviewdd by “Daily News”
r a )
John
August 17, Wednesday:-
August 11, Thursday:-
Mary’s C.
Spoke St.
of E. Girls coll
ege, Karrinyup, Perth.
Senior
students
Carine
High
School,
Spoke Kalista Community Centre,
Dandenong Hills.
Guest speaker at Glenroy
Rotary Club
dinner, Doug Coombs introduced.
Perth.
August 18, Thursday:-
August 12, Friday:-
Spoke Mentone Girls High School,
Leave Perth for Melbourne, Victoria.
Geoff Phillips accompanied.
Guest speaker at state FFHC luncheon,
August 12-13, Victorian Visit
Bayswater Lions Club dinner, Ron Butt
August 12, Friday:-
in traduced.
Arrive Melbourne.
Met by Miss B. Samford, vice-chairman
August 19, Friday :-
state FFHC.
Spoke
Stay in Melbourne at Victoria Hotel.
accompanied.
August 13, Saturday:-
Rotary Club
Kew High
Guest
Spoke annual general
meeting,
Retired
Nurses Assoc., Ron Butt, director state
speaker
at
School ,
Ron Butt
South
Melbourne
luncheon,
Geoff
Phillips
introduced.
Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Doug Coombs.
FFHC accompanied.
Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Geoff Phillips.
August 21, Sunday:Lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Keith Ryall
August 14, Sunday:Enjoyed
( an Apexian )
hosipitality
of
Mr.
and Mrs.
Geoff Phillips.
Visit to the
nearby hills, and to Neil
Douglas, an artist and experimentalist in an
alternative life style.
August 15, Monday:-
Spoke Matter Christie College, Belgrave
Ron Butt escorted.
History Teachers
Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Ron ButtAugust 22, Monday:-
association
workshop
Visit
Doug Coombs accompanied.
Quota Club, Essendon,
escorted.
Miss Samford
to a
dairy farm, about 150 km
Melbourne, Ron Butt accompanied.
Visit
to
central
office
of Community
Aid Abroad, also office of Australian Volu
August 16, Tuesday:-
Spoke Noble
nteers Overseas.
Park High School, Geoff
Phillips accompanied.
August 23, Tuesday:Leave Melbourne for Hobart, Tasmania.
Stella Maris Convent, Frankston.
Marionist College, Frankston.
August 23-28 Tasmania Visit.
Guest speaker at Glenroy Rotary Club
August 23, Tuesday :-
dinner, Ron Butt introduced.
Arrive Hobart.
(
12 )
Met by John Kennedy,
chairman state
Met by
Bob
Wann,
chairman
branch FFHC.
branch, FFHC.
Lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy.
Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Bob Wann.
state
Visit to town and nearby scenic views.
Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Mac Hazel
August 29, Monday:-
wood.
Interviewed by Radio 2XX.
in
Stay
Hobart
with
Mr. and Mrs.
Dinner FFHC at “Taj Mahal.”
Hazelwood.
August 30, Tuesday:-
August 24, Wednesday:office, FFHC, Mac Hazel
state
Visit
Meeting
wood in attendance.
Dr.
Kestevens
of Dept.
National Projects committee, FFHC.
by Radio 7H
Interviewed
with
of Primary Industry and also chairman
(live broad
by
newspaper
cast).
Interviewed
Times.”
Spoke local branch, FFHC.
Interviewed by TVT television.
“Canberra
Interviewed by TVT television.
August 31, Wednesday:-
August 25, Thursday:Travel to
Leave Canberra for Sydney, New South
Launceston, Mac Hazelwood
accompanied.
August 31-September 10, New
Address district committee, FFHC.
Stay night with Dr. and
Mrs.
Vales.
Russel
South Wales Visit
Bushley.
August 31, Wednesday:-
August 26, Friday:-
Arrive Sydney.
Interviewed by newspapers the “Exami
Met by Jack Green and Mrs. June Pink.
ner”, Launceston and the “Advocate” Dev
enport.
Mrs. Pink, regional director, FFHC. Lunch
August 27, Sunday:-
Guests at reception at city hall given by
Interviewed by ABC radio and also ABC
television.
and other prominent citizens, ( covered by
Driven
from
airport to Newscastle by
with Mrs. Pink and family.
Mayor Anderson and his wife Mrs. Anderson
television and press).
August 28, Sunday:-
Leave
Dinner with’Dr. and Mrs. Goel, president
Hobart for Canberra, Australian
Capital Territory.
August 28-.31, Australian Capita!
Territory Visit
August 28, Sunday;-
local India club. Prominent members of Indian
community also present.
Address local supporters Newscastle FFHC.
many Indians present.
Interviewed by Radio 2NX.
Stayed night Belmont Hotel.
Ajrive Canberra.
( 13 )
John Birch, state chairman, CAA &
September I Thursday:-
Jyoti
interviewed by Radio 2 NX (live
broadcast).
Guest speaker at Sydney Lioness Club dinner
Robin Mackay introduced.- '
Driven to Sydney by Mr. and Mrs. Pink.
Arrive Sydney.
September 9, Friday:-...
Introduction and informal get together with
Free. Scenic visit to zoo and shopping.
Robin Mackay, director state branch, FFHC,
also office staff.
September 2, Friday:Meeting with regional directors, state FFHC.
Reception. In attendance FFHC
supporters
and
members
September 10, Saturday:Leave Sydney for Coolangatta, Queensland.
Stay in Sydney at Travelodge Hotel.
September
Visit
10-17,
Queensland
September 10, Saturday:-
of
Arrive Coolangatta.
IntermationaVAid agencies.
Met by Norman Martin, state director,
September 3 and 4, Sat. and Sunday:-
FFHC, and Russ Walkington.
Free.
Interviewed by Radio 4GG (by Russ Walk
ington).
September 5, Monday:Interviewed by ABC radio, for rural prog
ramme. Also had discussions with Alan
Lunch with Russ and Norman.
Interviewed by newspaper ’‘Gold
Coast
Times.”
Eager of their national hews programme.
Viewed Jyoti’s film. ‘-India and Jan Myers.”
Stayed night Appolo Motor Inn.
Guest speaker at Crowsnest Rotary Club
September 11, Sunday
dinner, Robin Mackay introduced.
Address-Uniting Church,; Mermaid Beach,
September 6, Tuesday:-
Uniting Church, Surfers Paradise, Presbyte
Discussion with Irene Davies, liason officer,
rian Church, Palm Beach.
FFHC projects committee.
Leave for Brisbane (by bus). Norman Martin
Guest speaker at Sydney Rotary Cl.ub lun
accompanying.
cheon.
Stay in Brisbane at Canberra' Hotel.
Guest speaker at Hurstville Lions
Club
dinner.
>
September 12, Monday :—
Mr. and Mrs.
Press conference, two television and two radio
Stafford introdueed.
stations present, also" two newspapers.
Spoke Marist College, Rosalie, Neil Roberts
September 7, Wednesday:-
Visit whole day at Hawkesbury Agricultural
College, Richmond.
arid Norman Martin aocompanied.
Reception, by FFHC members.
Septembet 13, Tuesday :—
September 8, Thursday:-
Spoke CAA group, Sydney University, Prof.
(
Spoke Brisbane Gramme? School, and state'
Director escorted.
14 )
James College, Brisbane.
Dinner with Mr. and Mrs, Neil Roberts,
September 17-20, Return Visit, New
South Wales.
chairman state branch, FFHC.
September 17, Saturday :—
September 14, Wednesday :—
Met By Robin Mackay, State Director.
Spoke St. Laurence College, Neil and Martin
Interviewed by newspapers “Sun Herald”
escorted.
and “Telegraph”
Lunch and speech St. Aidan’s College.
September 18, Sunday :—
Spoke BBC College.
Telephone interview by Radio 4.
September 15, Thursday :—
Attended Indian
Leave Brisbane for central and northern
Richmond.
Queensland (by air).
Inerviewed by Radio 2CH (live broadcast).
Community
meeting at
Arrive Rockhampton, 9.25 a.m.
Met by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Watterson
September 19, Monday
and Doug Kuddy.
Spoke St. Sacallasca High School,
Interviewed by both ABC and Channel 9
Monica O ‘Hagan & Robin Mackay persent.
television stations.
Interviewed by ABC television.
Address students Capricornia Institute of
Mrs.
Public address at the launching of ‘Hunger
Week’ in Hyde Park.
Advanced Education.
Leave Rockhampton for Townsville (by air)
Dinner with Barry O’ Hagan, national direc
tor, FFHC.
12.30 p.m., arrive 3.45 p.m.
Met by Bishop Faulkner.
September 20, Tuesday
Interviewed by radio station 4TO and 4AY
Leave Sydney for return visit to Canberra.
also newspaper “TownsvilleDaily Bulletin”.
Addressed meeting area collectors, FFHC.
Stayed night Travelodge Hotel.
September 16, Friday :—
September 20-21, Return
Australian Capita! Territory.
Visit,
September 20, Tuesday
Leave Townsville for to Brisbane.
Arrive Canberra.
Met by Norman Martin.
Met by Joana Forbas.
Spoke Padua Boys College, Mt. Alvernia
Discussion with staff of Australian Develop.
ment Overseas (Neville Ross and others).
Girls College, Cavendish State High School,
Spoke Hawker & and Phillips Colleges.
Neil Soberts, Norman Martin, and education
Tea discussion with Sir Otto
director J.A. Golding present.
Frankel.
and Lady
Stayed night Embassy Hotel.
September 17, Saturday :—
September 2[, Wednesday:-
Leave Brisbane for return visit to Sydney.
(
Leave Canberra for return visit to Melbourne.
15 )
Dinner with Jone and Ikram Naqvi, Haze-
September 21-23,
Return
Visit,
1 woods accompanied.
Victoria.
September 25 Sunday
September 21, Wednesday
Dinner with
Arrive Melbourne.
Met by Royce Peppin, state chairman, FFHC
Hamersly of security police in attendance-
Stay at Victoria
Hotel
within security
John
Kennedy.
Dt.
Sgt.
September 26, Monday
arrangement because of threat to life.
Luncheon, Kashmir restaurant, with Neil
Batt, state Minister of Education and ex.
September 22, Thursday
chairman of Aust. FFHC. and 11 other
Attended press conference, two radio station
prominent FFHC supporters.
three newespapers.
September 27, Tuesday
Royce Peppin and Ron Butt Present.
Interviewed by Radio 7HO (live broadcast).
Visit to centre of United Unemployed (Paul
September 23, Friday
Chambers interviewed for their magazine).
Attended persentation ceremony of cheque
Meeting with a priest organising a starve-a-
SA22, 500 by Premier Hamer to FFHC.
long fast at Glenorchy Uniting Church.
Interviewed by Radio 3AW.
Interviewed on ABC radio by young boy,
Tea with Bruce and Joan Grant ( former
Andrew (arranged by Mr. Fyffe).
Aust.
High Commissioner to India) and
September 28, Wednesday
their family, also Dr. George, Royce Peppin
Spoke Brighton Primary Sehool.
and Ron Butt (with security detectives in
attendance also).
Leave Melbourne that night,
September 29, Thursday :-
Jyoti and
Leave Hobart for Launceston (by car) with
children to Adelaide and Mukat for return
Mac.
visit to Flobart.
Interviewed by ABC radio 7LA, Radio 7EX,
also television station Channel 9.
September 23-October 1, Return
Cuest speaker South Launceston and King
Visit, Tasmania
Meadows Rotary Clubs dinner, also addres
September 23, Friday
sed UNAA Launceston. Mac accompanied
everywhere.
Stayed night with Romi and John,
Arrive Hobart.
September 30, Friday:-
Met by Doreen ad Mac Hazelwood and also
security police.
Leave Launceston for hobart.
Stay in Hobart with John Kennedy.
Spoke secondary school, Hobart.
Lunch with Mr. &Mrs. Kenedy.
September 24, Saturday
Spoke Baghdad Primary School.
Visit to places of interest with John Kennedy.
(
Dinner with Nikhet and IslaM Hasain.
16
)
October 1, Saturday
Trevor Seargent accompanied.
Leave Hobart for Adelaid, South Australia.
October 6, Thursday:-
October 1-16,
South Australian
Spokc Annesley College ( Jyoti’s old college)
Ray Buttery escorted.
Visit.
Interviewed by both Radoi 5KA and newespapcr “Sunday Mail”, Ken Nicholas present
October 1, Saturday
Spoke students Adelaide University, Ray
Buttery accompanied.
Arrival Adelaid.
Met byjyoti, Tariniand Shobana, and Jyoti’s
parents, Mr. and Mr. Myers (and three
detectives of security police).
Lunch with professors in stall canteen.
October 7, Friday :-
Spoke Pembroke College, and Marion High
School, Mike Hodgson accompanied.
October 2, Sunday:Free, car ride with family.
October 8, Saturday :October 3, Monday:-
Lunch With Dr. Muthiah, chairman, India
Addressed morning assembly, Unley High
Australia society, at the Modbury residence
School, Mike Hadgson introduced.
of Mr. and Mrs. Jadhav.
Met with state FFHC office staff.
Press conference, A B C radio and newspaper
October 9, Sunday :-
the “ Advertiser ” present. Ken Nicholas,
Address Pilgrim
state director, and other FFHC staff accomp
Dorothy Walker). Ken Nicholas escorted.
anied.
Attended
Interviewed by television station Channel 10.
plaza. .
rock
Church (minister, Rev.
festival,
Festival Centre
Met Pat Arnett, Jyoti’s friend.
October 4, Tuesday
October 10, Monday:-
Spoke Salesian College, Ray Buttery accomp
Holiday, picnic with family at beach.
anied.
October 11, Tuesdays
October 5, Wednesday:-
Spoke and visited students Roseworthy Agri
Spoke Mount Barker High School, Mike
cultural College, Roseworthy, wholeday.
Hodgson escorted.
( 17
J
October 12, Wednesday
Spoke Mitchell Park High School, Trevor
Women.
Spoke students Urrbrae Agricultural High
School, Mike Hodgson escorted.
Seargent escorted.
Spoke St. Aloysious College, Ray Buttery
accompanied.
October 15, Saturday
Free.
October 13, Thursday:.
October 16, Sunday
Spoke Immaneul College, Trevor Seargent
Addressed, service, Prince Alfred College.
accompanied.
Spoke St. Mary’s
College , Ray Buttery
October 17, Monday :
escorted.
Leave Adelaide for Delhi.
Octobe 14, Friday
October 18, Tuesday
Addressed seminar of Australian Church
Arrive Delhi.
Proposals Implemented
Following the National Seminar on the Problems of Rural Development at Amarpur-
kashi last year, a number of proposals were passed, some of which have now been imple
mented
Dr. B. PRAKASH ofV. S. K. Atarra (Banda) has launched a fourpage bulletin .
under the name “ Gram-Gatha ”.
B. G. PITRE of the Doon School Dehradoon organised a succesful visit of two
students to APK. Their visit lasted over a week.
THE AMARPURKASHI AGRO POLY-TECHNIC has established important
contact with the Hindu Post
Graduate
College of Moradabad , through lecturer
Vineet K. Gupta.
B. G. PITRE has arranged for a number of studies, which are being taken-up by
Dr. B. Prakash, Mukat Singh and himself.
Imortant Organisation Reformed
It had been responsible for solving a
Following a lapse of. three years, the
number of problems in tihs area.
Gramin Kisan Masdoor Sangathan has been
ve-formed, following a recent conference at
It was the people of the APK who first
founded this organisation. It was their initia
tive to re-form it.
Amarpurkashi.
Over 500 villagers attended, with the
More than 30 propasals were passed at
meeting lasting over five hours. A number
the conferense. Those provoking most discu
of constructive proposals were passed and an
adhoc committee was formed to deal with
ssion were;
these immediate proposals. Officers elected
(a)
were : Chairman, Ch. Balwant Singh Advo
cate; vice-chairmen, Ganga Singh, Mahendra
(b)
Singh and Dr. Chandra Pal Singh Raghav
Editor; General
Secretary,
secretaries, Ganga
Ram,
Irresponsible behaviovr of Govern
ment officials towards rural folk.
Ignoring the cost of cultivation when
fixing prices of agricultural produce.
Mukat Singh;
(c)
Zakir Husain,
Absence of rural criticism and com
ments on Government’s new policies
Rajvir Singh, Gulfan Singh, Hari Ram. Also
and reforms regarding rural life.
there are 60 committee members.
(d)
The existing and future problems of
sugar cane development.
Some three years ago, this organisation
of local farmers and farm laborers had risen
It is hoped that the Government will
to district level, but during the emergency it
take a serious look at the proposals suggested
was disbanded for the obvious reosons.
at this meeting.
Corrupt Police Caught By Villagers
Two constables of the Bilari police sta
villagers in the past year.
tion were caught receiving, unlawfully, Rs.
The villagers planned their arrest by
150 from a poor villager of Safeel Pur, one
having two C. 1. D. inspectors on
of the villages within the
project area.
when the alleged bribe took place. Their
Amerpurkashi
hand
capture has raised morale in the village
The constables had received bribes from
(
tremendously.
19
)
COMMUNITY
Training Courses Planned
Farming and Farm Mechanies:-
It is planned to commence shortly a num
ber of appropriate agricultural courses at
Junior and senior diploma level courses
the Amarpurkashi Poly-technic. As interes
are already in progress.
ted students are enrolled, they will be con
as soon as sufficient interest is shown.
sulted so a workable syllabus best suited to
course is for the sons of farmers with experi
their needs can be established.
ence or knowledge of agriculure.. Other in
economic.
The
terested pesons may apply.
The courses will come under three main
headings, General, Technical and
The next will start
Socio
DevelopmentIProject WorkerjChange
More than half the time will be
Agent:-
devoted to practical experience.
This course has been very successful in
One of the most important policies of the
the past and is aimed at those enthusiastc
poly-technic is that education in its widest
and willing young who have the desire to
sense is vasix to every development process
bring a healthy chage in the rural areas and
and therfore includes formal, informal and
to liberate them from want, hunger and opp
non-formal learning all of which are essen
ression.
tial to the development of the area.
to run their own independent projects, also
The successful trainees are helped
jobs which fall vacant within APK project
The Amatpurkashi Poly-technic is recog
ere with trainees of this course.
nised as being uncorivential, flexible, explor
Other courses being planned at junior dip
ative and most importantly, progressive.
loma level are:—
There are no pre-education requisites to
•Dairying
attend these courses, their length will vary
from a week to two years with release periods
for ample practical experience and for con
tinuing learning, Courses are supported by a
•Appropriate education for (a) Balkendra,
(b)
Private Residential Children School,
(c)
Junior High School, (d) Agro-Industrial
Poly-technic.
•V i 1 lage Leadershep
strong follow-up.
•Farming- (a) Vegetable, (b)Cash,(c) Mixed,
Milk Co-op Secretaryship--
(d)
Organic.
of village milk co-ops, in counsultation with
For further information of any of these
courses please contact the Director, as soon
as possible.
the Department of Dairy Development and
Write: Director, Amarpurkashi Agro-Indust
the Infant Milk Food Factory,
rial
This course is planned for the secretaries
Dalpat Pur,
Poly-technic,
P. O.
Moradabad, U. P. India.
Moradabad.
(
20'
Bilari, Distt.
Jyoti and Children in Australia
Following our Australian visit, Jyoti
Australian doctors strongly advised
and the children, Shobanna and Tarini, have
that she stays in Australia for the birth, their
remained there and are staying with Jyoti’s
methods and help are much more extensive.
parents in Adelaide, South Australia.
It will probably be as late as May before they
After an 11 year absense from her
family, Jyoti wanted to spend Chritmas with
all return to Amarpurkashi. Jyoti’s address is
24 Keyton Street, Lockleys, South Australia.
them; also, when in Australia it was faund
You are all probably aware by now
that Jyoti was four months pregnant, even
that it was she who promptly answered your
though she was sterilided following the birth
letters, not. I miss her and the children very
of our last child.
much.
Mohd. Islam s Haj Pilgrimage
Mohd. Islam of village Mond. Ibrahi-
sacrifice af a goat (price 200 Rail-equivalent
mpur (one of the Amarpurkashi group)recen-
Rs. 500 and having one’s head shaved in
tly returned from an enriching pilgrimage to
Mina, near Mecca.”
Holy Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia. He
Mohd. Islam also told of the practices
was away just over three months, it cost him
of the poorer pilgrims to help pay for their
in excess Rs.8,000 for his journey. It is no
trip. Certain Indian ilems are very popular
wonder that not every Indian Muslim can
in Saudi Arabia and locals pay up to twice
afford to fulfill his cherished ambition.
Mohd. Islam explains
their Indian value. Also, certain items from
the holy eere-
mony of the Haj: “Two continuous prayers
zohar’ and ‘Asar’ in the plane of Arfat, two
prayers ‘Magharib’ and ‘Isha’ in Muzdalfa,
Saudi Arabia are popular in this country
and on their return, the Indian pilgrims sell
these items to help supplement the expense
of their journey.
Mohd. Islam had saved for a long time
Hitting three Satans in turn with stones, each
seven times and in all 49 times, performing a
to maks his pilgrimage.
( 21 )
Indication of Progress,
Amarpurkashi Village 1970-77
The following chart shows the encouraging progress within the Amarpurkashi
village in the past seven years. It is planned to conduct similar surveys in all vilages
within the project area.
_1970_______1977
Change
Item
17-0%
598
Population
700
5
Plus 40
Bricked Houses
45
3’.
Electric light
—
Connection
. 9
Plus 9
4.
658'/2735'
Plus 75172735'
Bricked lanes
1049'/2735
5.
Link road bricked 2507741
Plus 49r/741'
7417741'
6.
Irrigation facilities
I. Petsian wheels
5
5
9
Plus
2. Borings
5
22
Plus
17
3. Diesel Engines
4
11
Plus
7
4. Tubewell
a. Govt.
I
1
b. Private
4
Plus
4
7. Hand pumps for drinking water.
5
61
Plus
56
8. Education.
a. Graduats
3
3
b. Matri culates
5
13
Plus
8
c. Junior High School passed 19
40
Plus
21
9. Salaried job
1. Full time
26
26
2. Past time
2
2
10. Bicycles
17
60
Plus
43
__
11. Transistor, radios
29
Plus .
29
12. a. Clocks
3
7
Plus
4
b. Watches
6
5.7
Plus
51
13. Sewing machines
12
3
Plus
9
14. Dunlop carts
4
13
Plus
9
15. Chaff Cutters.
I. Power
—
1
Plus
I
2. Hand operated
5
71
Plus
66
16. Money lending.
2. Out siders.
_
1
3
4
2. Local,
9
10
i
17. Gamblers.
_
60
eb
18. Country lequor makers
_
..1
.
20
19
19- Thieves
15
15
20. Out siders living in the v■illage
17
5
Plus
12
21, Agricultural Yield.
1. Wheat
4.14 quintals/acre 9.66 q/acre Plus 5.52 q/acre
2. Rate
H.04 „
5.52
Plus 5.52
S. No.
1.
_
( 22 )
Visitors
Aug.
6, Ashok Kumar, Editor, Sanyukt
Awas weekly, Moradabad.
24. Arvind Gupta, c/o Education
Office, Beawar, 305901.
Sep. 15, M. Lail, asst, manager (P), Hin
dustan Lever Ltd; also D. S. Chaturvedi, Hindustan Lever Ltd.
27, I. D. Gautam, Principal, Indus
trial Training Institute, Chandausi.
Oct.
7, Dr. T. R. Rathore, asst, professor,
Pant nagar, also Dr. O. P. Singh
Soils Lab. Ram Pur.
Nov. 9-21, Maj. Sedley Sweeny, Brynoyre,
Talybond-on-Usk, Brecon, Powis,
Wales, U. K.
....... villagers awakening to new
hope of self-reliance and awareness...
19-24, Sonam Tsesing, H. O, Comp
any, 2 Vikas, c/o 56 A. P. O. “hig
hly impressed”.
Dec. 2-3, G. N. Gupta, Ag. Engineer (Pant
Nagar), C-76, Gandhi Nagar,
Moradabad.
4-11, Vidhu Bhai Randev and Himanshu Bhatt, students Doon School
Dehradun.
22-24, Suresh Chand Pandey and Suneeta Pandey, Government Industrial
Training Centre, Pines, Nainital.
23-24, Prof A. N. Ram, B.I. T. Messra,
Ranchi.
“....... the project is for villages, the
villagers are becoming more and
more aware....... ”
January, 1978
Arjun Dass, Delhi
John Me. Intyre, Adelaide, Aus
tralia.
***
A ckno wledgemen t
Maj. Sedley Sweeny (Wales)
Morris Stephetson (Ausnralia)
For his help in getting his friend Mac
Anderson, a building controcter of wales,
to agree, subject to the receipt of plans and
final estimates, to fund the building of the
school, plus equipt the APK workshop of
necessary tools apprex. total £950.
Dr. and MRS.
(Australia)
Shiv
Sharma
A retired Optemertrist who plans to
travel to India soon, bringing with him a
quantity of discarded specetacles and eye
testing equipment, in the hope that he would
donate spectacles to these people who are in
need of such items.
Australia Freedom From Hunger
A cash donation of S100, given when at
Newseastle during Australian visit.
This offer of support came through Rajinder S. Manhas, on beh'alf of a number of
Indians in seattie. They have offered approx.
Rs. 1200 a month for a period of about a
year.
(
Campaign
On their behalf, the Peoples Action for
Development (India), Dept, of Agriculture
and Irrigation, Govt, of India, released a
sum of Rs. 27,000 as the secend installment
of the final year’s grant of Rs. 113,457. The
first installment of Rs. 60,000 was ackno
wledged in the previous newsletter.
Concerned Indians (Sbattie, U.S.A.)
23
donation of £200 would soon be sent to help
Contd. Padge. 23,
Australian Freedom From Hunger
Campaign.
meet the expense of bricking some of tne
APK lanes.
Quota Club Of Essenden (Australia)
Irene Davies of FFHC, Sydney, advsied
A donation of £63.09 has been received
late last year that the Australian Freedom
From Hunger Campaign have senctioned a
supplementary grant of Rs. 87,107 on acco
unt of inflation. This has now been grate
from the secretary of that club, following
Mukat and Jyoti’s talk to their members
during their visit.
fully reseived by the preject bankers.
Other Donations
Friends Of APKjSociely For Agro-
A very good friend of Mac Hazelwoods
when in Launceston, Tasmania, kindly don
Industrial Education In India (U.K.)
ated S100; the Retired Nurses Association
Erica Linton, general secretary of the
Friends of APK. recently informed that a
of Victoria, S20; Miss Northey, principal
Mentone Girls College,S25.
News From Friends of APK
Stephen
which I have just received following some
McClelland, secretary of Friends of APK in
further questions which were raised at the
England, enclosed a copy of Erica Linton’s
meeting, I feel more than ever convinced
latest report. Stephen is now a post-graduate
that much more is happening and being done
In a recent letter
to
me,
student at the Institute of Development Stu
in and around Amarpurkashi than can be
dies, University of Sussex, Brighton, Eng
put into statistics.
land. Erica’s report is reprinted bleow.
If development was easy it would have
Dear Friend of APK,
happened long ago. For just on thret decades
Our Divali gathering this year turned
projects have sprung up all over India. Any
out to be rather a small meeting and we
successful project should have worked itself
were sad to miss many familliar faces.
out of existence by now, for the future of a
She letter which Mukat sent and which
nation cannot depend on projects. If one
was read at meeting made us feel close to
thinks of the massive projects undertaken
Amarpurkashi, to Mukat and his family, the
and supported by the UN and bi-lateral
project workers and of course the people in
goverment agencies, APK is not even “a
the villages.
drop in theocean”.
Since reading the replies to the questio
But we believe that what Mukat is atte
nnaire which I sent earlier and the answers
mpting to do at APK is right. His approach
(
24 )
CONTD. PAGE 24
their bit.”
which is based on educating people, is bring
Please keep in touch so that we can
ing out their best and their worst. Jealousies
continue to send you reports.
and tensions, as as well as support and
This letter may be too late to reach you
loyalty, are always polarised in a society
in time for Christmas. But let me neverthe
that is on the move. In the long term pres
less you the Seasons Greetings and all good
ent successes and failures will cancel one
wishes for the New Year.
another out. The important thing is that, to
Yours sincerely,
Erica Linton
General Secretary
use Mukat’s words;” ...the level of general
awareness in the project area has gone up
by leaps and bounds. There is perhaps no
other way in which the weakest and the
P. S. To our question: Why was the
most exploited can be educated so fast...”.
Fertiliser Agency closed? Mukat writes".. .The
This is what development is all about. And
agency was started when urea was sold on
this is why we must continue to back Mukat
the black market and poor farmers were
and his team both morally and financially.
unable to buy it at a fair price. Now the
We hope that Mukat and Jyoti will be
fertiliser is available to everybody and to
with us when we next meet for Divali in
some it is available on.loan. Therefore today
1978. Meanwhile let us not fail them but
there is no need to duplicate the service and
make a renewed effort to show that the
the agency waas closed.
:‘Friends of Amarpurkashi” are worthy of
2. What happened to the Kisan Maz-
the name of “Friends”. The efforts four
door Sangathan ? (The organisation embra
Friends of APK have raised just over £200.
Not bad at all. Just think how much wecould
cing small farmers and landless labourers)
do if every member of the society organised
Again Mukat replies:“The activities were
an event. If four people can produce this
suspended during the emergency for obvious
much, how about aiming at raising £1000by
reasons. Since the new Government gained
next Divali to hand to Mukat and show him
the metal we are made of?
power the situation is not yet clear. There
Meanwhile the £200 will be used for
ple’s Committees at village level but the
is a call from J.P. for the formation of peo
bricking the village lanes. Mukat writes;
effort seems to be half-hearted.......As. soon
“This is the best job because it will showhow
as the “atmosphere’ is clear there will be
the villagers have all been prepared to do
intensive activities under some name.”
(
25
)
Friend Writes Comprhensive Report
I have received an extremely well writ
India cannot be written off unless at the
time one
abandons hope for the
ten and most comprehensive report of the
same
work here at Amarpurkashi, following the
world.” “On the one hand, the earth seems
visit of my old friend Maj. Sedley Sweeny
so rich and productive, on the other, the
in November, 1977. I Was ill at the time &
people are so poorly nourished that it is a
unfortunately was unable to make full use
wonder they have the energy to continue the
of the visit of this very knowledgble man.
struggle.” “Such vision, courage and deter
In his report of 11 pages, he wrote some
mination must be supperted, whatever the
very worthwile comments. I have chosen a
few at random.
risk of disappointment and failure”.
Major Sweeny has lived in India work
“Many western observers think only
ing with the rehabilitation of the Tibetan
In terms of positive plans and projects agai
refugee children. He successfully organised
nst a background of emotions in their own
and ran the Tibetan Farm School in wales.
countries, and fail to grasp the significance
He new works his own small “self-sufficie
of the enormous additional problems of the
ncy” holding in that country. He is to visit
developing world in general and of India in
particular.”
and address the annual get-tegether of the
“I was forced to agree with Mukat that
Frierds will find his report as interesting as I.
APK friends in England. No doubt our
Happy Ending
Fromer
volunteer workers,
here at Amarpurkashi,
Audrey
Brooks
have been married in a
We wish them every success in their “new
and David Hunter who
first
met
small ceremony at Teignmouth, Devon.
project”.
f 26 )
UTTfiR
r>ZP>be.SH -/5,
GRAVIS (REGD)
GRAM VIKAS SANSTHA -A Rural Development Project (Paula)
Animal
Husbandry
The Rising Star of Integrated Rural Development.
An Interdisciplinary Experiment in
Integrated Rural Development
A Report on Early Spadework(August,1977)
" The aim of life is not wisdom,but action.
A. Huxley
COMMUNITY H-ALTH CELL
47/1,(First F!oor)St. Marks Road
BANGALORE-560 001
G R A V I S £ REGDO.
( GRAM VIKAS SANSTHA OF PAULA )
A REPORT ON THE ORIGIbi ANP EARLY WORK
contents’ of this report
GRAVIS is a Registered voluntary Body created for the purpose
of helping the integrated development of a large village in U.P.
and its surroundings. This project was started by certain socially
oriented, persons from New Delhi(whom Ilr.B.G.Verghese would call
Social entrepreneurs) who first came to ihat village with anN.S.S.
camp. This report is written from tie vantage point of one-such
person, who also happens to be the Secretary of GRAVIS.
This report has been written at a stage of our project best
described as "end of the beginning". It has the following contents:
Introduction - Our approach
Aims and Objectives- with priorities.
The Village and its People - a thumbnail sketch.
A Historical Note.
Collaborating -^gencies-bold and shy.
Th«e Starting Strategy:
i) Knowing the Area and the People
ii) The birth of GRAVIS
iii) Whole-time volunteerism.
iv) A Multipurpose Centre(MPC)
V) A Baseline Survey.
VII. Youth Activities at Paula
L) Mahila Mandals
ii) Youth Clubs
iii) Nehru Yuva Kendra.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VIII Or. the Anvil - forging new project.
1. Vhat is the Score ?
2. Balwadis;
’. Rural Industry;
4. Medical consultation;
5. Agriculture and Animal Husbandry;
6. Sanitation.
- 2 -
I.
INTRODUCTION - Our Apprach.
GRAVIS is an innovative experiment in integrated rural development
through voluntary social action. We envisage a model of rural developmen
that compels, on the one hand, development from within through the
effective use of local leadership and local resources, and that is
moulded, on the other hand, from without througjh the collaborative
efforts of an inter-disciplinaiy team - a tream which alone can do
justice to the total spectrum of social reality.To abstract only one
component of this reality is to do violence to the whole structure.
The primary focus of all our development and other activities must
be the underprivileged, the unemployed, the under-employed, the
indigent, the sick and the vulnerable. Even if we have to make a
beginning with the educated and better-off sections of the rural
society, we have to keep in mind "The last man". He is often
diffident and ignorant, shrinking from contact with the unfamiliar
outside world. Under such conditions provision of medical treatment
at ttie doorstep can be a great asset in disarming suspicion and
establishing rapport.(It is a physician who is saying this from
personal experience).
Apart from self-help, we attach great importance to youth power
and. its effective channelization through constructive outlets. We
believe that the educated young men and women of our villages have the
potential strength to spearhead the silent social revolution that
most cf us wi .-.11 to see and catalyse. They can .produce the leaders
of tomorrow and can prove the most powerful engine of social change.
Therefore we have given top priority to the mobilisation and
organisation of village youth and to the identification and training
of youth leaders. This will be supplemented by appropriate practical
experience and in-service training so as to equip the young men and
women for their future roles in rural development.
II.
AHIS AKD OBJECTIVES;
GRAVIS is an exercise in comprehensive area development. It was
formed with the principal aim of helping the people of Uaula achieve
integrated development, with the people below poverty line receiving
special attention. Creating fresh opportunites for the employment of
the unemployed and under-employed will become our increasing concern.
The main components of integrated development,are well known.
Our version is given below:
1. Agriculture
2. Animal husbandry
3. village industry
4. Education, including - Adult(non- formal) education or functional
literacy.
Basic education
Vcoat j ■ .1 training
Health Education etc.
... 3/-
- 3 -
5.
Health - including:
Nutrition
Sanitation
Maternal and Child Health with family planning.
6.
Special programmes for special groups:
For Children -Balwadis
For young women- Hahilia Mandals
For young men - Youth clubs etc.
Of course the enumeration above gives no idea of our efforts at
community organisation; the mobilisation and organisation of special
groups; the identification and training of key persons; the careful
nursing ofhew institutions; the creation of organisation infrastructure;
the availability of resources; 'the consultations with the community
and the experts; etc. all this activity must precede and accompany
what is given in the list above.
The Priorities:'
Our top priority is helping the under-privileged, especially by
creating new employment.But priorities are governed to a great extent
by practical considerations. We have followed pragmatic considerations
and tried to steer a middle course between what should be and what can
be.
We attach great importance to our youth programmes and have
organised youth groups such as rlahilla liandals and Youth Clubs. I>ue to
the collaboration of A.i.I.M.S. we could start health services and
health education from the very beginning. These activities will be
strengthened.
Our next step will be establishment of snail scale rural industry,
such as weaving or leather work. A nucleus for these industries is
already present and employment can be generated without much training.
Some educational activities have also been started for adults and for
non-school going children.
Balwadis(or day-cretches) for the under-privileged children, with
nutrition supplementation, imnunisations and health check-ups must be
given top.priority.
Agriculture and animal husbandry constitute the very foundations
of rural society. However, our farmers are relatively better off. The
small farmer may require help first.
As can be seen from "the preceding, an unequivocal ranking of
priorities is not practicable. Perhaps our focus will be sharpened
once we complete our baseline survey.
THE VILLAGE ANL ITS PEOPLE:
Paula is a large village in Pi.-trvot Meerut of. U.P. It is
situated to the north-west of Delh:. <.nJ about 60 Era. from it. It is
located on the Ba$pat-Meerut state highway about 11 Km.from Ba^ipat.
III.
Population:
10,000 (approx.)
Total area:
2598 Acres
Agricultural land: 21'78 "
Irrigated land:
2108 "
....4/-
- 4 -
Daula is a Rajput dominated village, with Rajputs accounting for
more than one-half of the population and most of the 'agricultural
land. They are culturally orthodox; their economic condition is
relatively better.
All the other castes are well represented. The scheduled castes
add upto over one quarter of the total population. There are a fairly
large number of Moslems, with three mosques in the village. Different
castes and communities live amicably. There is a gram Panchayat which
is not very effective. The village, though not a block headquarters
has the block primary health centre and a vetarinary dispensary located
in it. It is an important bus-stop for Meerut Ra^ipat traffic. Daula
also boasts of a country-liquor shop. It has a large and useful pool
of educated young nen and women.
IV.
A HISTORICAL NOTE:
The- project grew out of the 3 N.S.S. camps that the N.S.S.
Unit of All India Institute of Medical Sciences held at the Daula
village. They were held in May 1976; Dec.1976 ajid May, 1977. Delhi
University N.S.S. volunteers under the overall guidance of Prof.
P.L.Govil joined the first two camps(in 1976). The distance that we
have travelled may be gauged from the fact that when we first camped
at Daula, we as the medical contingent from All India Institute of
Medical Sciences became the focus of the concentrated hostility of the
entire village- the whole village achieving unanimity for the first
time in its 200 years long history. The reason can be easily surmised.
It was only when some of the more foilhardy young men of the village
visited our camp, and returned to their hearth and home with small but
important bits of their anatomy intact, that the villagers heaved a
CQnmunal si^h of relief.
That was the beginning. However, during the second N.S.S. camp
we were greatly impressed by the cooperation and the enthusiasm shown
by the young men and women of Daula. We decided to "adopt" Daula for thi
K.mS. activities. At the same time we started consulting people with
experience or expertise in the field of rural development. It was
Mr .Santiago of Indo-German Social Service Society who first suggested
the -reation of a voluntary agency. Gandhi Peace Foundation was
wilLng to join hands with us, thanks to Mr.K.K.Mukerjce. It helped
us wth catalytic funds, and gave us a social worker of great promise,
who
prepared to stay permanently at Daula- that is, Sari Ramesli
Sharitc, now Executive Secretary of GRAVIS. Finally Mr.Satish Chandra,
the de'en of rural experts, agreed to head GRAVIS. All these developmerr
helpcdto strengthen the resolve of us workers to continue with our
effort for Daula. One individual who was in evidence during all
these sages was Dr.J.S.Gill of the N.S.S. Unit of the All India
Institue of Medical Sciences- the Secretary of GRAVIS.
V.
COLL^ORATIifG AGENCIES;
We .ave had the good fortune +■• receive the help or promise
of help-?f a. large and increasing ■ war of agencies including
specializ,.’ and fundin g a gen cie s, governmental and non-governmental.
Other agecies have assured help once we are in a position to absorb
their hoi.
... 5/-
- 5 -
The list given below is not complete. Some of the agencies listed
below are only represented by an individual or a small group.
1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences through its
N.S.S. Unit and Centre for Community Medicine.
2. Gandhi Peace Foundation.
~z>. Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi University.
4.
Gram Miyojan Kendra, Ghaziabad.
5.
N.S.S. - It has helped us in many ways and at many levels.
6.
GRUP- Architects and Engineers.
7. Pantnagar University of Agriculture & Technology through its
Extension Centre at Meerut.
8. U.P. Govt. Development organisation at Block,Tehsil and
District level.
9.
District Meerut Fealih organisation and its P.H.C. at Daula
10.
Lady Irwin College, New Delhi.
11.
Nehru Yuva Kendra, Meerut.
12.
Ministry of Agriculture and its Director of Rural Development,
(Public Corp.).
13. Khadi and tillage Industries Commission.
14. Indo-German Social Service Society(IGSSS),New Delhi.
15. Christian Children Fund(CCF),New Delhi
And several others.
VI.
THE STARTING STRATEGY;
Under Starting Strategy are described sone of the steps
undertaken for the purpose of strengthening our base at Daula and for
striking firm roots into the soil. Five of Hie more important steps
are described below:
(i)
Knowing the Area ar.dthc people
Efforts at establishing close contacts with the people of
Daula began with our N.S.S. camps. The processes of increasing
friendships and emotional integration were helped by -the following
activities/interactions:
a) Combined "ghramdan" activities
b) Inducing village youth to visit our N.S.S. camps and share our
camplife.
c) Formal and informal meetings with the village people, village
leaders and village Janchayat.
d) Film shows and other health education activities such as mobile
health exhibitions and nutrition demonstrations.
e) Medical care, including home visits and referred to Delhi
hospitals was made available by ill India Institute of Medical
Sciences through N.S.S.
f) Our involvement with the village youth in Mahila Mandals and
Youth Clubs quickly brcu^it the urban and village youth together.
g. Taking village youth on a conducted tour of Delhi including visits
to Cottage Industries Emporium and Lady Irwin College to see the type
of handicrafts that are popular in Delhi.
...6/-
- 6 h) Making available several types of services to the local people
by contacting other areneies(such as Nehru Yuvak Kendra)
i)
Baseline survey. Hone visits were utilized for explaining our
work and the need for their cooperation.
j) Visits of various other experts also helped.
Due to this constant involvement of village people in all our
activities, not only have we grown very close to each other and
several personal friendships have sprung up between the two groups.
Eventually we should develop the tradition that all development and/
or welfare activities are collectively discussed and jointly executed.
(ii)
Birth of GRAVIS.
This voluntary agency was constituted to help us achieve the
objectives of our programme. It has a general body, a Karyakarani,
•and an executive with a Presidont(Shri Satish Chandra), A vice
President (Shri Udaybir Singh), a Secretary(Dr. J.S. Gill) and a Joint
Secretary-cum-,J-‘reasurer(Shri Rmmesh Sharma)-the last named is a
Social Worker belonging to Gandhi Peace Foundation who will
permanently stay at Paula with his femily. Majority of 'the members
of GRAVIS belong to the village, the rest being voluntary workers
from Delhi who initiated the whole project. GRAVIS was registered as
a voluntary agency with the U.P. Government under the Societies
Registration Act 1860 on 30th July,1977.
The objectives and the constitution of GRAVIS has been so framed
as to provide the necessary institutional underpinning for various
development and welfare programmes. GRAVIS will channelize all such
activities. It will help secure financial,technical and other help for
various development projects. It will provide secure basis for
development aid or loan. It can also buy equipment or employ people.
GRAVIS established a permanent office at Daula. A lot of work is also
carried out from the office- of the Secretary, Dr.J.S.Gill, at the
All India institute of Medical Sciences, Nev/ Delhi.
(iii)
Whole-time Voluntesrism.
" Any worthwhile project in integrated rural d evelopment cannot
be run as a hobby of a few do-gooders"(Anon). It is essential to have
a competent whole-time social worker who is prepared to stay in the
rural areas as a matter of choice. GPAVIS is fortunate in finding
in j-Ir.Ramcsh Sharma the ri^it kind of person, who wants to dedicate
his life of rural uplift, Mr. Sharma has a distinguished record as
a Youth leader and a Social worker. This is the present that Gandhi
Peace Foundation has given to GPAVIS, and one expects nothing less
from such an organisation.
Mr. Ramesh Sharma was associated with our work ri$it from the
beginning. He has received special training in agriculture .health and
accountancy preparatory to joining u?.. He has selected a small house
i-n Daula and has started living in th-mx village from mid-August.
Ultimately he will shift to.,the M’ '•imurpose Centre (MPC) once it has
been built. He is also the Executive Secretary-cum-Treasurer of GRAVIS
He will look after the day to day working of GRAVIS.
... 7/-
- 7 His helpmate, Mrs.Sudha Sharma, has proved an add! tional bonus
for GRAVIS. She is an educated young lady who wants to share her
husbands’ vocation. Currently die is receiving training in sewing,
handicrafts, health and community organisation. She will join Hr.
Sharma at Daula in about 2 months. She will be a great asset in
mobilizing the woman power of Daula to take their "rightful position
alongwith their menfolk. She will also be a help in organising
special programmes for women and children, such as Hahilla Mandals
and Balwadis(vide infra).
(iv) Multipurpose Welfare Centre(Il.P. C.)
A centrally located old village "Chaupal"( a community property)
was selected(from among several offers) as the site for our Multipurpps
Welfare centre. The old building was dismentaled through Shramdan '
(voluntary labour) the village people have donated the land and the salvaged material from the old building to GRAVIS. They also agreed to
contribute Rs.5000 and Shramdan for our M.P.C. which will be built
on that site.
Mr. Romi Khosla, an Architects belonging to the voluntary
associated"GRUP" visited Daula several times. He not only helped us
in selecting the site,but also prepared a plan and a cardboard model
of the M.P.C. His help will a gain be sought at the end of tie
monsoons, when the construction of the M.P.C. will start.
The M.P.C. will be the physical headquarters of GRAVIS at Daula.
It wi11 house our office and'our permanent representative with his
family., The large central hall will provide a convenient site for
Balwadis or Mahila Mandals and also for meetings of various groups
such as the youth groups, special committees, general body of the
GRAVIS,etc. We could also possibly start a reading room and a small
library there.
Furthermore, M.P.C. will have a guest room for the stay of GRAVIS
people coming from Delhi.
During his visit to Daula, Dr. pal Chowdhari, Director of Rural
Development(Public Corp.) offered to give us additional financial
help to complete the building of the M.P.C.
(v) A Baseline Survey.
During the last N.S.S. camp(May,1977) a baseline survey of the
whole village was initiated. The survey covered basic demographic,
socio-economic and agricultural data. The extension wing of Pantnagar
Agricultural University located in Meerut were kind enou^a to send
their experts to Daula. They advised us on the agricultural component
of the survey. Thus we collected information on family composition,
educational status, occupation, unemployment, size of land holdings,
crops grown, irrigation facilities, agricultural equipment,live-stock,
financial help etc. During the camp only one-half of the village
could be covered. Now we are training 5 educated village young men to
complete the survey.
Now a survey is not essential to either identify important
problems,or take remedial measures.But it sharpens our focus on the
village and helps in the details of planning.In fact, we propose to
prepare a commrehensive development plan for the village after the
data has been analysed and various experts consulted. The survey also
helped in bringing us close to the various sections of Daula population
....8/-
- 8 -
VII
YOUTH ACTIVITIES AT PAULA.
Significantly enough, our contact with Paula started because
of youth activities(N.S.S.camps); and was strengthened by the response
of the village youth. There can be no doubt that the youth of India,
particularly the educated young men and women are our most important
resource. We should develop this resource into an effective agent of
rural uplift and social change.
Several young men of Paula have received higher education and
left for the cities to ®ek better prospects. However, there are still a
large number of educated young men and women, including graduates, who
continue to stay at Paula. Most pf them feel frustrated and find their
lives aimless and constrained. This is particularly true of the young
women. Therefore any opportunity for them to come to-gether and direct
their energies into constructive channels evokes instant enthusiasm.
At least this has been our experience.
These educated young people have been our greatest asset in ihe
village. On our encouragement, Mahilla Mandals and Youth Clubs sparing
to life. It will be one of our. essential tasks to identify potential
leaders, provide them with suitable training and experience, and utilize
their talents in running some of our development other projects. Many
new jobs arc going to be created in Paula, including jobs of
responsibility. It is much better to train the local youth rather than
import trained manpower. This may also help stem our internal braindrain- the migration of rural talent to the cities.
It is not too much to hope that these youths, once they have
gained sufficient experience and confidence, may be able to take our
place, releasing us fresh pastures. A more detailed account of youth
organ!sitions follows:
i)
The Mahilla Mandals:
Three Mahilla Mandals with an individual membership of 15-20
are now functioning energetically at 5 sites: Panchayat house "5- Bisa"
and 11-Bisa" areas. More arc bound to emerge as our activities expand.
Activities:
1. Teaching children between 6-12 years who are not attending school.
The girls are taking their teaching duties very seriously each girl
looking after 5-10 children. Teaching adis have been provided by Nehru
Yuvak Kendra, Meerut.
2.
Adult literacy classes - Several old women are learning to read and
write at the Mahila Mandals.
3.
Training sewing, tailoring, embroidery and handicrafts. The Mahila Mandals girls are very keen to add to Uicir accomplishments
and,if possible, also to their purser Five sewing machines were loaned
by the Delhi School of Social Work, ^.ie special teacher has been
recruited, more are needed. Her salary is paid partly by the girls
themselves and partly by the N.S.S.
9/-
- 9 Some of the girls are quite talented and produce beautiful
handicrafts. They are keen that their handicrafts should serve as a
source of supplementary income. However they need a little training and
advice on modern designs and methods. For ihis purpose we arranged
for the girls to visit Lady Irwin College and Handicrafts Emporium,
Hew Delhi. Lady Irwin College may actually start some regular programme
in the village from iheir next academic session(Aug.1977) Problems of
raw materials and sales outlets will have to be tackled.
4.
Health education, especially on infant feeding and care Mobile exhibitions were held. Practical demonstrations were arranged
for the village women on how to cook cheap nutritious foods,especially
for children. They were immcnsly popular.
5.
Recreation, Music,prayer sessions Other activities are being planned-for example, care of destitute
women and women’s welfare.
ii) Youtli Clubs
The young men of Daula constitute' a dynamic group that has given
us lot of help. In order to encourage ,-ihem to organise themselves, a
youth club has been started, with a special sports wing. The most active
members. inc lude Rana Rajinder Singh and A jit Sin^i. However so far we
have avoided formal structuring of such institutions and have allowed
free growth. The youth club has proved to bo an effective organisation
that can be assigned specific responsibilities.
iii) Activities of the Youth Club include - adult education, social
service, sports and cultural activities. Kanwar Rajinder bingh, Incharge
Nehru Yuva Kendra, has trained three young men to carry out adult
education. He has provided -the necessary books, stationery etc. and
each young educator gets an honorarium of Es.6O/=. The Nehru Yuvak
Kendra has also sanctioned some sports equipment for the sports club.
A leadership training programme is in the offing. I have no
doubt that it is the youth of this village who will transcend the
divisive influence of caste and creed and who will spearhead the
modernisation of our village-using "modernisation" in the sense of
Gunnar Myrdal(Asian Drama).
VIII
ON THE ANVIL
In this section arc discussed some of the programmes that may.
be taken up in the near future. But before we can talk of future projects
we must take a good look at ihc present prospects.
What is the Score ?
We have worked hard and we have looked around .How to assess
our present condition, our assets and liabilities, What is the Score ?
Our Assets.
We have established rapport with all sections; and the people
are prepared to contribute their share to the development effort, both
as money and as Shramdan.
10/-
10
We have created a nucleus of dedicated workers.
GRAVIS has been duly registered.
A trained young dedicated husband-wife team has joined us. They
will stay in 1he village and work whole time for GRAVIS.
A large number of agencies and persons have offered us financial
and technical assistance.
We are an interdisciplinary organisation-with most relevant
disciplines represented.
A. P.H.C. and a veterinary dispensary are already located at Daula.
Our Liabilities;
We have not been able to establish close contacts with the local
Block and District offices, particularly with the Block Development staff.
(This was mostly due to lack of time and must be soon rectified).
The dominant Rajput community of Daula is both orthodox and faction
ridden. Therefore fie local Panchayat is practically defunct. An effectivi
Panchayat with several special sub-committees, can be a great asset.
The local P.H.C. and Veterinary dispensary are in very poor shape.
Appropriate District officials will have to be contacted.
There is no tradition of cooperative work.
Daula has one country liquor shop and drinking is rampant.
We have to make the best of what we have, and try to reduce the
liabilities. New projects must be forged and put into operation by the
next year.
Evaluation.
All these individual programmes should have some sort of built-in
evaluation. This is only possible if the objectives are clearly defined,
and routine monitoring is an integral component of the project.
Below are described some short-term or long-term programmes that
can bo taken up next year;
1. BalwadisCor creches or undcr-6 clinics)
Already some beginnings have been made. Each Balwadi wi 11 have
25-30 two to six year old children left there by their mothers in the
morning and collected after 4-6 hours. These children will be looked
after by a specially trained local educated girl or matron.
These Balwadis will provide healthy and congenial environment,
where children, irrespective of their caste of economic status,would
be brought together and looked after.
The activities of Balwadis will includePlay
Non-formal education
Cleanliness of person and cf surroundings
Supplementary feeding by cheap local food
Growth rccord(including height and weightJ
I mmuni sa ti on s
Periodic health check-ups
Treatment of minor ailments
Referral facilities if child looks seriously sick
Education of mothers in child feeding and rearing,etc.
....11/-
11
2. Education.
Education is basic- basic to any process of social change.
Perhaps it would not be incorrect to say that the primary role of
GRAVIS is educational.
The educational standard of Daula can be raised by ensuring
better attendance at schools and by organisation of functional literacy
classes for adults. Nehru Yuva Kendra is already helping with literacy
programmes.
Special educational courses will have to be designed to train
Daula youth to take up specific responsibilities, such as running
Balwadis, man aging rural industries, teaching sewing and handicrafts to
Mahilla Mandals etc. Furthermore, refresher courses, advanced courses
and in-service training must be organised to achieve hi^h standards of •
performance.
5• Small scale Rural Industry.
It is essential to provide regular employment to the poorer
sections- the Harijans and the landless. Establishment of a rural
industry, or even a centre of rural industries, will be undertaken in
consultation with Khadi and Village Industries Commission. We are already
in contact with the Commission.
Spinning and weaving industry should be easy to promote as there
are already skilled weavers in the community. Their economic condition
is very unsatisfactory(some play brass bands on marriages for a little
extra money).
There are also a large number of cobblers in that village. A few ’
are skilled- Others will require training. A tannery, or some other
variety of leather industry may be started as cattle skins are
available locally.
Khadi and Village Industries Commission pan help us with
training, financing and marketing. The Commission has agreed to start
working at Daula because of GRAVIS. Because such a registered and
permanent agency can secure their investment, and make it generally
easy for the Commission to operate in that area.
Medical Consultation.
As an extra service, A.I.I.M.S. specialists can visit Daula
according to a mutually convenient schedule about which the villagers
are kept informed. Suitable cases may be referred to the A.I.I.M.S.
Hospital,Nev/ Delhi. They may even be taken there in the same transport,
used by 1iie specialist. Such a programme is a great help in establishing
rapport, creating goodwill and securing cooperation of the village
people-especially the weaker sections of rural society.
. A Medicine Chest is already being maintained for emergency and
other purposes. Medicines are provided free to most people.
4.
Agriculture.
As non-availability of good seeds is a recurring problem
it may be possible to secure good seeds for Daula on a "once-only" basis
and then asking some farmer to multiply the seeds for all those who want
them.
The local school has a Department of Agriculture, and a lot
of agricultural land for training and demonstration purposes. At the
5.
12/-
- 12 moment this facility is doing little for the village agriculture.
A lot can be done with a little interest and imagination. Seeds can be
multiplied, different agricultural practices can be experimented with
and demonstrations can be arranged, relevant to local conditions and
practices. Newer techniques can also be first tried and demonstrated
on this land.
Animal Husbandry.
There is a Veterinary Dispensary in Daula that is usually closed.
It can provide better services if the District authorities are
approached.
Artificial insemination of milch cows is another service that
may be provided.
7. Sanitation.
Our villagers are accustomed to a very low level of environmental
sanitation even when the houses themselves are kept, spotless. All 1116
usual problems seen in other villages are seen in an exaggerated
form in Daula. Drains are absent or blocked, with streets full of muck
or worse. There are a large number of ponds, doubling as cess-pools.
Refuse accumulates everywhere. Drinking water comes from open wells.
There are no latrines,biogas plants or smokeless "chulahs". A really
imaginative approach to the whole problem is required.
One of the major problems of rural sanitation is the low
priority accorded to it by our people. Therefore we must start with
a good Health education programme. School children respond
enthusiastically to good programmes of health education and often
carry the message home to their un-educated parents. Every man should be
told how disease spreads and how to check it. Sametimes environmental
sanitation programmes can hitch a ride on the back of other primarily
developmental projects- such as utilizing deep tube wells to obtain
safe drinking water.
A comprehensive drainage plan must be prepared after a detailed
contour map ofthe village becomes available- as the Roorkee University
hag promised. Only after the construction of proper drains(and the
accompanying paving of village streets) can we consider the installation
of a piped water supply system from an overhead reservoir.
A gobar. gas plant can be easily installed. Popularization of asuitable,clean, odourless latrine of hand-flushing variety, is-a'tall
order. But at least a beginning can be mad.c for demonstration purposes,
by constructing a few such latrines in the homos of the wealthy
farmers. Furthermore, a latrine programme can be easily subsidised.
Provision of free latrines is against the general policy of GRAVIS.
6.
CRYSTAL GAZING.
It is difficult to say anything meaningful about the long-term
future of such a proj oct.
It is only appropriate that the experience and skills of people
who have worked at Daula should find wider application. At the same
time the question of replicability snould always be kept in mind. As
far as possible, one should use normal channels and usual procedures
for rural development, without at the same time losing sight of cost
or efficiency.
- 13 -
Expansion can take two forms. We can expand laterally from
Daula, involving adjoining villages by and by. This is easy
as the adjoining areas already familiar with our performance and
our approach. Or we can start new foci of activity in
relatively distant places. Such a step would require greater
preparation and adaptation. However, it may prove more challengirg
and interesting - thus evoking greater enthusiasm and innovative
participation of younger workers. Perhaps both approaches can be
tried.
- DR. J.S. GILL
:0=
■THE VILLAGE HEALTH SERVICE' AN EXPERIMENT IN
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE AS PART OF THE COMPREHENSIVE
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT FOR THE TRIBALS
by
Dr. Ragini From,
Agrindus Health Project, Banbasi Sewa Ashram,
Govindpur, District Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh.
'Village Health Service' an experiment in primary health
care is worked out as a component activity of the comprehensive
development programme conducted by Banwasi Seva Ashram in the
backward tribal area of Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh. The
project covers four community development blocks an area of
1500 sq. miles. The Village Health Service has four links:
i] Swasthya Mitra (Health guide) - a voluntary village worker
in each village; ii] 'Village doctor'- a person trained in
health, family planning and treatment of common ailments and
supported by 'Gram Kosh' (Village fund) for a group of villagers;
iii] a small hospital with doctors, services for a group of 80100 villagers and iv] a hospital with the services of a physi
cian, a surgeon and obstetrician and facilities for investigation
for a group of 300-400 villages.
The experiment started 12 years ago with the establishment
of a centre of the third link. The centre took the responsibility
of mobilising people infevour of the scheme, educating them in
health and family planning and training personnel for the health
service. Health, family planning and medical care form an inte
gral part of the health service. In the project area now there
are about 50 Swasthya Mitras and 9 centres of village doctors.
Very recently, an evaluation of the comprehensive development
project (including health service) has been completed by the
Agricultural Finance Corporation of India. The findings indicate
that people have become aware of the health problems, are in
favour of the idea of the Swasthya Mitra and the village doctor
and are willing to create a village health fund.
-<O„
"^Ooj
°a<*
Introducing:
Gram Vikas Sanstha - GRAVIS (Daula)
Dr. J. 'S. GILL
RAVIS is an innovative experiment in inte and women for their future roles in rural deve
grated rural development through voluntary lopment.
social action. We envisage a model of rural deve
lopment that compels, on the one hand, develop Aims and Objectives
ment from within through the effective use of
GRAVIS was formed with the aim of helping
local leadership and local resources, and that is the people of Daula achieve integrated develop
moulded, on the other hand, from without ment, with the people below poverty line receiv
through the collaborative efforts of an inter-dis ing special attention. Creating fresh opportuni
ciplinary team—a team which alone can do jus ties for the employment of the unemployed and
tice to the total spectrum of social reality. To under-employed will become our increasing con
abstract only one component of this reality is to cern.
do violence to the whole structure.
We have followed pragmatic considerations and
The primary focus of all our development and tried to steer a middle course between what
should
be and what can be.
other activities must be the underprivileged, the
G
unemployed, the under-employed, the indigent,
We attach great importance to our youth pro
the sick and the vulnerable. Even if we have to grammes and have organised youth groups such
make a beginning with the educated and better- as Mahila Mandals and Youth Clubs. Due to the
off sections of the rural society, we have to keep collaboration of A.I.LM.S. we could start health
in mind "The last man”. He is often diffident services and health education from the very be
and ignorant, shrinking from contact with the un ginning. These activities will be strengthened.
familiar outside world. Under such conditions
provision of medical treatment at the doorstep
Our next step will be establishment of small
can be a great asset in disarming suspicion and scale rural industry, such as weaving or leather
establishing rapport. (It is a physician who is work. A nucleus for these industries is already
saying this from personal experience.)
present and employment can be generated with
out much training. Some educational activities
Apart from self-help, we attach great impor have also been started for adults and for non
tance to youth power and its effective channeliza school going children.
tion through constructive outlets. We believe
that the educated young men and women of our
Balwadis (or day-creches) for the under-privi
villages have the potential strength to spearhead leged children, with nutrition supplementation,
the silent social revolution that most of us wish immunisations and health check-ups must be
to see and catalyse. They can produce the lead given top priority.
ers of tomorrow and can prove the most power
ful engine of social change. Therefore we have.
Agriculture and animal husbandry constitute
given top priority to the mobilisation and organi the very foundation of rural society. However,
sation of village youth and to the identification and our farmers are relatively better off. The small
training of youth leaders. This will be supple farmer may require help first.
mented by appropriate practical experience and
in-service training so as to equip the young men
An unequivocal ranking of priorities is not
27
December 1977
common^
.d
' -9
No. 1901
Health
UP
Community Health Project, Lalitpur,
1.
Started in March 1976
2.
Coverage
3.
Activities
4.
Jhansi Dist.
1 village.
a.
A weekly consultation clinic inc. health talk
and demonstration,
MCH and other referrals by VHWs at
village.
b.
VHW will concentrate on MCH prevention and
deliveries.
c.
Village Health Committee decides on village
health.
d.
Supply of medicines at cost price
Training
Personnel
Doctor
1 i
Midwife/lab.techni1 J
cian
J
Paramedical worker
1_J
VHWs (F)
2
VHW (M)
1
„ ,
,
, ,
Volunteers when needed...
Hospital based
Weekly at village over 40
weeks plus training through
the weekly clinic (Communij,ased)
5.
Supervision & Records.
Supervision is at weekly
clinic by headoffice staff (Delhi) periodically.
Medicine rates given to village panchayat to check
rates charged by VHW.
6.
Community & other participation. Choice of village
is dependent on cooperation of panchayats; agree
ment to pay VHW’s salary at rates hospitals are
party to; establishment of village health committee;
building availability for clinic; villagers pay for
our medicine.
Government DM0 is consulted in choice
of village s that.
are to be taken in-the twilight
area of the PHC/SCs
7.
Sponsorship/funds.
Harriet Benson Memorial Hospital
(under the Emmanuel Hospital Assn, of India, Delhi).
Anticipate funding from agencies abroad for 3-5 years.
Community contributions as above.
Government contri
butions for vaccines/iron folic acid and vitamin A;
SomehEP_ teaching '.materials are dependent on govt.
stock position.
,
COMMUNITV HEALTH CELL
47/1,(First Floor) 3-.. MarksKoad
BANGMC d EuOOi.l
/ . . .
2
No.
1704
5.
Supervision/Records .
Personnel b, g, h,
supervise relevant activities/personnel.
6.
Community & Other Participation . The VHW is recom
mended by the villagers.
Medicines are supplied
at cost price and revolving fund is thus created.
7,
Sponsorship/Funds . Department of Social Welfare, Tamil Nadu
and partially under 46 village scheme, the Associated
Country Women of the World/Royal Commonwealth Society
for the Blind, I?pndon
8.
Evaluation.
Analysis is made on pre and post statuses,
reduction in higher grade malnutrition, xerophthalma,
common illness prevalance was noted.
Long term effects
have been studied.. Retention of improved grades was
high.
9.
Problems.
r
routinely
a.
lack of availability of fresh vegetables;
b.
fear of children being made sterile by eating
.what was thought.to be some mixtures in the
.supplementary nutrition; •
c'.
one block has poor communications';’'
d.
lack of purchasing power, especially due to
the drought leading to inability to use even the
cheap diets advised;
e.
low wages leading to large turnover;
f.
paucity of funds for needed drugs;
g.
inadequate staff.for follow-up.
10.
Outlook.
To have under fives register in all villages;
complete birth registration; recording of health/
nutritional statuses to identify 'at risk' children,
supervisors to modify plans to get better and lasting
results.
'
■
Hi
Contactss Dr A. Venkataswainy; Dr K.A. Krishnamurthy
(Prof, of Paediatrics)
12.
References;
G. Venkataswainy "Child Care Centres in
100 and 46 villages"> paper/presented St the National
Symposium on "AJLterriative Approaches in Health Care
Delivery Systems".
No.
2^01
Health
Delhi
Community Health Dept. Holy Family Hospital, Okhla
2.
Coverage:
3.
Activities - MCH; Nutrition
4.
Personnel & Training:
reduce costs).
9.
Problems.
In 1975, villagers were shifted for
resettlement, making unemployment a problem as well
as health.
20,000
Recently training VHWs
11.
Contacts Sr. Anne de Souza
12.
Reference; VHAI
Note;
No information available on items 1,
10.
5,
6,
7,
(to
8,
and
CONIWW"- •
*
4//^
n/.a.-lu Aoaa
11 o-u03£ -t>o°
3AM
H sa sju a c j -a w x ia
Vigyan Shil^sha Kendra
ATARRA
BANDA
UTTAR PRADESH
INDIA
MEMBERSHIP OF THE VIGYAN SHIKSHA KENDRA:
ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP: Open to anybody who is interested in VSK’s activities in the field of science
popularisation, education and rural development.An active member has to contribute Rs. 500.00 at a
time, or R«. 25.00 annually, and has to help VSK in planning and carrying out its work.
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP: Open to school teachers or students who are interested in the objectives
of VSK. A general meiriber haS to contribute Rs. 10.00 annually. For students a 50% reduction is given.
For further details please contact: Dr. Bhartendu Prakash,
Convener,
Vigyan Shiksha Kendra,
Atarra,
Banda District,
Uttar Pradesh.
Pin: 210201
INDIA
> i GYAN SHIKSHA KENDRA
An Introduction:
The Vigyan Shiksha Kendra (Science Education Centre), is a registered voluntary organisation
*
and was set up in 1973 by a group of young scientists wanting to undertake an experiment in integrated
rural development through education and the popular application of science and technology. The group
felt it was important to work with the direct participation of the village community, interacting with
scientists, technologists, educationists, and social workers. The work was taken up in the district of one of
the group members, with the help of the local educated youth.
The Vigyan Shiksha Kendra (VSK) is in BANDA, a sc uth eastern district ofUttar Pradesh in the
backward Bundeikhand region. VSK maintains an office in Atarra, a centrally located town of the
district. The development work has been taken up in two village clusters; the village centres being at Aau
(5 km ncrth of Atarra) and Terahi-Mauft (25 km north-east of Banda), together these centres serve a total
of 15 village units.
The objectives of VSK are as follows:
(1) To popularise science in rural areas and to develop science education in general to make
it more relevant to village life;
impart industrial training to the rural youth, and to help them in setting up their own
industries suited to local resources and needs, eventually enabling them to become
self-reliant,
To
(2)
(3)
To organise extension service in education, health, and agriculture to aid the social and
economic uplift of the community.
_________________________
*Registered under the Societies.Registration Act 21, 18G0.
Registration number: 1482/73-74
THE PROBLEM:
' '
0
VSK worked for three years on various projects designed to meet the felt needs of the area. During this time many
problems arose which were dealt with individually. It was felt that it was important to undertake a comprehensive survey
of the area, so that a more clear picture of the problems and potentials could be obtained, thus allowing a.comprehensive
strategy for development to be formulated.
The survey was carried out during 1976-77, in the 15 villages of the two village clusters surrounding Aau and
Terahi-Maufi. It revealed some of the root causes of poverty, which is the major problem for the.lower and middle strata
of the rural population. These causes appear to be:
(1) The majority of the population consists of the landless, and the small and marginal farmers. The means
of produr tion as well as a disproportionately large share of the village land is in the hands of a few
farmers; and the landless have to depend on them for their livelihood;
(2) Agriculture, is the-only source of production and occupation, and there is a lack of any other sizeable
source of employment for the villagers;
(3) There is exploitation (both conscious and unconscious) of the majority of the village community by a few
in and outside the village through:
(a) Money lending at ve:y high rates of interest;
(b) low wages to the labourers;
(c) very low prices Tor the agricultural produce;
(d) complicated judicial procedure, causing a delay injustice , and that tro at l.iph ccst:
(e) delay and injustice in land-reforms and .land re-allocations, and firfalls
(f) control of the marketing and processing centres by non-producers, particularly from the upper
strata of society.
The survey also revealed very clearly that so far, development inputs like the facilities created at the Community
Development Block level or the credit given by the nationalised banks have almost totally been consumed bv the rich and
influential farmers, the middle men of the Government and the various private agencies. The poor have continued to gtuw
poorer.
It is clear that land is the most in jrtant factor contributing to power in the villa. ) The situation is, that even if
land-re<brms and re-allocation measures were effectively implemented, there is hardly any chance for all the landless
families to secure an economically viable piece of land individually. Thus, though there is a need for land-reforms it is
essential to work for structural changes in the society to allow for the cooperative management of the land. The basic
problems of the landless peasantry have to be solved; the condition of the agricultural labourers need to be improved, and
alternative sources of employment have to be created for the underemployed and unemployed. For this, the problem groups
i. e. the landless and the marginal farmers have to be strengthened on an organisational level to struggle for an improvement
in their socio-economic situation and play a self decisive role on the socio-political front.
STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT:
Before the survey was carried out the strategy for development of the area was less clearly defined, and the projects
taken up in the two village clusters were as follows:
SFCONDARY SCHOOL: This was started to develop and transform the science curriculum and the teaching
(l)
precess in general, prior to it this had been carried out in various separate schools in Banda district. It- was
decided that this was expensive in time and resources, so a school was se’t'up in 'the Aau centre. It admits post
primary students from the six villages around Aau for their secondary education. The discovery approach
(learning by doing) has been introduced, and the students are given a vdcationally oriented training, inculcat
ing in them a sense of discipline, love towards their society and a respect for labour. The school has served
as an important link between VSK and the village communities; and is being developed as a High School
which is to be handed ovtr to the people of the area soon.
AGRO-TNDUSTRIAL TRAINING: This project was aimed to train village youth in agriculture, dairying
(2)
and various village industries suited to the locality. A number of seasonal training camps have been held in
previous years for the benefit of the farmers of the associated villages. The programmes under this project are:
ASHMOH CEMENT PILOT PLANT- A small scale industrial pilot plant was set up in Aau in 1976 to manufacture
cement from the ash of the rice husk, and other readily available materials such as lime (it is called Ashmoh
cement) by a process developed by Prof. P.C. Kapur of the Indian Institute of Technology (HT) Kanpur.
This programme is being carried out in close collaboration with thcTIT. Ashmoh is an all purpose cement,
and has great potential as a rural industry, providing a valuable material for cheap housing, manufacture
of well-rings, irrigation channels and bricks etc. Together these are bound to generate extra employment
potential for the village youth,
DEMONSTRATION MIMING AND BIO-GAS PLANT- Several dr monstr a n plots at Terahi-Maufi and Aau were
managed by VSK for the farmers of the respective area; this has helped us in successfully transmitting the
importance of high yielding variety seeds, proper irrigation and optimum use of fertilisers etc. A 150 eft.
Biogas plant set up at our Aau centre has attracted hundreds of local farmers and their families. They are
now in.apposition to accept Bio-gas as an alternative domestic fuel.
MAHILA-SADAN PROJECT: Tiiis was started mainly to train village women and girls in tailoring, knitting,
(3)
and simple toy-making. At the same time, subjects such as child care, nutrition, health and hygiene etc.
are taken up, especially with the adult women who participate in the project.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY OF THE 15 VILLAGES: As outlined above this survey was carried out in
the 15 village units of the two village clusters surrounding Aau and Terahi-Maufi. This was done by
interviewing over 80% of the total house-holds of the area in a number of visits throughout the year, meeting
and discussing the village situation with village people and the local youth.
(4)
Since the completion of the survey there has been a change in the working of VSK. The group, wich started with
an institutional approach to education as well as village-development through the provision of necessary services and
general reforms etc., has now changed its concept, of rural-development to one where youth organisations work as catalvtic
groups, thus enabling rural-development through the peoples' own efforts rather than through externa’ly acting forces. This
conceptual change has occured due to closer contact with the local communities through field work, education and the
survey on one hand: and contact with other action groups, development workers and agencies cn the other.
Thus from 1977 onwards VSK has devised its strategy for development on flexible lines, and has concentrated its
efforts into the following programmes:
(A) Agro-Industrial training to the youth of the communities of landless and the small farmers enabling them
to become self-dependent and capable of organising their community around a necessary service or
village industry.
(B) Development of local action groups of village youth to extend to the people services relating to:(i) agriculture,
(ii) marketing, (iii) health, and fiv) education; and to strengthen the‘receiving mechanism' for using the
facilities provided by the local Government agencies and the banks.
A non-formal education programme to: (a) introduce adults to improved techniques and'methods of their
occupation and to inspire them to partake in cooperative action and (b) educate out of school village
children generally, and their mothers in simple health, hygeine and nutrition matters. This programme has
already been started for the children cf Aau village.
(D) Encouraging scientists and technologists, the educated youth from nearby colleges and universities and
the Government authorities to become involved in the process of development.
(E) Development and transfer of suitable technology to the villages.
Towards tbe end of 1977, a handloom training and production unit was started in the Terahi-Maufi centre. This
unit is training the poor and landless youth of Terahi-Maufi and its surrounding villages with an experienced trainer
(a .member of the VSK staff) and is producing both cotton and tere-cot fabrics. The handloom industry, not being capital
intensive has enormous potential in the villages with which VSK is associated, provided it can gain independence from
the large cotton mills for the yarn etc. it requires.
Attaining course on Ashmoh - Technology was held in March 1978 with the cooperation of 1.1.T. Kanpur and
Allahabad Polytecl nic. It was participated by 15 entrepreneurs from all over the country.
RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO THE VIGYAN SHIKSHA KENDRA:
Human:
[1] The core group of VSK consists of the educated and uneducated youth committed to its objectives and
approach to wo-k; a few of these are full time staff of VSK.
[?] The support group consists of scientists and educationists from the universities and IIT’s and other socially
conscious individuals and groups. The support group helps VSK in planning its programmes and
meeting its requirements.
[3] The work in the villages is through the educated and uneducated youth belonging to the problem groups,
i.e. the landless and the small and marginal farmers. These are termed the local action groups.
Financial:
The VSK has so far been functioning on the finances generated through active memberships, donations,
assistance fiom the ITT Kanpur, loans and project grants from NCERT and OXFAM. However, a great
attempt has been made towards making VSK self supporting through small industries like the Ashmoh
cement,and the handloom units,and through agricultural production and charges for essential services
provided. We need capital assistance in the form of certain project grants or donations for a limited
period during which we will work towards our financial self-sufficiency.
--
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GREENING THE
By navisharma
being understood. The first ques
tion that comes up Is the choice
of the species to be planted. Here,
cause it is we who have to walk repeatedly.
all groups find an
miles every day to collect them.” open
in the Interests of
The success of afforestation womendivision
and men, sometimes ex
programmes, these agencies find, pressed mildly
and at times boldly,
lies in the extent to which the depending on the
attitudes of the
community can be involved. And local women. The men
in Chamoli
this itself depends on how much
keen on apple trees. In Jodh
rural development workers can were
pur.
they
demanded
ber’
appreciate the interests of the saplings. The women, ‘grafted
however,
in
community, as a whole, and of both these places have to walk
women in particular.
kilometres 2-3 times a week
The Dasholi Gram Swarajya 4-6
collect fuelwood and fodder and
Mandal, which pioneered the fam to
were interested in fuel and fodder
ous Chipko (Hug the trees) Move species. The Forest Department in
ment against deforestation, has Hoshangabad and Chamoli was
'Pills’ firewood crisis is really a been organising community fo found to have stocks of saplings
programmes since 1976 in useful either for commeicial tim
feminist issue.
Voluntary restry
landslide-affected mountain ber or for the men. It was only
agencies Involved in afforestation the
regions of the Garhwal Himalayas. in Jodhpur that the Desert Affore
efforts In India are learning that The
Delhi-based environment station Directorate was able to
it is women and not men who are cell New
of the Gandhi Peace Foun supply species useful for fuelwood
interested in fuel and fodder dation
organised two ecodevelop and fodder purposes. The Dasholi
trees. The firewood crisis hardly ment camps
for the first time in
bothers men.
Swarajya Mandal has had
1981 — one in the desert region of Gram
nurseries for its
Ecodevelopment camps organi Jodhpur and another in the water to establish two
which have helped
sed by these groups this year to logged areas of Hoshangabad Dis requirements,
to plant more than a million trees
involve villagers in local affore trict in Central India.
in the last 5-6 years.
station programmes revealed that
The average survival rate of
when villagers were asked ‘what
OPEN DIVISION
trees planted by' the Forest De
trees should we plant?’ the men
is about 15-30 per cent
invariably replied ‘fruit trees.’ The
These camps were mainly at partment
in the hills and about 30-50 per
women complained: the men want tended by the local villagers. But cent
the plains. 'lire tree plan
fruit trees because they want to interested scientists, environmen tationin camps
by the
sell the fruits In the marketplace talists, local officials, college stu Dasholi Gram organised
Mandal
and buy liquor and tobacco from dents and opinion leaders were have resulted in anSwaraj
astonishing 90
proceeds. “What will we also invited to attend.
cent survival rate.
they asked, and then repIt is through these camps that perThe
high rate of survival of
themselves: “Nothing.
We difficulties in providing a green
is because of the sense of
want fuel and fodder trees be cover on fallow or waste land are trees
Involvement amongst the villa
gers generated by the ecodevelop
ment camps. While planting and
rearing trees they know these are
for their own use and will also
conserve
the soil which would
improve the fertility of their
fields. The farmers in Chamoli
built stone walls to safeguard the
saplings from animals, while in
Hoshangabad and Jodhpur Dist
ricts the villagers built tree guards
made of stone or dry ‘ber’ bran
ches.
In the mountains, the partici
pants in the camps formed a line
from the stream in the valley to
the top of the slope and passed
on the water bucket to irrigate
the saplings.
In Jodhpur, the
water was
jointly supplied by
schoolchildren and the local Sta
tion Master. The women took the
responsibility’ of supplying manure
for the pits dug to plant the sap
lings.
“To involve the people, the most
important thing is to approach
them with an open mind,” says
Mr. Chandi Prasad Bhatt, the
pioneer of these . ecodevelopment
camps. The priority for action has
to-be decided by the villagers. In
Rajasthan, their priority was
water, not trees. So the Sucheta
Kripalani Shiksha Niketan, the
local organisation with which the
Gandhi Peace Foundation was
working, helped in getting water
from the pipeline going to the
Jodhpur city. The villagers deve
loped confidence in the volunteers
and this led to the ecodevelop
ment camp, again in which the
trees were of the villagers’ (partly
men’s and partly women’s) choice.
Firewood is a feminist issue.
When it comes to planting
trees, men mainly want fruit
tires, not fuel and fodder trees.
^■txntary groups in India inWrred in efforts aimed at orga
nising villagers for alforcstation programmes, are finding
that success depends on how
much they can take into ac
count villagers’ interest as a
whole, and women’s interest
In particular. The
forest
department fails because it is
not able to do cither
YIELDS DECLINE
In Hoshangabad, crop yields
have been falling because of
water-logging,
especially during
the monsoons. The local group
became a link between the Gov
ernment and the farmers by orga
nising a ‘Save the Soil campaign,
and the trees planted in the camj
were those which can reduce th
high groundwater level.
Another factor lespcmSfCuc'ft
the high survival rate of Hie lre<
is that all efforts are made
ensure follow-up in the care an
protection or the saplings afte
the camps. For instance, the plac<
where the trees are planted in oi
near the village is always done in
consultation with the villagers to
make it most convenient to them.
The newly formed Ecodevelop
ment Board of the Government
of India met for the first time
last month to discuss the green
ing of India. The board conclu
ded that people’s participation is .
to attahl this objec-l
tfve Cruclal
UP. -7
'AUGUST 30, 1981
3
.Express . -' agaaiia®
Tehri, a sleepy Himalayan town lying on the
banks of the fast-flowing Bhagirathi river, is cur
rently the focal point of a raging controversy over
rhe consequences of an awesome, 260-metre-tall
dam, being readied for irrigation and energy.
After a recent visit to the lush Bhagirathi valley,
DARRYL D’MONTE questions the wisdom of such
‘gigantomania’.
"HIHE best thing that could layas; it has a main road clut
X happen to Tehri is to be sub tered with a motley assortment of
merged, once the dam is built,” shops. Further away, homes as
exclaimed the smartly
dressed cend a hill, giving way to gov
outsider, as we stood on a small ernment offices, presided over by
promontory, overlooking the town the former maharaja’s palace.
on the banks of the fast-.flowing This has now been converted into
Bhagirathi. It was difficult, mo the headquarters for officials
mentarily, to disagree with him; working on the dam. and is be
the hillsides below the nondes sieged by scores of villagers from
cript town were strewn with re the vicinity, anxious to find out
fuse and pigs rooted around while how much compensation they will
receive, and where they will be
children squatted to defecate.
Like most Himalayan
towns shifted, when the dam will flood
situated on one of the tributaries their land.
•of the Ganges, Tehri is filthy—
Some residents of the town, led
unashamedly so. It lies 80 km by the frail, 65-year-old advocate,
north of Rishikesh, in a valley Virendra Dutt Saklani, have
surrounded by the Garhwal hills, formed the Tehri Bandh (Dam;
and is now the focal point of a Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti and
fierce controversy over the conse are fighting what appears to be a
quences of a high dam to be built/. losing battle to save the town from
being submerged and the people
two kilometres downstream.
The dam, to be formed with moved to a new site, on top of
rocks and rubble, will be 260 me one of the surrounding hills.
tres (830 feet) tall, making it
‘‘The work has not progressed
the fifth highest of its kind in too far,” Saklani assured me.
the world. The multi-purpose pro “The diversion tunnels can be
ject is designed to trap the flood used for hydel purposes.” He has
■waters of the Bhagirathi as well largely abandoned his lucrative
as a smaller tributary, the Bhi- legal practice and mounted a
langana—Tehri stands at their ’ fierce campaign to lobby everyone
confluence—and use them for he can—from Mrs. Gandhi down
irrigation and power.
—to stop the project. In the last
Work on the scheme began in few years, he has made it his
1978 and today, the site of the life’s mission to arm himself with
dam presents an awesome spec an impressive array of facts about
tacle. The steep mountains look virtually every aspect of the en
ravaged: dirt roads criss-cross the gineering of large dams, and their
brown slopes and the stillness is environmental hazards.
broken by the frequent blasts of
The greatest of these, accord
dynamite and, the steady rumble ing to him, is that Tehri lies in
of bulldozers, clawing their wav a seismic zone. “Due to the young
Into the bowels of the earth.
geological age of the Himalayas.
Two tunnels
are first being and (their complicated
tectonic
dug on either side of the Bhagi history," he says, “this belt of
rathi to divert the waters before mountains in the past has fre
rock will be dumped to halt the quently experienced earthquake
flow of the river. Already, the tremors, the epicentre of which
digging and tunnelling on the lay within a radius of 80. 160 and
slopes above have sent tonnes 320 km from the dam site.”
of soft earth cascading down,
The danger is compounded by
transforming the river Into, what the presence of what geologists
looks from a height, a turbulent, call faults—the presence of fis
muddy torrent.
sures in underground rock. As
Tehri remains a sleepy town the opponents of the dam never
and halting place for pilgrims tire of pointing out, the original
on their way to holy places in Tehri project report had warned
the higher reaches of 'the Hima that “the possibility of a Koyna-'
The lovingly tended
paddy fields, in the Bb.agirathi valley, soon to
he submerged under
water
like danger cannot be ruled out.”
which was deleted in the revised
report. What is certainly a worry
ing thought is that the pressure
of 3.2 billion tonnes of water
impounded in the reservoir can
trigger off an earthquake. This
reservoir will be 40 per cent big
ger than Koyna’s where an earth
quake on December 11, 1967 caus
ed great loss of life and properSaklani cites the case of an
other rock-fill dam, the Teton in
Idaho, U.S., which collapsed six
years ago. An international com
mission on large dams found that
out of 10,000 such structures, at
least 166 were total failures and
very many suffered serious acci
dents.
The project authorities do not
share such an alarmist
view.
M. K. Singal, the superintending
engineer, told me: “Even ’; the
Bhakra and Pong dams in . the
Himalayas are built in more ac
tive seismic zones than Tehri.”
High storage dams have also been
successfully erected in Mapgala
and Tarbela in Pakistan. Indeed,
the 3,54o million cubic metres of
water impounded in Tehri will
only be a third of Bhakra’s
capacity (although the ‘former
dam is 60 metres higher).
As is inevitable in any such
dispute, the National Committee
on Environmental Planning and
Co-ordination (NCEPC—now re
constituted as the NCEP) . was
called in to mediate. In its in
terim report In May, 1980, it ob
serves that “there is very minor
seismic activity at and near the
Tehri dam site and that cluster
ing of seismic events is near
Uttarkashi (about 40 km north)
No experience of Increase ‘in
seismicity in the other large dams
situated in the Himalayas ' has
been obtained.” Of 425 large
dams in the world, only 15 have
times more silt than the flat
gradient Sutlej above Bhakra."
Besides, as any visitor to the
stricken town can observe for
himself, the mountain slopes
above the river are of soft shale
and so heavily deforested that
landslides are everywhere.
In fact, the surrounding slopes
have been so ravaged—thanks to
their geological formation itself,
excessive blasting with dynamite
to build roads and senseless fell
ing of trees—that the debris can
block the flow of a river in the
area and cause flash floods. This
is precisely what happened when
Tampering with the natural flow
of the river will bring about fur
ther siltatlon, and thus reduce the
life of the reservoir. The NCEPC
itself recommends that studies
should be conducted in the catch
ment to find out what the siltaJ-ion levels are.
Surprisingly, the actual dis
placement of Tehri’s citizens does
not seem to raise much heat, ex
cept for members of the Sangarsh
Samiti like Mr. saklani, and the
secretary. Sardar Prem Singh.
There are around 1,200 families
in the town — about 7,000 people
— and perhaps ten times as many
in the 94 surrounding villages,
only 22 of which will be comple
tely submerged. As the project’s
Director of Rehabilitation, B. Paul,
explained to me in his office in
the former maharaja’s palace, this
is because the people have been
offered handsome compensation
and attractive facilities at the site
of the new Tehri town or on farm
land elsewhere- Those who own
gZ^TrXnfe
because of the high rate olfe
tion in rivers like the Bha.i“ hi
*,the.<?®n=a itself is said
the highest sedimentation S In
me%h^eBMXd^
Harnessing the turbulent waters of the Bhagirathi.
river
1
by power failures — as he talks the new town will come up a
of using the diversion tunnels to little above, overlooking the re
generate power and have smaller servoir. It was at once an impres
run-off-the-river hydel schemes sive and terrifying sight: only at
instead of the massive dam and the actual height of the dam did
reservoir. The project cost has I realise what a vast area would
from Rs- 180 crores when it be buried under tonnes ot water.
houses In the town will get an risen
planned in 1968 to Rs. 830 I also drove in the jeep for a full
ex-gratia payment ot up to Rs. was
— shortly after work on it two minutes into one of the tun
20,000, in addition, to compensa crores
in 1978. At present, con nels, anxiously watching the light
tion calculated by deducting de began
struction has only begun on the fade at the mouth as we burrow
preciation from present costs ot four
tunnels and it is unlikely that ed deeper into the mountainside.
construction. Landowners will be the project
will be completed by No one can escape feeling a sense
paid up to Rs. 12,000 per acre. 1990, by which
the costs ol awe when confronted with such
besides grants for crops and will have risen stilltime
a massive engineering feat; yet
further.
homes.
According
to Mr. Singal, the the fear persists that nature may
"Of course, a displacement psy engineer in charge.
“
Run
off sche not. be tamed so easily, that the
chology is bound to persist," admit mes aren’t an alternative
river may hit back in ways which
to
the
ted Mr. Paul. Both a medical prac
they are complementary. cannot be gauged today.
titioner and grocer I spoke to in dam:
of the river’s water
While one can easily get snow
the town weren't too attached to Three-quarters
is discharged during the three ed under by the claims and coun
Tehri, though they . expressed summer
so it is essential ter-claims over huge projects like
-»me apprehension about what to store months,
it for the remaining the Tehri dam, it is clear that
the future held lor their families.
season.
nobody has carefully studied their
Perhaps the biggest loss is ot
“In any such scheme, the per actual benefits. Given the atten
4.000 hectares of land in the Bha
girathi valley which villagers had sons who are beneficiaries live dant hazards, the possibility of
lovingly tended for generations. downstream-" Nearly 1.5 million the reservoir having a shorter
channelling river water for irriga hectares of land will be irrigated life-span and the enormous
tion- The emerald green of the as a result and the installed power human problems of displacement,
paddy fields in the valley contrasts capacity will be 1,000 MW (inci the original estimates of the Tehri
sharply with the bleached hill dentally, -with the biggest under scheme may prove wildly wrongAll over the world, scientists are
ground'generator in the world).
sides.
The working group of the questioning the wisdom of "gigan
The human problems caused by
the displacement .are by no means NCEPC did not come out against tomania" and wondering whether
eased by the blithe pronounce the Tehri dam but suggested smaller, more manageable sche
ment of officials like H. C. P. carrying out several further stu mes to harness water resources
Sinha, Town Planner for new dies and gathering fresh data. At will yield bigger returns in the
Tehri, who told me: "The height a seminar on the dam held by ultimate analysis.
of the new town, over 4,000 feet. the Himalaya Seva Sangh in
Although it is probably too late
will make it an ideal winter tour Delhi in March this year, speakers to call off the Tehri project, It '.s
ist resort, better than Mussoorle drew attention to the various en imperative for planners to learn
or Nainital.” He does add, though, gineering, geological and environ from its mistakes. A very similar
that ail buildings will not exceed mental factors which, raise doubts debate is now being raised about '
I three storeys, because ot the about its ton^-term benefits.
the BedtYil dam. In TJttari Kanar t.
k earthquake hazard...
questions haunted me as Karnataka, and the experience
1 Late one night in Tehri, Mr. I These
accompanied dam engineers In gleaned in the Garhwal hills
■ Saklani outlines what alternatives a jeep and reached an observation ought to demonstrate that belure
■ lie advocates in place ot the high post l.W teet high on the right embarking on schemes 01 »•” ,
■ dam. His voice quavers in the bank ot the 'Bhagirathi — Tehri magnitude, they Should be
■ candlelight — the town is plagued lies on the opposite bank while ned from every possibie^^gB
Site of the controversial Tehri Dam : “ . . . the pressure of 3.2 billion tonnes of water in the reservoir
can trigger off an earthquake”
nl
Damodar
S°ann^Io?.
gUTO valley
fee
S AP.
?r’
General ot the Geological1’?'0'
of India, has rented S'U'V'!’
Tehri: "The BhaglraUfl and
angana rivers drain th^ ®
”
slopes of the snow-covered S?ern
layas, where erosion is
narily active and the rive^?rdl:
silt for eight months in th Fing
The gradient of the river iJ year‘
and is capable of bringing
the Bhagirathi burst its banks
in 1918 at Uttarkashi, leaving a
desolate trail of destruction which
reached all the way down to
Tehri' the Alaknanda, another
enow-fed river, similarly flooded
"when"the Tehri dam is built,
it will create a ‘backwater’ ex
tending 44 km on the Bhagirathi.
As another geologist, Dr. c. Pra
sad observes, this will raise its
level bevond Uttarkashi and in
crease the chances of landslides.
The site of two major landslides at
the confluence .of.-the Kanauldia Gad
and the Bhagirathi which'ih-August
1978 completely destroyed over
1,000 hectares of forest and totally
wiped out the village of Gangnani.
Here, under six.’to erghT'metres;of
silt, debris, sfones and/.boulders'lies
buried an entire village,,dace a
famous halt on the pilgrim's route .
to GangotrV'
•'
5^?*^
7
<£
,
'
1952
1959
‘The primary object of the
management of forests lying in
the catchment areas of
important rivers should be to
utilise in full the protective
influence on soil, the water
regime, and the physical and
climatic factors of the locality.
Further, the interests to be so
safeguarded are to outweigh
all others which it may be
necessary to restrict.’
‘The Himalayan forests, for
instance, are the greatest
national assets and to them we
owe the richness of the
country. The denudation and
under-development of the
Himalayan slopes lead to a
greater intensity and
frequency of floods, recurrent
erosions, and to cause detritus
being deposited in the fertile
sub-montane tracts. The
process inflicts immeasurable
loss and misery on the
unsuspecting millions in the
Indo-Gangetic plain, and
brings about a progressive and
permanent impairment of soil
fertility, and cumulative
reduction in the agricultural
potential of the whole land.’
National Forest Policy of India. 1952
‘High mountain eco-systems
are unusually prone to
sudden, rapid, and
irreversible loss of soils if
slope stability and vegetation
cover are disturbed.’
and the
BiUNESCO
osphere.Programme
Final Report.onPariMans 1974
w®
‘The measurability of what has
happened up to now seems to
be totally irrelevant with
regard to what seems likely to
happen in the future if the
destruction of the Himalayan
environment continues to
accelerate.’
Dr Hans ChriThestoph
ger,and‘Flothe
odsGanges
and as
Droughts.
HimalRiaeyas
Government
1959 ofIndia Report on the Himalayas. an Ecological System'. Kathmandu 1976
Two Swedish journalists describe their
evaluate the bi
in a urvival offered.
Text by Ivo Iliste and
Birgitta Goranson
English Adaptation by James Evetts
Crisis tn the
WATER COMES TO BADIYARGAD
Bureaucratic Cross-connections Destroy a Settlement
adiyargad is well hidden at the
bottom of the valley, four hours bus
B
ride from Srinagar, Tehri-Garhwal. A rest
ful, quiet place ... on the surface.
Badiyargad ought to be proud, that’s what
the authorities keep saying. They ought to
be proud in Badiyargad because they've
got such a lot of good things going: a
pukka irrigation channel, a new school;
buses to Dehra Dun and Rishikesh start
here, a new road is being constructed to
link the village further with the interior.
And then there should have been a lot of
work available in the forest also, if only the
department and the contractors had been
allowed to go ahead with their plans.
Somehow, though, the villagers of
Badiyargad are not proud, nor particularly
grateful to the authorities involved. Rather
the other way around. The pukka irriga
tion channel seems to be one of the roots
of their resentment.
Roads vs. People
More or less at the same time, some
years ago, it was decided that the road was
to be continued on the other side of
Gayara village and further inland, and that
the village was to get an improved irriga
tion channel from the river bed to the cul
tivated fields. The Public Works Depart
ment said yes to the road and sent out en
gineers to have a first look. The Ministry of
Power and Irrigation said yes to the water
channel and sent out surveyors and en
gineers to have a first look. There was no
question as to where to construct the
channel — the villagers and Pl engineers
€
1977
'• . . whether it is profitable to
allow cutting for earning
revenue of about Rs25 crores
annually from the UP hill
forests against damage to the
tune of Rs250 crores from
floods caused by
deforestation.’
Uni
1977on Minister H. N. Bahuguna. November 2.
‘The Himalayan Range is the
resource-reservoir for the
people living on the entire
northern plain of India. If the
use of this resource-reservoir
is not planned, life on the
northern plain may be extinct
within the foreseeable future.’
OSO®
1979
‘There is a conspiracy of
silence between . . . the UP
Government itself . . . the UP
administration and the forest
contractors to continue this
criminal and traitorous loot of
precious natural resources,
and deprive future
generations of any hope of
survival on a sustainable level
of existence.’
‘Usually, uncontrolled
deforestation is a symptom of
a society’s inability to get a
grip on other fundamental
development problems:
agricultural stagnation,
grossly unequal land tenure,
rising unemployment, rapid
population growth, and the
incapacity to regulate private
enterprise to protect the
public interest.'
Sarala Devi
’sm'Dachal
estructimones.ofSeptember
Himalayan22,
Forests'
1978oonnsiinthenHiKotdwara
occasionTiand
of conti
nuedforest
aucti
Narendranagar.
tute, February
forWorlthed Watch
Future:InstiForestry
for Human1979:NeedPlanting
‘Forests are often evaluated by
economists in terms of their
ability to provide a dead
produce — wood.’
B.UniD.versiBhatt.
e Chancel
ty. SriVincagar.
1977lor ofGarhtval
Worlduratch Paper No 26, February 1979
recent visit to navi; nd Uttarkand and
. by the homegrown Chipko movement
HirndlQVQS
LJ
gSS
U
agreed. But the road was a different mat
ter. The villagers suggested the eastern
side of the valley where probable landslips
wouldn't affect as many fields and where
no village houses were in immediate
danger. The PWD engineers thought
otherwise. Mainly referring to the geologi
cal requirements for the building of aroad,
they decided to extend it on the western
side of the river, just above the main vil
lage and the fields.
About one thing though, everybody ag
reed (when talking about it): if the road
was to be constructed just above the
fields, then the work on the irrigation
channel must be postponed, or else it'd be
buried under the debris thrown down by
the road gang. Nods and yes’s.
Today, when you get off the bus at
Badiyargad. you’re met by a huge sign
board boasting about the new channel
\ 7
WWmWzm
Birgitta Goranson
that has been completed and that will The PI, it is said, had requested the PWD
bring even further prosperity and de to hurry up. Or to build somewhere else.
velopment to this small hill district valley. But it is, of course, difficult to coordinate
Ask any villager and they’ll readily show between departments, and each section
has its itinerary to follow. If you let one tiny
you the wonder.
village upset the whole plan (which is after
all done for the whole district, isn’t it?)
Rain of boulders
Only one season after its completion, then where will you end?
The channel was built, and the sign
the channel is today well buried under
masses of stone and rubble, just as was board put up. It provides statistics in sev
warned some years back. The whole river eral Annual Reports, adding so-and-so
bed, in fact, is being blocked by the PWD many feet to the irrigation system. And at
work up on the hill slope. The rain of least one more village in Tehri-Garhwal is
boulders is steady and makes walking on covered by the Goals of the Development
the paths between the village and the Plan.
The fact that the channel is completely
fields a gamble with life.
Oh yes, everybody agreed, when talk useless and has only accomplished a col
ing about it, that the road had to be con ossal waste of money and human re
structed first. Letters and memoranda sources, that is another matter. And one
have been written and exchanged. The that is not brought forward in any Annual
PWD. it is said, had requested PI to delay. Reports at all.
39
COMMENT
There is indeed need for develop
ment in the Himalayan region — and
there is also sometimes considerable
pressure for development — but the
eight hill districts of Uttarkhand in
Uttar Pradesh are perhaps the most
important single area in the whole of
India where the disastrous consequ
ences of ignoring the primary need for
defining development can be seen
and experienced. There are several
major and many minor reasons for
this situation. The need for develop
ment and the pressure for develop
ment obviously seldom originate with
the same people. Logically and tragi
cally enough of course, often quite
different things are understood by
‘development’.
Manipulating Statistics
Juggling around with statistical to
tals or isolated GNP (Gross National
Product) figures is today the most
fashionable national and interna
tional game for measuring inches and
seconds of development and prog
ress. With direct reference to the
Himalayas (and what they seem to
offer) this means, among other things,
mileage of motorable roads, power
output including the pylons for high
voltage electricity, mileage of irriga
tion channels, number of cubic
metres of timber ‘produced’, number
of channels for resin tapping. And on
the face of it, what on earth could be
wrong with more power, better and
easier access between people and
communities, more water for agricul
ture? Who can deny the need for all
this and more?
The serious trouble begins after we
start to exploit and manipulate the
basis for this real or imaginary de
velopment — natural resources. In
many cases, among official and unof-
ficial decision-makers, ‘development’
and ‘progress’ do not mean con
tinued cautious use, but careless and,
in practice, accelerated exploitation of
natural resources. As the collecting of
statistics, moreover, is in its turn
something of an insatiable game, we
start to have seemingly contradictory
information. For instance, advanced
international technology plays sud
den havoc with national pronounce
ments when satellite photos reveal
that instead of an official forest cover
age of close to 90% of the ground
area, in ecologically crucial districts, it
is in fact only about 13% (where it
should be a required minimum of
60%).
If you take up single concrete is
sues, such as the plan to construct one
of the largest dams in India (and the
world) in Tehri, where neither state
nor central authorities have yet ans
wered very elementary questions re
levant to the physical safety of mill
ions of people and the economy and
functioning of the whole project; or
such as the auctioning of particular
forest areas, and follow them up, yoq
soon start to see the underlying com
mon denominators: need, greed'and
prestige.
Need is the ‘obvious’ one. But
need can be manipulated as a conve
nient official pretext for very dubious
plans and activities. Development
and Progress work as a very powerful
argument Who dares to oppose
them when there can be no doubt
that India needs as much as she can
get?
This is also the crucial question
which traps so many people, among
them civil servants from the UP State
and the Central government forest
administration. Many are subordi
nated and have to obey the rules of
the game (and consider their careers).
Above A landslide tearing down the slope above the office of the District
Magistrate. Tehri.
Left The Badiyargad valley. Boulders and debris from landslides caused
by road construction have completely covered the new irrigation channel
and are threatening the cultivated fields.
It is all too easy to be branded as an
anti-development crank.
Vested Interests
The overall picture, however, be
comes much clearer when you look at
the economic mechanisms and inner
workings of this development. Most
current development projects must
be carried out by technical contrac
tors who in their turn obviously have
strong vested interests in the continu
ation of such activities, and can also
expect considerable pay-offs in the
form of contracts. This leaves the
door wide open for hidden pressures,
golden handshakes and large-scale
corruption with no regard for the pos
sible consequences to the vast major
ity of the people. Not to speak of
ecological considerations, which are
both disconcertingly new and at the
same time a conception that smacks
of primitivism.
This is, of course, not unique to
India, nor is it practised only in Uttarkhand, or only by forest contractors.
The same mechanism can be seen at
work in other professional fields and
geographic areas, whether it is power
or fertilizer plants, whether in Uttarkhand, Kerala or Maharashtra.
4
©
Above The disastrous results of new road construction at Raturi Sera about ten kilometres south
of Uttarkashi.
Right In June this year, just before World Environment Day, the women from around Tehri
marched through the town with empty water pots on their heads to symbolize the drying up of
springs and to demand a secure water supply to the villages.
‘SCIENTIFIC FELLING’ TAKES ITS TOLL
nr he hill slope is rather steep and
* stony, much like all the surrounding
slopes as far as we can judge. At this par
ticular spot the forest is dominated by pine
— tall, slim chir pine, growing sparsely.
Along the stoniest part of the slope a gang
of lumberjacks are shaping up logs into
squarish sleepers. It’s early Sunday morn
ing yet the supervisor keeps shouting at
the Nepalese labourers to keep going. ‘It’s
not a holiday, man; don’t just stand
around and sleep!’
The work here is undertaken by the
Forest Corporation — this is said to be the
way to avoid the evils of the forest contrac
tors, the way to secure public interest and
insight Strangely enough, it is the former
contractor in this area who is today emp
loyed by the Corporation as a Mate to do
the practical work.
We ask the Assistant Logging Officer
from the FC for information:
‘Oh yes, forest operations are under
taken by the Corporation, that is our busi
ness. Forest operations means cutting. It is
all scientific felling; mostly thinning here.
The felling was done in January, now
they’re only processing the sleepers. Ev
erything is going well now that the Corpo
ration is in charge — we do everything
ourselves and there are no private in
terests involved at all any longer. We do
absolutely everything ourselves. There
will be no forest contractors — we’ll hire
the labourers ourselves, do everything
ourselves. That’s why the Corporation
was started, wasn’t it?'
‘How do you manage? Any problems
doing everything yourselves?’
‘Not at all. We were lucky. This Mate
here, we hired him as our contractor. After
all, he’s been in the business, he knows
the labourers and how to get them. We
don’t. And since he was out of a job be
cause of this law 1 told you about, there
being no room for private contractors for
three years... So he accepted. No prob
lems.’
‘You have only been thinning the forest
here, you say?’
‘Yes. we cut because the trees are too
old or they have matured.’
‘How old is a pine when it’s mature?’
‘About 90 years. It takes 90 years to ma
ture.’
‘But these trees you’ve marked, and
these that are felled, they cannot be 90
years! They are too thin for that! Why
don’t we count the year-rings and check?
It’s not allowed to cut them too young,
you know, and not scientific either. ..’
‘Well, I mean, no, perhaps. But they are
mature enough to be utilised, that’s how I
mean. That’s why they’re cut. I mean, ac
cording to my training this is the correct
way to do it. We’re only thinning to get a
good forest — we’re only taking away
some of the mature trees to make room
for the young and strong ones. And no
thing grows here anyway. Only pine. It’s
too stony and rocky. Nothing else could
grow.’
‘You’re not planting anything to com
pensate for the felling?’
‘No. And that’s not my department
anyhow. Why plant? Nothing grows here,
you can see that for yourself, can’t you?’
We've kept walking. We turn around a
bend in the path. The slope facing us is a
copy of the earlier one. With one big ex
ception. Terraced fields are neatly clinging
on the slope, protected by bunds and
stone fences. All along the bunds broad
leaved trees lush into groves. The scene is
deep, shady green. Nothing else could
grow?
‘Why are forest operations equal to cut
ting? Apparently it is very possible to grow
broad-leaved trees here; trees that would
be beneficial both to the people and to the
eco-system.’
‘The Corporation is only involved in
cutting. But the Department works with
plantations. Lots of plantations are made.’
‘Where? Could we go and see?’
‘I know where they are planned, at
least.'
‘You haven’t got a counterpart or some
sort of planting division to keep in touch
with? Is there no coordination between
cutting and planting?’
‘I don’t know if there is any. I don’t
know of any. I do my jqb. I do it according
to my training. We all have to do our job,
don't we? What would happen if we
started to ask all these questions? This is
scientific felling and I’m doing my job.
Otherwise the forest wealth would be de
stroyed.’
We keep walking. Suddenly we come
upon a fresh landslip. Above it trees were
felled in January. Sundarlal Bahuguna
went on a fast on this very spot at the time,
warning that such felling must inevitably
lead to heavy erosion and landslips. We
stop to take a photo.
‘Why do you take all these photos of
bad things for the Corporation?’
‘Bad? Shouldn’t you be proud? We’re
documenting scientific felling, aren’t we?’
43
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COMMENT
When encountering such experiences
(the number of incidents could be
multiplied from our stay in Uttarkhand), you are forced to ask: Why
then is all this happening? Why are we
doing this? It shouldn’t be possible,
you would like to imagine, and that is
one of the most infuriating and (on
the surface) baffling aspects. This
should not be happening. Because
the knowledge is there, the informa
tion is available. When you do your
homework, visit some libraries, read
seminar and conference reports and
papers, study the files of newspapers,
you soon realize that it is neither pos
sible nor necessary to locate or write
anything ‘new’.
But when you travel on the small
mountain buses, often with a double
load of passengers, or trek to more
remote villages and sites, seeing far
below the big ash-coloured silt
beaches of the Alaknanda, almost en
ticing in the oven-heat inside the bus;
when you sip your scalding morning
tea on the banks of the Bhagirathi and
see how the water has cut through the
fields, snatching away whole plots
that are irretrievably lost, and slicing
off parts of others as if a razor had
dismembered them, leaving small
and large boulders half hanging in the
air, waiting for the next flood to settle
them more permanently in the river
bed; when you walk along the hill
paths and pass random heaps of
broken and smashed trees, killed by
bleeding them of too much resin, the
naked mountain slopes, robbed of
protective vegetation and topsoil;
when you talk to vilagers and see the
running noses, rags and bare feet of
their children, the women returning
under their burdens of fire-wood after
long hours of collecting, and the chil
dren patiently waiting for a vessel to
be filled from the erratic dripping of
water down a crack in the mountain
side; then you realize (helped by your'
own parched mouth and hurting feet,
the sweat pouring down your aching
back) that this suffering — of both
man and nature — is not measurable
solely in terms of past and present. It is
an ongoing process which threatens
to become much worse and involve
many more people.
And again you are forced to return
to the question: Why? Haven’t we
known, don’t we at least know now
that the Himalayas are ecologically a
very sensitive and vulnerable area?
That they are the youngest of the big
mountains and seismically still quite
unstable? That the mountainsides are
easily eroded and the rivers floodprone? That any action of man may
easily lead to irrevocable consequ
ences which will not only affect the
local people but directly affect much
greater numbers of people living
hundreds of miles out of sight of the
Himalayas?
Villagers Ignorant?
When you put such questions to of
ficials you are usually answered with a
shrug of the shoulders: ‘You must
realize that the villagers are still very
ignorant.’ This may be true, but you
wonder if it is really true for all villa
gers, and how much it reflects only
the conditioned attitude of the offi
cials. Some villagers are truly ignor
ant, but many are acutely aware of
the situation, and the particular chain
of cause and effect. Many are victims
of their present circumstances and
cannot afford to do otherwise than try
to fulfil the physical needs of them
selves and their cattle, even if it means
still more diminishing resources in the
long run (and it is very easy to impose
lofty and hypothetical demands on
other people from a distance!). But
some have taken up the conscious
struggle for their environment with
various risks for themselves.
Above The road between Tehri and Gansyali. The shoulders of the road are so loose that road gangs have
continuously to clear away debris from the almost permanent landslips white buses wait their turn on either
side of the bend.
45
hood of the villagers.
Some years ago the villagers started to
question what was going on. The village
teacher, involved in Sarvodaya and
Chipko Andolan, helped them find some
Organizing for True
of the answers. Why is there no longer
Development
water in the springs? Why are the fields
becoming barren? Why is the soil washed
ishan Devi, Pari Devi, Mimi and away? Why is the river silting up? Why are
Sabli all come from villages in Heval there so many landslides?
Ghati (the valley of Heval). Their villages
— Pipaleth and Rampur — cling to steep Careless Treatment of the Forests
Most of the answers led to a criticism of
hillslopes with small cultivated plots like a
terraced staircase between the low, brown the forest policy maintained by the Uttar
village houses and the green river far Pradesh Government through the Forest
below. The path leading up to Pipaleth is Department and the contractors, and also
like a warning of what is happening to the a criticism of the careless treatment of the
forest wealth of the Himalayas; the path forests by the villagers themselves.
Today they have mutually agreed to re
up to Rampur tells us how it has been.
strict themselves: less lopping of trees for
And how it still ought to be.
fodder, careful planting of fodder and fruit
trees along fields and slopes — yes,
Catastrophic Imbalance
The 80 families in Pipaleth are com everywhere where it is possible to plant a
plaining about drying up springs; the seedling or a seed.
But they have also started to put de
slopes above the village are sparsely co
vered with thin pines; the view across the mands on the authorities and taken action
valley shows grey wounds where the against the contractors. Two years ago the
motor road has been built and where the men demonstrated against excessive
pylons have been erected; landslips are resin-tapping. They started a sit-in outside
very common these days. Commercial fel the office of the Forest Department. They
ling coupled with the villagers’ own need were thrown out. The women marched in
for forest products have led to a catas protest They were arrested.
trophic imbalance in ecology and
Non-violent Resistance
economy. When the forest that has pro
And many of the women from Pipaleth
tected and bound the thin layer of soil, re
tained the water, provided firewood, fod and Rampur have been arrested several
der, green manure, fruit and vegetables, times since then because they have made
when this forest is gone, then the balance it impossible for the contractors to fell, or to
of nature js destroyed. And so is the liveli- tap resin. Today it is not unusual that the
axmen are followed by police when they
THE EFFECTS OF
go about their work.
‘No, we’re not afraid of the police. Why
EROSION
should we worry about the police? We
The river Kosi in Bihar has moved 115
worry about our future!’
kms westwards within the last two cen
Mimi and Pari Devi are firm.
turies, leaving 15,000 square kms of
‘We can see the devastation all around
once fertile land buried under a mass
us. Nobody needs to explain to us that fel
of sand and pebbles and displacing 6.5
ling in this manner must be s*opped, and
million persons.
the tapping also. We understand that;
Water and wind erosion wash and
we’ve seen what is happening. Yes, we
blow away every year approximately
are members of Chipko and of course the
600 billion tonnes of the soil of India
Andolan is concerned about this. But
into the sea. The loss of that soil in nut
Chipko hasn’t just given us pat answers.
rition value of nitrogen, phosphate and
Chipko has helped us to get organized,
potash is equivalent to 500,000 tonnes
and has supported us so that we were able
of these fertilizers, and the money
to answer our own questions.’
value is over 700 million rupees, more
The contract for further felling in and
than the present total production of ar
around Pipaleth was stopped. The con
tificial fertilizer in India during two
frontation, regarding the resin-tapping is
years.
still stalemated: the boy cowherds sabot
age the tapping every day by taking away
National Seminar on ‘People
the tin strips and containers that are in
and Forests' in Delhi, De
serted in the tapping channels. Some
cember 1977 (Union Ministetimes they try to bandage the bleeding
H. N. Bahuguna)
trees. The contractors put back the strips
HEVALGHATI
B
and containers.
But there are always more
cowherds . . •
The path leading up to Rampur winds
through an area where broad-leaved trees
still predominate. They grow in lush
groves between the fields, beside mur
muring rivulets. Plantains and mango
trees grow alongside khadak, ghorial,
bhaheda and even pipal, its leaves clatter
ing in the wind. You can even find a few
mulberry trees left here in spite of the fact
that they are in heavy demand in the
plains as raw material for sports goods.
Small water tanks are found regularly
along the slope. The water is trickling, con
trolled, from one terrace of fields to the
next through elaborate earth channels.
On the other side of the valley the fields
of Pipaleth lie dry and barren, waiting for
the monsoon. Here in Rampur the forest
cover is sufficient to keep a steady water
table the year round, and today, at the be
ginning of June, the paddy has just been
transplanted.
‘Yes,’ agrees Sabli, ‘the fellings on our
side of the river haven’t been as intensive
as in other parts, especially not here
around Rampur. And today we keep a
close watch so that no forest at all will be
cut here. . .’
The women from these villages, and
from many others along Heval Ghati, are
active in the Chipko Movement. They
have regular meetings every second
week. They arrange and take part in forest
seminars, together with hill people from
other parts of the district. They take turns
in keeping an eye on each other and other
villagers so that new trees are planted, so
that the cattle are not taken for grazing on
the same pastures every day, so that lop
ping of fodder trees is not too heavy, so
that axmen, resin-collectors and contrac
tors do not cross into prohibited areas.
They demand immediate changes in the
official forest policy.
The voices of the women have become
loud and clear through their environmen
tal activities. Since the men have left for
the plains in search of work or are away on
construction jobs in other districts, every
thing that has to do with farming and keep
ing cattle has been taken care of by the
women and children. The women have
the experience and knowledge concern
ing the environment in which they live.
And they worry about exploitation. They
are willing to stake their own lives to
achieve a change.
Heval Ghati is not only clear felled
slopes, the wounds of landslides, dried-up
springs. Heval Ghati is also practical ex
perience, readiness to act and an alterna
tive for true development.
Above Erosion encouraged by the erection of a single pylon, can destroy a disproportionately large area of land.
Inset While hugging the trees the women chant: Himalaya wake up today I Drive the cruel axe away I
47
‘CHOP ME,
NOT THE
TREET
The People’s Answer
ver the past eight years a
remarkable environmental
consciousness has grown in the
Himalayan Districts of Uttar Pradesh. The
hill people are getting organized to put an
end to the indiscriminate felling offorests.
They have evolved an effective,
non-violent method of defending the
trees: when the axmen approach, the
villagers hug the trees, chanting ‘Chop
me, not the tree!’
O
Tree as symbol of life
This is the basis of Chipko Andolan, the
Tree-Hugging Movement: to protect the
trees and the environment. How has this
concern for the trees been brought about?
‘As long as man has existed, the forests
have provided food, shelter and
cattlefeed, ’ says Sundarlal Bahuguna,
one of the leaders of the Chipko
Movement. ‘This created respect for the
dependency of man on Nature. In many
societies you can find the tree as a symbol
of life. The old Indian culture flourished
under the trees. This care and balance was
destroyed by the so-called modem,
industrialized culture, in India represented
first by British rule. Under the British, our
forests were regarded as a source of trade
and profit. The traditional rights of the
villagers to make use of the forest were
taken away from them and the
government look over the commercial
exploitation of the forests, disregarding
both the needs of the local people and the
balance of nature. The village economy
was destroyed. Many men had to look for
jobs faraway from their native place. ’
Century-old revolt
‘But the villagers didn't always accept
the officialforest policy. In Uttarkhand this
century began with a mass rebellion
against the existing methods offorest
management. So in a way, Chipko
Andolan is only a continuation of a
century-old revolt. And the strength of the
movement depends-on the experience of
the people, especially the women: they
have lived through the developments in
the hills, they know what is happening. ’
Yes, the women are the force behind
the Andolan. They are experienced,
‘Every standing green
flwnnngj ©omfiffuf il© ©aw@
tree in the hills is a
the country,9Sundarlal Bahuguna
49
begun..
outspoken, confident. As a symbol of their
involvement, the women in Heval valley
last year tied their rakhis around trees
marked forfelling, thereby showing that
they regarded these trees as their brothers
and would defend them with their hues.
The axmen didn’t dare touch these trees.
The birth ofChipko
According to Sundarlal Bahuguna,
‘The seed of the Chipko Movement was
sown when the UP Government
auctioned ash trees in the Dasholi area to
an Allahabad-based sports manufacturer.
He was allowed to fell in the same forest
where the villagers had been prevented
from cutting on the grounds that it was not
advisable from the point of view of
scientific forestry. The people reacted
strongly. “The trees which we nurture are
not available to us but can be sold for the
luxury needs of the people in the plains.
What science is this?" They decided to
protect the trees by clinging to them.
That's how Chipko was born.'
especially after the UN Conference on
World Environment. Sundarlal Bahuguna
and the workers withinthe movement
have come into closer contact with
worldwide ecological problems. Says
Bahuguna, ‘Through friends and
information materials we got to know
much more about similar problems in
other parts of the world. We gained a
wider perspective on protection of the
environment. In 19731 made a
foot-march through Uttarkhand and I was
deeply shocked. After seeing for myself
the state of our hills —all the deep
wounds from valley to valley, from village
to village —I changed my point of view. I
came to realize that protection of the
environment must be the basis for all
economic planning and progress. Had I
not seen it for myself I wouldn’t have felt
so deeply. There must be a ban on the
felling of trees. Experts all over the world
stress that felling in catchment areas is
Closer contact with world
disastrous. In our so-called scientific
problems
Chipko has undergone a subtle change forestry only certain areas of the hills are
In the beginning Chipko was more or
less an economic movement. ‘We wanted
the contractor system stopped,’ says
Bahuguna. ‘We wanted minimum wages
for the villagers as a part oftheir rights; we
wanted labour co-operatives to be set up
and we wanted supply of raw materials at
concessional rates to local small
industries.’
These demands have, to a certain
extent, been met by the authorities. The
private contractor system is to be
abolished, minimum wages are paid (at
least where it is possible to check) —
Rs7.50 instead of the earlierRs2.50. But it
has proved difficult for various obvious
reasons for the genuine labour
co-operatives to ‘compete’ and besides,
there is no law stopping the former
contractors from reorganizing themselves
into co-operatives of their own . . .
ADove 1 ravening on toot trom village to village in the hills is an effective way to keen in
.u
the people and observe the actual condition of the environment. Sundarlal Bahuguna and the
workers m the Ch.pko Andolan spend most of their time on foot. There is always someone
n
stop and talk along the way. Inset Sundarlal Bahuguna.
someone ready to
50
considered as catchment areas for our big
rivers. I believe that the whole Himalayan
region is to be considered as a catchment
area. There has to be an immediate ban
on green-felling in the entire hill area. But
even that is not enough. Planting of trees
must be taken up on a war-footing. This is
also what the villagers have realised. ’
Broad-leaved trees, not
commercial forests
Chipko’s blueprint for development in
the Himalayan region is based on
involvement of the people. Bahuguna
feels that ‘The needs of the local people
must be met first of all, their experience
utilized, their voices heard. The
Himalayan forest must be protected.
Massive planting of new trees would
provide much more —and continuous!
— work for the villagers than one-time
fellings. . . And planting not of
commercial trees, but broad-leaved trees
providing food, fodder, fuel, fertilizer and
fibre. Broad-leaved trees also protect the
soil, build it up and keep it moist. The
nationalforest policy must be changed.
Not only in words but in practice. All
coniferous forests should be developed
into mixed forests. Commercial forests
have never been able to meet the needs of
the people and they have been ruinous to
the environment, The top-soil has been
washed away after the fellings and then
the men were washed away. Tp bring a
change we must base our plans and
actions on the people and their needs, on
nature and her needs. Our blueprint is not
only for the saving of the hills; it’s for the
survival of mankind. The present
government policy is destroying theforest
to earn money. Our policy is to make
people self-sufficient. ’
Sundarlal Bahuguna is well aware that
the Chipko Movement is going against the
stream, at least against what could be
called the powerful established stream.
But Chipko Andolan has many sister
organizations all over the world —
wherever people have experienced the
havoc brought about by ruthless
exploitation of natural resources. When
Chipko activists point out that they want
to work for the establishment of a
permanent economy based on a
changed, balanced relationship between
man and earth they are certainly not
alone. They are giving voice to
experiences known also to the inhabitants
of the Amazon basin, to the nomads of
Sahel, to the people of Papua New
Guinea and Indonesia. Chipko is part of a
wider movement that is gathering strength
everywhere —the voices of common
people demanding Justice and sanity.
CHIPKO —HOW OLD?
About the Authors:
348 years ago, on September 12 to be
exact, in a village in Jodhpur district,
Rajasthan, members of the Vishnoi
community, followed the lead of Am
rita Devi in laying down their lives to
prevent felling of trees in this desert re
gion. Amrita Devi clung to a tree trunk,
allowing her body to be hacked to
pieces as the workmen of Maharaja Ajit
Singh relentlessly brought down their
axes on it. The news brought members
of the Vishnoi community rushing to
the spot from surrounding villages.
The Maharaja called a halt to the oper
ation only after 363 of them had laid
down their lives. This is perhaps the
only example of mass sacrifice in the
cause of protecting trees.
IVO 1LISTE has an MA (history & political
science) from Uppsala University, Sweden.
He has been working with development
problems and adult education since the mid
60’s at the Swedish International Develop
ment Authority, and with the International
Student Movement for the United Nations,
and other agencies.
HIMALAYA — Man and Nature,
Vol 2, No 5, October 1978, p 34.
BIRGITTA GORANSON has an MA (litera
ture & sociology) from Lund University,
Sweden. She has been working as a jour
nalist, and with adult education concerning
development problems in Latin America
and Sweden since 1970.
Both IVO and BIRGITTA have been emp
loyed at the Development Assistance Train
ing Authority in north Sweden since 1972.
They worked in India from 1977 to 1979 as
advisors on non-formal education. They
are at present working on a book on environmental problems in the Third World
with special reference to India.
Above After the Bhagirathi deluge, the old road ends rather
abruptly at Raturi Sera.
SOME FACTS AND FORECASTS FROM THE
FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Closed forests (where the tree crowns the 70’s.
Erosion, flooding, silting of rivers,
cover 20% or more of the ground) are
disappearing at an estimated 10-20 reservoirs and harbours on a massive
and catastrophical scale because of de
million hectares per year.
Tropical moist forest is disappearing forestation, is by now reported from
at a rate of approximately 11 million many Asian, African and Latin Ameri
hectares per year, an area equivalent can countries — India, Indonesia,
Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines,
to the size of Bulgaria or Cuba.
Asia’s total new planting (excluding Nigeria, Tanzania, Colombia, Costa
China) during the 1970’s has been ap Rica, Venezuela and others.
proximately 1.5 million hectares. Thai If the present trend continues the
land is yearly felling l/6th of the total forests of Malaysia will be depleted by
new planting of Asia during the entire 1990, the forests of Thailand will have
decade of the 1970’s; India has in 25 vanished in 25 years time, and all orig
years cut down more than three times inal old-growth forests of Philippines
the area of total new planting in Asia in will be cut down by 2000.
TEHRI DAM :
PROJECT
THAT
SPELLS DISASTER
COMMUNHY Health CELL
47/1. (First Floor)St. Marks ;'.o uf
3AIVGALO: ;E - 560
Published by
The Tehri Bandh Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti
Tehri Garhwal
u,?. -7
FORE-WORD
A freedom fighter Sri Virendra Datt Saklani is a
well known personality and a leading lawyer in the
Himalayan districts of Tehri Garhwal and Uttarkashi
He was born on 16th Nov. 1916 in Tehri town and it
is natural that he should have profound attachment
and love for his home town. After passing his B.A.
degree he for some time worked as an honorary
teacher in English language in Ghananand High School
Mussorie, but later on he joined law and passed LL.B.
degrees in the first division. In 1942 he joined the
bar in Saharanpur judgeship at Dehra Dun. He was
very closely associated with martyr Sri Deo Suman
and was profoundly impressed with his national
activities. When the father of the Nation Mahatma
Gandhi gave the call for “Quit India” movement, Sri
Saklani plunged in the Freedom of India movement.
He was the first person to hoist the congress flag in
Tehri Town on 10th of Sept, 1U42, where upon he
was immediately arrested and was lodged in Tehri
jail on 12th Set. 1912. During the period of deten
tion he was tortured in many ways, tie was for
bidden to get clothes to change, not provided to take
bath, no facilities for cutting hair or shaving were
allowed on account of which long hairs on head and
beard grew. Similar treatment was meted out to
other detenues, e.g. Sri Bansi Lal Pundir, Kushal
Singh Rangar, Prem Datt Dobha), Dinesh Chandra
Saklani, Ram Chandra Uniyal and all other who were
arrested during the same period Sri Saklani was
detained in jail for 390 days, and, but for the last 30
days he was all through kept in solitary confinement
and was tortured beyond description. During the
winter, the only blanket given to him was taken away
inspite of the clothes on his body were in tattered
condition, and he was kept in heavy shakles simply to
demoralize and torture and he was kept in that
horrible position for 24 days.
These very shakles were later put upon Sri Deo
Suman who resorted to hunger strike for 84 days and
sacrificed his valuable life at the alter of Independence,
These shakles are preserved in Tehri jail for public
view on Suman day which is a declared holiday
Sri Jawahar Lal Nehru, then at a meeting at Srinagar
Garhwal proclaimed that the Tehri jail shall always
be remembered as a symbol of terrorism for all times
to come.
Sri Saklani was released in Oct. 1943 from deten
tion but was kept under house arrest for one year
more. After expiry of the period of parole, he joined
the Tehri Bar and started practicing law under the
guidance of his father Sri Devendra Datt Saklani, who
himself was an eminent lawyer.
In the year 1948. movement to free the princely
state of Tehri Garhwal from feudalism began,
Sri Saklani together with Sri Shankar Datt Dobhal led
the revolution Both. of them were at once arrested,
kept for one night in Tehri Policb Hawalat, and then
together with sixteen other Prajamandal workers were
transferred to Police Hawalat Narendra Nagar, where
they .were detained for 18 days. After his release
from detention he and Sri Doval with blessings of late
Sardar Patel, again organized the rebellion against
the feudal system of Government in most peaceful
and non-violent way. The Maharaja was not allowed
to enter the Tehri town, and with great tact, the
armed forces stationed at Tehri together with the
commander of State Military Force Sri Nathu Singh
were arrested and disarmed, all the state officials
stationed at Tehri'were arrested and lodged in Tehri
jail. Whole of this movement was surprisingly
peaceful except that at Kiitinagar, the state Police
resorted to firing in which Sri Nagendra Datt Saklani
and Molu Singh Bhardari lost their lives. So, ended
the feudal system of Govt, in the princely state of
Tehri Garhwal in 1948. A constituent assembly was
formed and a popular democratic Govt, installed
which functioned till the merger of fehri Garhwal in
Uttar Pradesh.
It is to the credit of Sri Saklani, that inspite of
all persuation and opportunities given, he refused to
join the Govt, or to accept any post of power and
position. He resumed his practice and took part in
social and development activities. For a number of
years he remained President of the Zila Harijan Sewak
Sangh and General Secretary of Zila Nagrik Parishad
During his tenure as President of his Gaon Sabha -and
Chairman of Tehri Nagar Palika he carried out many
works of public welfare and during the China aggress
ion and Bharat Pakistan war his efforts for the help
of soldiers at the front were highly appreciated by all
concerned. Though entitled to Freedom Fighter's
pension, he did not accept it holding that he had only
fullflled his duty towards his motherland and could
not accept compensation for it.
Sri Saklani has been in opposition of Tehri dam
from the very beginning. Agitation against the Tehii
d .ra was going on under the leadership of Sri Vidya
Sagar Nautiyal, but the main emphasis was on
rehabilitation of the people to be ousted by the dam
It was sometimes in January 1978 that Sri Saklani
and his colleagues came to know of certain facts about
the geological, seismological aspects of project area
and weak rock formations obtaining at the dam site.
It startled them and they were convinced that if this
dam is built it is not only going to ruin the h 11 people
but it is bound to fail and result in a catastrophe
unprecedented in the history of man. Obviously, if
the dam bursts, the 2.62 million acre ft. water released
from its 45 Sq K.M. lake will wipe out all habitations
from Munikireti to Calcutta.
It was then that the Tehri Bandh Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti was formed. Sri Saklani being a nonparty man was elected its president, and the presidents
or Chairmens of all National Political parties (Distt.
Units, were elected, Vice Presidents of the Samiti.
Representatives of all the concerned Gram Sabhas and
prominent Social workers were elected as member of
the Samitii Many prominent persons were opted as its
members and the first resolution to oppose the dam
was unanimously passed on 24.1 78.
There after several big demonstrations were held,
representation made to the Union and State Govt.
which all fell on deaf ears. The vested interests in
collaboration with the corrupt buieaocracy prevailed
and the Govt, gave a green signal to go ahead with
the project which forced the people to offer Satyagrah.
When the work allotted to the contractors came to a
stand still, the Govt, resorted to force, a large number
of armed police force was called in and the Tehri town
was virtually turned into a police cantonment. Sri
Saklani together with his wife and many others were
arrested on 1.6.78 They were released on the next
day but Sri Saklani was rearrested the same day to.
gether with Sri Sawan Chand Ramola and many other
prominent Satyagrahis were also arrested and sent to
prison. There after, Sri Govind Singh Negi M.L A.
together with many other persons specially village
women were arrested and due to paucity of space in
Tehri jail most of them were sent to Bareilly jail.
Amongst the arrested persons were Smt. Nisa Rani
wife of the President Congress (I) and the elder
daughter of Sri Saklani. Smt. Sushila Gairola and thus
after putting many persons behind the bar, the tunn-
Oont on last page.
Tehri Dam :
PROJECT THAT SPELLS DISASTER
(F. D. SMani)
The Tehri Dam has become a project of fierce
controversy in recent months, and serous objections
have been raised to its construction on geological and
ecological, humanitai ian and other grounds.
The dam is proposed to be constructed on the
Bhagirathi river near Tehr town in mid Himalayas.
It is well I nown that the Tehri dam site lies within
isoseismals VII and VIII of Kangra earthquake (1905)
and it is subject to an earth quake whose intensity by
M. M. scale can be up to VIII and .X balls. It has
frequently experienced earthquakes of varying magni
tudes in the past. A perusal of the report on seismic
instrumentation for water resources development'
projects in Ganga and Yamuna Valley by the Roorkie
University scientists goes to show that seismic activity
is on the increase in this region in as much as before
the year. 1971 While one or two earthquakes a year
were experienced, at least 5 earthquakes in the year'
1974 and 7 earthquakes in the year 1975 were experi
enced and many earthquakes originating from potential1'
active features along which big earthquakes could
occur in future remained undected as the seismological
(2)
instrumentation for monitoring the complete earthquake
activity was formed to be inadequate and not well dist
ributed over the whole region,
The Bhagirathi follows a weathered course and at
the dam site weak metamorphic formations occur in
the foundations and the river gorge are characterized
by their. shale structures as well as by their bent for
intensive weathering and disintegration into separate
blocks. The rock formations are of completely low'
strength (150-100 kg/cm) with completely low factor
of shear resistance of rocks in foundation (O.5-O.6).
Heavy cracking of the rocks have been found on
the exterior zone of the slopes of the river gorge.
.Thus the rocks on which the dam is proposed to be
built are highly deformed and are most unlikely to be
able to bear the weight of 2.62 ' million acre feet of
water to be impounded in the lake, and it is well est
ablished fact that when deformed rocks under stress
can no longer resist fracturing, eaithqual es occur.
The water load of Marora dam reservoir, in
Garhwal, was estimated to be 28 tens on one square
inch and inspite of the fact that rod s at Marora were
far more competent than the Tehri dam site rocks the
Marora scheme had to be abandoned due to existence
of fault zones there. The water load of Tehri reser
voir will be far greater than that of Marora, but
inspite of the. standing directions of the UNESCO to
(3)
that effect, no proper scientific investigation has been
carried out to establishe the load bearing capacity of the
rocks at Tehri The matter does not end there. The
peculiar feature of the Tehri dam project site is that it
is strewn w th many major and minor faults which are
all active and every sort of shear zones of varying
width exhibiting considerable pinching and spelling in
thickness along their traces and thus proving that they
are active and alive have been found to exist in the
project area.
The authorities assume the river bed fault to be
in-active but the assumption is not supported by any
scientific investigation or data. It is in fact controverted
by the project report itself. The assumption made is
wholly uncalled for and is in disregard of the rule of pru
dence that in such cases, under no circumstances a factor
should be assumed to be favourable until the assumption
is supported by all available data. It is well known
that earthquake arise on fault surfaces when they come
under stress. The tectonic peculiarities in the Tehri
dam project area are more than one. The Dharkot
thrust (Tons thrust) lies at a distance of only about a
furlong from the project area and the main boundry
fracture (thrust) of the Himalayan region of U. P. state
lies at about 20 K.M. from the Tehri dam site. It is
known as krol thrust, and Nahan thrust, which is a
branch of krol thrust, crosses the dam site itself and
is known to be active. The Shrinagar thrust is located
at a distance of 4 K.M. east of the dam site. It has
(4)
teen found to be rejuvinated and activity in it is well
established by displacement of terrace deposits across
the fault and the presence of Nick points in the stream
profiles across the trace of fault. A thrust is a horizo
ntally dipping fracture (fault) along which mountains
get tectonically transported for several miles.
Several tear faults are present in the Tehri dam
project area for example, the Gadoliya tear fault, Tehri
tear fault, Tehri river bed fault, Dewi tear fault and
many ether EW-NW SE-NE-SW trending tear faults are
p.esent A potentially dangerous tear fault is Mahar
tear fault which is exposed 4 i* m. down stream of the
dam s te It runs parallel to the Dewal tear and by
virtue of its upstream dip lies at a depth of 7'5 km.
beneath dam site It is admitted in tne project report
that in the event of future earthquakes, if release of
stress takes place along this, tear, there may be sudden
fracturing and displacement along this fault. Nq one
can predict that releaseof .strfe^n the eyent^f an
eartbqua' e cannot ar^d,jffjilace '*along this
tear, and if it occups, as it is most likely to occur, no
one c^n predict thejextent of fracturing and displace
ment caused thereby. It may result in wholesale frac
turing causing overwhelming destruction.
The NW-SE, NE-SW tear faults are admittedly
very dangerous from the point of view of seismic acti
vity and according to the renowned geologist,
Dr. K S. Waldia, the recipient of the Shanti Swroop
(5)
Bhatnagar award Head of the Deptt. of Geology,
Kumaon University, it is .along such tear faults in the
Himalayas that devastating earthquakes occur. At the
dam site itself ' a major fault of the width of 5 metre
has been proved by drill holes and the river bed fault
has been found to exist from Tehri to Uppu at least. Dobata, Dobra and Uppu are respectively at a distance
of about 2.9 and .12 K M from the dam site. In fact,
these sites were also investigated for construction of a
high dam but were subsequently” abandoned,' primarily
on account of the river bed faults-there.-
Tehri reservoir is to extend upto about . 45 k.m in
Bhagirathi .valley, and all these river bed faults from
Tehri to Uppu will come directly under the water load
of the Tehri reservoir. The water load placed on the
earth's crust by such man made lakes has been respon
sible for triggering off violent earthquakes even in
areas-wh’ch previous to the lake filling had been earth
quake free. The protagonists of this dam do admit
that subsequent to the construction of a large dam and
impoundment of huge quantity of water in the reser
voir, seismic tremors are felt, in the vicinity Constru
ction of high dams and impounding of large hydraulic
heads seems to strain the rocks in the dam foundations
and in the reservoir area to a large extent and a conti
nuous process of settlement is known to be initiated.
They maintain that such tremors are of low order and
eventually die down. When confronted with the exte
nsive damage to such-engineering structures in U. S. A.
(6)
Japan etc. they vaguely assume and assert that they
have invariably been related to well known fault
systems which had an earlier record of movement or
co-relation with earthquake focii. This averment of
the dam champions is a blatant lie First they fail to
make distinction between Isostatic and tectonic ea thqua1 es and secondly they come to conclusions without
considering, the relevant scientific datas.
It is largely agreed now that the several earthqual es that occurred in the Koyna dam area (Maharashtra)
were occasioned by water load or that the water load
hastened. their advent. The earthquake at Kcyna
which occurred on December 11, 1967 was of 6.7 inte
nsity which caused large scale damage to the dam
structure and immense loss of life and property. Not
a single home was left habitable in Koyana nagar
This happened inspite of the fact that Koyana is loca
ted in a stable and solid block of the Southern penin
sular shield in India, which is a zone of minimum
intensity and had no record of any earlier movement
or any co-relation with an earthquake focii.
The report of the •’International Commission on
l arge Dams 1973 on lessons of dam accidents reveals
that out of 10,000 dams constructed in various parts
cf the world, at least -<66 suffered accidents and of
tnese 140 were total failures The Baldwin reservoir
site was only 300 meters from a fault line and < nly
minor faults were found cutting the project site.
(7)
The reservoir lasted for 12 years and collapsed on
December 14. 1963 within a few hours of warning; Due
to seismicity of the region, it was made a flexible
structure, but' the movement occurred along the fault
on December 14 when full pressure of the reservoir
came on the fault surface, and the reservoir gave way.
The Frayle Arch Dam, Peru, a 70 meteres high struct
ure, suffered a severe accident on April 13, 1961, due
to an earthquake tremor. On January I. 1960 a severe
crack developed in it and on its abutments. The Vega
Tera Dam,. Spain was completed in 1957-58 but on
January 9, r >59, when the reservoir was at its maximum
level for on y a few days, it collapsed due to an earth
quake shock recorded at Coimbra, Portugal, which was
coincidental with the failure of the dam.
The San Fernando earthquake, which occured or.
February 9, 1971, destroyed the San Fernando hydra
ulic fill dam- completely, causing immense loss of life
and property. It is said that if the shock had lasted i>
few seconds longer, the Upper San Fernando dam,
would have also failed. The Sheffieled earth-fill dam
in the U. S A. failed due to earthquake shock of
6.3 magnitude on June 29, 1929, and similarly several
hydraulicfill dams failed in the U. S. A. due to earth
quake shocks, of 6.8 magnitude. At least 331 dams
failed or suffered incidents in the U. S. A. uptil now.
Out of the 54 dams in the U. S. S. R. four failed com-'
pletely and three suffered incidents. In Japan 9 dams
(8 >
failed completely and 7 suffered accidents and there
are reports of very many dams failures from other.
countries of the world. -The lower Suir Dam failed
during construction in 1935. The reason for the
failure of St. Francis High Dam on March 12. 1928 .
was the presence of a fault only 2 meters wide half way
of the abutment. The fault surface got. progressively
weakend due to the action: of water. The failure
resulted in loss of 500 lives and property worth 10 ■
million dollars.
The Malapasset Dam France,
collapsed, on December 2,-1959.- The Dam was well
designed, but a fault zone was present higher, upstream
of the dam structure, and movement on it-caused the
disaster Four hundred lives were lost and. the town
of Frejus was completely washed away.
The claim of the champions • of Tehri Dam project
that the lake load of the reservoir leads only to insigni-;
ficant- tremors • which eventually die down: is wholly.
false The presence of a fault one is certainly a sign
of danger and huge engineering structure are not
constructed on fault ones which are alive. ' No instan
ces can be cited where a dam was constructed knowingly
on an active fault zone. It is obvious that in the case
of Tehri Dam the focus and epicentre of a violent
earthquake can certainly be in the project area itself
when pressure of such huge volume of water is artifici
ally laid on the numerous fault surfaces and weak zones.
It happened so in Kariba dam, Rhodesia. There was
no report of any prior seismic activity in that area,
(9)
but when the reservoir began to fill in 1968; it was after
six months of the .filling that earthquake shocks began
to be experienced and the greatest of 5.8 magnitude
occurred four years after the filling was complete.
The epicentre of the tremors was in. the dam region
itself, where some minor faults existed.
Several such examples have been cited by J. P.
Rothe (1968) Faults are either active or inactive, there
are no dead faults and it has been found that even those
faults which have been inactive for thousands of years
can become active by the lubricating action of water.
The . activity in such fault can be arrested by cement
grouting, etc. but active faults can never be adequately
treated ,fdr the obvious reason that the extent of future
movement along them can never be precisely predicted.
The faults in the Tehri Dam project are in fact all
active, but the project report without'any justification
assumes them to be inactive and goes on to say that
the position of the nearest active fault is not known.
If the position of the nearest active fault is not known,
how can a plunge into unknown be made without
locating their position ?
Treatment of faults is done generally to prevent
large quantities of water reaching the subterranean fire.
It can be done only at the dam site where the river bed
can be dried up by diverting the river water elsewhere,
but it is
impossible to treat the faults existing on
the riverbed upstream or down stream of the dam site.
< 10)
Explorations have established that apait from many
other shear zones, a shear zone varying in thickness
from 7 m to 20 mis present in the river course for a
length of about 900 m. (300 m. down stream and 600 m.
upstream) of the dam axis. The project report admits
that it is part of younger fault systems in the valley
and can not be considered free from adjustment in the
event of future earthqua'es in the region. If it so
happens, what will be the fate of this dam ?
It is true tha’t mere seismicity of a region may not
be sufficient ground for not constructing a dam there,
the quastion will always be whether there are geological
faults there and whether the faults are aot.ve or not
and further the rocks are competent or not. The
Nurek Dam, a 1040 ft. high structure, is being constru
cted in a highly seismic region in Central Socialist
Russia, but rocks there are a thousand times more
competent than those of Tehri Dam site. It is being
constructed for experimental purposes.
It is thus clear that in view of the potential prese
nce of many major and minor faults at the Tehri Dam
site, in its vicinity and along the river bed upstream
and downstream, the epicentre of an earthquake shall
be in the project area itself and the enormous water
load artificially laid over fault surfaces will hasten its
triggering off and then it can be of any magnitude.
Its intensity can be 12 balls by m. m. scale and the
result will be wholesale destruction.
(11)
The project report admits that the triggering off
of a tectonic earthquake by ■ the water load of the
Tehri reservoir cannot be ruled out and if that possi
bility can not be ruled out, th re can be no question of
constructing this dam. Even in India distress has
occurred in as many as 41 dams and more than 14
failed totally. The Kadam dam failed in 1958, Nanak
sagarin 1967, Chikahole in . 1972,-Dantwala in 1.973,
Aran in 1978. The Panchet dam which failed in 1961
is said to be the biggest dam disasters in this country:
The Hinglow dam failed in August 1978 which led to
the destruction of hundreds of villages in Birbhumi,
Bardwan & Murshidabad in West Bengal and' took a
heavy toll of human lives and cattle. The Morvi dam
disaster of August 1979 is still a-fresh in the memory
of all
The. seepage from the Tehri Dam reservoir even in
to the dam’s rockfill is bound to be alarming, specifi
cally from the right side abutment where the hillside
is highly fis lured and fissile and shear zone cross the
whole width, of it from the right bank of the Bhagir. athi to the left bank of the Bhaintogi rivulet. The
Tehri Dam project report admits that the weak meta
morphic formations occurring in the fundations and
■ on the sides of the river gorge are characterised by
their shale structures as well as by their bent for inten
sive weathering and disintegration into separate blocks,
and that under such complicated tectonic geological
characteristics at the site of the Tehri dam located in
a zone where the seismic effect can reach V11I-IX by
(12)
m.m. scale, the problem of any type of dam constructi
on of 250 metres, will be very serious and complicated.'
Thus the great risk is involved in the project is .
made clear, by the project report itself But the project
authors opine that if the fault zone in the river bed
can prove to be not active’ then while studying and
analysing all the peculiarities of the site in a detailed
way as well as by means of special observations and
model investigation solution of . this problem safe and
economical to a sufficient extent can be found.
This is technologists over-optimism.
All the faults and thrusts in the Himalayas are
active and alive . and it can not be denied that the
river bed fault is not active. Assuming it to be inactive
the project authors give a guarantee of the safety of the
dam to a sufficient extent alone, where as in
such a matter a guaranteed security is needed for the
obvious reason that if the dam bursts, it will result in
a catastrophe unprecendented in the history of man.
Whole of the Ganga basin from Munikireti to Calcutta
will be wiped out of existence. And, if the river bed
fault zone be active, then there can not be even one
percent security of this dam. It is so obvious from the
project report itself.
Sri Y. K. Murti Ex. fellow Chairman of the central
water commission of India in his paper read at the
54th Annual Session of the Institute of Engineers
(13 )
(India) at Banglore, Nov. 3, 1978 admitted that the
dam at Tehri would not only be the highest structure
of its kind in'the world but would call for tackling
complex technical problems involved in a rockfill
dam' of such a height for which there ■ is little
precedence available else where in the world." He
further admitted that “despite thorough investigation
and adequate design it is not possible to eliminate all
possible hazards.. . .. Despite all advance in technology
and improvement, in dam Engineering over the last
decades, the surprises in the course of execution and
operation of Dams . & reservoir cannot be eliminated
altogether”. The question is can we take this risk by
building such a . dam in the Himalayas, and let the
Democles sword hang over the head of the Gangabasin for all days and nights ?
Henry H Thomas an Engineer of world fame in
his book “The Engineering of large dams” has advised
that the Engineer should not hesitate to overrule
academic calculations, however positive.they might seem
to be if there is any element of doubt about the safety
of the reservoir. He is a great protagonist of large
dams, but frankly admits that we know of failure, is
undoubtedly true in all phases of life but it is a method
we can not afford to adopt in building of dams,
undue boldness in design ■ might ultimately end in
disaster... —
'••• The statics of failure of dams
are some what alarming
. The cost of security
can be ascertained with- reasonable accuracy, if proper.
( 14)
investigation . have been done, the cost of failure is
imroesureable. Damage to property may be assessable,
damage to environment is less' tangible but no less real
but loss of life is a matter of personal suffering. Water
can lubricate clay seams, it can adversely affect the
physical properties of most rocks, it can act as colossal
hydraulic ram, it can erode and corrode, it may induce
earthquakes, and if the dam should fail it will devastate
and destroy
. Cost is of vital importance, but
security must always be paramount.
It is thus clear that if guaranteed security of the
dam may not be available, it will be a case for rejection.
of the proposal rather than a case to go ahead with it.
The project report of Tehri Dam does not give any
guarantee of security of the dam. It says that the
safety of the dam can be assured to a sufficient
extent alone and no'further, .and that too if the
river bed fault be found to be inactive. The project
champions, . assume the river bed fault to be inactive
without any rhyme and reason ignoring the opinions
of Geologists, scientists and all tenats of common-sense.
As I have stated above, the Tehri Dam site is risk
laden to the extreme The project report itself leaves
no doubt about it. The complicated tectonic -and
seismic acfv ty. of the site, the presence of fault zone
ofwidthofl5m in the river bed, completely low
strength of rod formation, high deformity of the rock
defences m the properties of rock formations in the
(15)
side of the gorge, comparitively low factor of shear
resistance of rock in foundation, heavy cracking and
large number of fault zones in the exterior zone of the
slopes of the river gorge have been well established by
exploration apart from other dangerous tectanic pecu
liarities found in the whole of the project area.
While the project report categorically admits that
the lake load of Tehri reservoir can trigger off a tect
onic earthquake, it is amazing that the dam champions
make groundless assumption on the basis of unwarr
anted comparisions They maintain that the quantity
of water proposed to be stored in Tehri reservoir
will transmit to the foundations a load of nearly 3 2
billion tons and as that will be only 30% of the Govind
sagar, nearly 6% of lake mead and only 40% more
than that of Shivsagar (Koyana), therefore the water
load of Tehri reservoir will be too small to cause any
large scale earthquake. In making this assumption
they conviniently ignore the fact that no two dam site
in the world are the same nor have-the rocks same
properties. z’It is admitted by Sri Y. K. Murti and
even by Henry H. Thomas and it is obvious that no
two dam sites are exactly alike any standardisation is
neither desirable nor possible. The intensity of the
earthquake always depends on the depth and distance
of the focus and epicentre, the nature of the roots, the
sub-structure and solidity of the structure.
Technologist's over optimism may thin- to build
a dam over an inconceivable site, but common sens
( 16)
may dictate that it is too risky and unwise to do
so. Universities confer degrees and some persons
become technologists, but common sense is a gift from
God. The common sense of the people of Teton, who
were opposing the vast Teton.dam, did prevail over
technocrates assertions, when the Teton dam broke
on 5 June 1975. Three town were completely washed
away and property worth more than Nine bilion dollars
destroyed. There cannot be a standard set of guide
lines for ensuring the safety as problems vary from
project to project and so no two dams have failed in
the same way and that exact evaluation of short term
and long term changes in dam and its foundation
which will pose ultimately a threat to its safety is still
and shall always remain an excercise in the domain
of uncertainty. We can not put an implicit faith on
technology which is basically improvisional. It treats
the symptoms but does not provide any lasting cure.
Technology in fact is becoming itself a problem for
mankind.
There can be no room for any doubt that the chances
of the failure of Tehri dam do exist in abundance, and
it will be unwise to ignore them on the assumption
that it is a bare or remote possibility or that the evil
may possibly be avoided by recourse to remedial
measures. The peopk have to be guarded against such
risks which no prudent and reasonable man will incur,
even if there may be no absolute certainty of its occuring The rule of prudence demands that we. balance
( 17)
the magnitude of the evil with the chances its occuring,
and even if there be less imminent probability of it,
•
►
the risk can not be taken for the simple reason that if
the evil does occur at any time, i. e. if the dam bursts
the resultant mischief will be vast and overwhelming..
Tehri dam is an unwarranted attempt to disturb
the fragile eco-system of the Himalayas which is the
youngest mountain chain in the world and which has
not yet attained isostatic equilibrium. A little exccrcise
of reason can foresee the immense likelyhood and
potential of Tehri Dam ending in a national disaster.
The scientists have been warring mankind of the
dangers involved in such projects, They are warnings
not just of difficulties but of a major disaster.
Must we demand the evidence of catastrophe before
we act ?
References
Tehri Dam Project Report. Vol. I & IV.
J. P. Rothe “Fill A Lake, Start An Earthquake".
W. G. Mile and A. G. Davenport, Earthquake
damages to Earth Dams.
4.
Henry H. Thomas, Engineering of Large Dams.
5.
Arthur Holmes. Principles of Physical Geology.
6 Harsh K. Gupta & B. K. Rastogi. Dams and
earthquakes.
7. Proceedings AH India Symposium on the Economic
and Civil engineering aspect of Hydro Electric
schemes Roorkee, April-14/16, 1978.
1.
2.
3.
*
(vii)
Oont. from page vi
elling work of the dam was started under the
proteotion of helmeted armed police.
Before starting the movememt against the dam
the Samiti decided to file petition in the petition comm
ittee of the Parliament. But, unfortunately due to
the dissolution of the Parliament the petition lapsed,
and a new Govt, formed at the centre. Dialogue is
now going on between Sangharsh Samitee and the
Govt. In the mean time before taking the final and
decisive action, the Samiti resolved to publish in small
booklets all the materials available to create awareness
amongst the people about the evil consequences of
this dam, and the present booklet is one of them.
Sri Saklani has very deeply studied, the Geological,
seismological and ecological aspects of this dam which
if constructed is bound to prove baneful to the Nation.
I hope that in this booklet and in many other
booklets, articles and letters written in this respect,
the readers will get a complete idea as to why this
project is being opposed, and I very much hope teat
they will make a common cause with the Tehri Bandh
Virodhi Sanghrash Samiti in turning down this project.
Sardar Prem Singh
General Secretary
Tehri Bandh Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti
Pundir Printing Press, Tehri.
BffifflRL ME
SMASH THE BATHE
EVERAL women gathered
on the bank of the Balganga River in the Tehri
Garhwal District of the
Uttar Pradesh Himalayas are
holding an extremely serious
discussion. This is the mon
thly meeting of the local
Mahila Mandal at which the
women from a cluster of vil. lages gather to discuss and
• find solutions to their mutual
problems.
S
The issue that is vexing them
iust now is that Ruldu. a man
who had served for some years
gave up drinking. And on some
occasions even fines had been
Imposed on those who would
not give up drinking. To a
large extent the Mahila Mandal
had succeeded in dissuading
their menfolk from drinking.
But now Ruldu threatened to
put the clock back.
"Merely
convincing Ruldu
will not do.” said one of the
women. "This man is hand in
gloves with an illicit distiller
whose interests he is protecting
by encouraging others to drink.
We must attack both of them
at one go.”
Most of the other women
present at the meeting sup-
This man is hand in glove
with an illicit distiller whose interests
he is protecting by encouraging
others to drink.
both
We must attack
of them al one
in army before returning to his
village, was frequently found
not only drinking but also in
stigating others not to become
too sissy and to enjoy their
drink.
For nearly a year these women
had carried out a sustained
campaign against the consump
tion of liquor by their men
folk. Habitual drinkers had
been collectively approached
and requested to give up drink.
At the individual level their
wives and sons had been asked
’ pester them tilFthey
go.
ported tills argument. More
discussions took place and
finally a strategy was chalked
out to punish the culprits.
One sunny morning about
half a dozen women set out
with a local official for a ra
ther remote forest somewhat
removed from the clusters of
human settlements. It was at
this place that the illicit dis
tiller apprehensive of an attack
by the activists of the Mahila
Mandal had set up shop. A
few men had gathered there
early in the morning. On see-
ing the women approaching
along with the patwari on the
serpentine hill path, they fled.
But the distiller was appre
hended and his equipment des
troyed. A few miles away the
president of the Mahila Mandal
along with five other activists
had cornered Ruldu. They sub
jected him to a three-hour
gherao in the course of which
he had to hear all sorts of
taunting and sarcastic remarks
from the women some of whom
were from families related to
him. It was onlv when a highly
embarrassed . Ruldu literally
begged them to spare him and
promised that he will never
again encourage others to drink
and also will himself keep away
from drink that he was spared.
This was not an isolated ac
tion but one of a series of
efforts made all over the Garh
wal region, specially in Tehri
Garhwal District, to fight the
drink evil. These efforts started
nearly a decade back when a
group of concerned social wor
kers, mostly belonging to the
Sarvodava movement, realised
the havoc that increasing liquor
addiction among the men was
causing to the economy and
social life of the region. Ini
tially the message against
drinking was conveyed through
discussions, and skits held at
the time of small morning pro
cessions, called Prabbat Feris.
In the course of these Initial
talks it was discovered that the
women were highly receptive to
the message and were in fact
very eager to do something
against the Increasing liquor
menace. As more and more men
were addicted to liquor, not
only were the meagre earnings
frittered away on liquor but in
addition the entire burden of
work was passed on to the women
and they also had to put up
with the violence and unruly
behaviour of their .husbands
when they were drunk.
The response of the women
encouraged some Sarvodaya
workers to organize a meeting
in Tehri Town to demand the
closure of a big liquor shop in
the market. Not only did the
normally shy hill women come
to attend the meeting but in
addition they joined protest
demonstration and picketing
of the liquor shop. Finallytheir efforts paid and the administration agreed —- not to
the closure of the sho,p but at
least to shifting it avvay from
the market to the othe■r side of
Hie Tehri Bridge.
Tills was certainly a victory
for the incipient
movement;
but what the administrations
step meant in practical terms
was that the liquor shop now
became more accessible to the
people of another area known
as the Athur region. The Sar
vodaya activists now decided to
organise the people of these
villages against the drink evil.
Moreover, they realized that the
demand for shifting the liquor
shop was not adequate, as this
merely meant reduction in the
misery of some people at the
cost of increased misery for
some other people.
Activists of the movement
fanned out to the neighbouring
villages, mikes and pamphlets
in their hands, to spread the
message and inform people
about the success already achlev-
Provocations, the movement
Seamed peaceful.
Several
leading activists of the move™nt were arrested, but it was
continued by others. The pickeleers at the liquor shop were
“ peaceful and well behaved
mat even some liquor addicts
aere impressed by them and
apart from agreeing not to
Purchase liquor, even contribut
'd to the funds of the move
ment Finally, the Government
bad to accept the demands of
me agitators and Prohibition
was introduced in the hill
districts of Uttar Pradesh.
. As this demand had not been
imposed from above but in
stead had
been
achieved
through a people’s movement
the implementation of Prohi
bition laws was much better in
several parts of these hill dis
tricts than has been the gene
ral experience in most other
parts of the country. Unfor
tunately, the gang-up of cor
rupt policemen and liquor mer
chants and smugglers has got
the better of the limited efforts
of social workers at some places.
leading to large-scale sale of
.
The. »eneral experience of prohibition familiar to us
is that it led to widespread; corruption and large scale
bootlegging. Those who wanted their bottle continued to
get it. only now it was more often of the spurious type
which led to more disease and deaths. However, in some
parts of the country Prohibition has been a success with
the people's involvement, and in some other parts even
without the legal sanction against the consumption of
liquor people have been made to give up liquor by orga
nising a mass campaign against it- In two articles here,
Bharat Dogra presents two case studies of such success
stories from the Garhwal region of Uttar Pradesh and
the Chattisgarh region of Madhya Pradesh respectively.
P€OPL€5 POWR
FOR
PROHIBITION
ed In Tehri. As more and more
women started joining protest
demonstrations, the contractor
exerted pressure on the local
officials to summon police, and
at the same time hired hood
lums to terrorise the protestors
and also tried to provoke them
into violence so that the move
ment could be given * p-Z
name and the police force
against it. However,
or smuggled liquor.
at places where the
H°„fment was strong before
in0V S introduction of Pro“SitM
several villages still
Mahila Mandate or samitis
h?’® 1 main function at most
is to check the spread
Plaf?,inr and they have suc°L^Slly achieved a substantial
in the consumption
their villagee.
iiYVEHAT really helped us
vv to improve our life
was not the wage rise, it was
the fight against the drink
evil. But for this most of the
extra money available to us
would have been gobbled by
the bottle.”
This was Sonarin Bai, one of
the Chattisgarh! tribal women
who work as miners in the iron
ore mines of Dalli Rajhara, In
the Durg District of Madhya
Pradesh. Sitting in her small but
meticulously neat and clean
hut, I had asked her about
the rise in the standard of liv
ing of workers brought by the
steady rise in the wages of the
workers as a result of the or-
In 1977. when Niyogi and his
colleagues organised the miners
under the CMSS, they realised
that liquor was the biggest obs
tacle in the part
making
the workers socially conscious
as well as Improving
their
standard of living. So at an
early stage of the union’s acti
vities a campaign against the
consumption of liquor was made
an Integral part of the union’s
struggle for improving the lot
of the miners of Dalli Rajhara
and other neighbouring areas.
It was realised that with a
little extra money on their
hands (obtained as a result of
the union’s struggles'), several
miners invariably headed for the
liquor shop to while away their
of
their tradition of attaching. the
highest Importance to trust and
loyalty, to give up liquor on a
mass scale.
A two-pronged strategy was
evolved to deal with the hard
core liquor
addicts. They
were approached individually by
the union activists and told that
they will have to respect the
union's programme. At the same
time, as a concession to the
problems faced by some in en
tirely giving up a habit at a late
stage of life, they were issued
special forms which entitled
them to consume a small quan
tity of liquor in the privacy of
their home.
Those who
violated the
union’s regulations were punish-
JCTRADE
NUN FI5HT5
zz: luuo?.
ganlsed struggle waged by their
women, the Chattisgarh Mines
Shramik Sangh (CMSS) led by
Mr. Shankar Guha Niyogi, and
she had acquainted me with an
entirely new dimension of the
workers' aspirations for a better
life.
Subsequent enquiries revealed
this to be a remarkable experi
ment in mobilising habitual
drinkers to give up or least
substantially reduce their con
sumption of liquor. The con
sumption of home-brewed liquor
by the tribals of this region is
an age-old practice. When thou
sands of them flocked to the
new mining township about two
decades back, curbs were put
on the home-brewed liquor and
they turned to the licensed
liquor shops. It- was revealed in
the course of the enquiries that
we made that at least in the
opinion of most tribals, home
brewed mahua liquor, apart
from being cheap, is also con
sidered much less harmful for
health. Tirus in the urban en
vironment of the consumption
of liquor became an even bigger
social evil than It was In the
evening hours. So alternative
sources of entertainment during
the evening hours were explor
ed. Folk song and bhajan ses
sions were held at the union
office. Attempts were also made
recently to enact dramas on the
day-to-day problems of the
workers, and even to acquire a
projector for screening films
dealing with social change as
pects (in fact an optimistic let
ter from Bombay arrived re
garding the purchase of the
projector just when I was talk
ing to the labourers). Some
workers were assigned specific
tasks during the evening hours
such as looking after the
schools started by the union, or
the hospital being constructed
by it. Some were asked to keep
a watchful eye on some quar
relsome members of the union
and the liquor and gambling
addicts.
A climate was created In
which the workers began re
garding drinking as a betraval
of their commitments to the
union and its struggles. Once
this feeling spread, it was not
difficult for the tribals, with
ed initially with a fine which
was later secretly returned to
the wife of the offender. How
ever. once this secret leaked
out and the offenders became
careless about the fines, genui
ne fines were also extracted
from them. In some cases, a so
cial boycott was imposed on the
offenders, and sometimes other
disciplinary action was also
taken. But perhaps the best
technique was to coax and moti
vate the offender’s wife and
other family members to con
tinuously argue with him and
harass him to a point when he
gives up liquor in sheer despe
ration.
It would be an exaggeration
to say that drinking has been
eradicated among the miners of
Dalli Rajhara and neighbouring
regions. However, there is no
doubt that it has reduced sub
stantially, to the extent that the
dominant liquor contractor of
this region who made fabulous
profit earlier now cannot even
recover his Investment. Nivogi
and the CMSS have certainly
set a remarkable example for
other trade unions.
AG2INDU3
INSTITUTE
The Agrindus institute, Banwasi Sewa Ashram, Govindpur,
Via: Turra, District Mirsapur, Uttar Pradesh, was established to
make a planned experiment in post-gramdan development, eoverirg 150
tribal villages in Euddhi Tehsil on the central tribal belt of India.
Objectives :
The main objective of the institution is to promote rural
development on the basis of self-help and initiative of the people.
Towards this end, the institute provides an institutional base with
a self-reliant workers' community to catalyse people's development
efforts in the villages, plans and organises various training courses
for farmers, village leaders, youth workers and other sections of
people in the area as also of those from other parts of the country.
Programmes :
Demon st rat ion Farm :
The institution has a farm of 50 acres
converted from a rolling mass of waste land aid it has been
of land
developed on a laboratory scale.
It is a good example of land recla
mation, soil and water conservation, construction of earthen
dams
to store rain water for irrigation, laying out a system of gravity
channels aha pipelines, introduction of various crops like wheat in
the area, use of high yielding seeds and
fertilisers, rotational
cropping pattern and over-all farm management and agricultural
planning.
The farm is today not only self-supporting but also yields
a margin of about Rs. ?.0$000 annually to the institution for the
multifarious social service activities.
Its success has demonstrated
that so-called wastelands are,after all, not eternally waste but given
the will they could be turned into most productive fields.
It also
shows how human ingenuity can devise means to use every drop of rain
water for the thirsty crops and human beings and animals.
community health cell
- 68
Village Reconstruction i
taken by Banwasi Sewa
Th e village re c cns t ru cti o n work was
shram even before tte Agrindus Institute was
This was necessitated when the Ashram was joined by the
started.
State Bhoodan Committee, in the task of distributing over 5,000 acres
of forest laid donated by the Government and private land holders
among about 1,300 landless tribal families.
It was not just allotment
of laid but its proper uiilisatiai by the tribal people with their
primitive agricultural habits.
This rehabilitation work was perh^ss
the precursor of Gramdan coming to the area, which, in turn, called
for mere intensive vo rk in the villages.
Institute came into
This is how the Agrindus
being.
With the establishment of the Agrindus Institute with initial
financial assistance fraa War on Want of England, theX’econ struction
work in the villages became more organised and regular.
envisaged in the villages
The work
is not simply in terms of physical things
like dams and fams but to infuse new ideas into the life of the
people and new methods in their work.
Under the ?ood for Work
programmes, a number of check dams atd irrigation channels were
constructed by the villagers with the Institute providing supervision,
technical assistance atd supply of materials.
These activities increased the aspiration) of the villagers
who wanted training in better farming methods.
So by 1973, about
1,000 farmers were organised for training and production campaign.
They were given extensive training in better methods of cultivation,
provided seeds ard other inputs on. easy terms.
And the result was
encouraging; they harvested crops which were two to three times more
in their yields.
In these 150 villages, intensive development work is in
progress.
3ach village has a Gram Swarajya Sabha which is the
functional body at the village level.
Although it has not been
possible to organise these villages on the basis of
Gramdan in the
- 69
absence of Gramdan law in
the state, the villagers themselves have
agreed to the community ownership .of land and integrated development
for the entire village.
Some of the salient features of development in these
villages may be summed up as follows:
Irrigation •
Irrigation facilities have been created in 100 villages by
constructing cheek dams.
By December 1975, 30 medium and 400 small
size dans werecors tructed ard nearly 1,500 acres of land in command
areas have been turned into multiple crop lands.
This work involved
500 to 7,000 people wcrking__eveiy day for over seven years atd was
supported by CASA, War on Want, OXFAM, Bread for the World, and
Protestant Central Agency for Development Aid.
Supply of Farm Inputs :
Creation of irrigation facilities was not enough to inspire
the tribal people to take to modern
methods of agriculture which are
new to their pastoral style of life.
The land allotted to them needed
improvement, contour-bunding and terracipg in certain areas and a
credit system to finance
of nearly
Us. 1,60,000
ment inputs.
development activities.
A revolving fund
has been created to provide necessary develop
Credit is, however, given to the Gram Swarajya Sabhas
of the villages which supply the services of individual villagers.
Bemoval of Indebtedness :
Private money lending was a big business here as elsewhere
in tribal areas.
But the credit was never an instrument of development
but of exploitation of the poor tribal people.
Their land was
alienated, their valuables were mortgaged and they were themselves
compelled to become bonded labourers of their exploiters.
To wriggle
the people out of this exploitation, they had to wage a number of
struggles against their exploiters in which the wo risers of the
institution gave them necessary guidance and leadership.
Although
- 70
complete eradication of money-lending has yet to be achieved, the
usurious rates of interest have been scaled down and the rigours
of bondage have been removed.
The Gram Swarajya Sabha have started
building up their own fund in the fora of Gran Kosh.
Settlement of Disputes :
Disputes usually lead people to law courts asd sundry inter
mediaries only to be exploited.
In this area, disputes were mostly
between tte weak and the strong - the simple tribals and their
exploiters in the garb of the police, local officials and money
lenders.
With the introduction of various development programmes
and increased contact and cooperation between the people and the
workers, the incidence of disputes has been reduced.
Initially the
workers intervened to settle these disputes. Now this work has been
taken over by a people’s court (Lok Adalat) with its centres at
varidus places.
With representation from Gram Swarajya Sabhas,
teachers and community' leaders, it is this Lok Adalat that disposes
of most of the cases to the satisfaction of parties to the disputes.
Svery year it settles between 300 to 800 cases brought to it.
Drinking Water :
In order to provide potable water to the poor people, 50
wells were dug and 25 renovated.
Old wells were not deep enough
to retain water upto summer aid it was difficult to deepen them
because of hard underground rock. This problem was solved when a
drilling rig was made available to the institution by way/dona tion
by War on Want.
With the help of this, 100 deep-bore wells were
constructed.
Agriculture Training i
The Agrindus farm provides an excellent training ground in
agriculture and allied skills.
Over the years, training has become
a permanent feature of tte fam.
On average, 35 training camps and
seminars of various duration ranging from one day to 8 dcy s are held
71
every year which benefit 1,500 trainees.
The institute has provision
for stipends of Hs. 75 to Ss. 100 for 50 trainees for a duration of
6 months.
Training is imparted to them in specialised jobs like crop
planning, improved agricultural practices, operation and maintenance
of tractors, diesel and electric pumps, maintenance and repairs of
engines and ot&er farm inputs, smithy, plumb-ing, electric fittings,
soil conservation, construction of dams and irrigation lEyouts,
animal husbandry, dairying etc.
functional Literacy :
Until 1967, over 93$ of the people in the project area were
completely illiterate, making it difficult for workers to communicate
progressive ideas to them.
In 1968, a functional literacy programme
called ’Gram Shikshan Yojana’ was introduced..
Under this programme,
evening literacy classes were started in LOG villages chosen fox'
intensive operation.
They are linked with a chain of mobile village
libraries equipped with books and journals meant for neoliterates.
20,000 adults and young men were made literate.
During last 7 years,
The number of mobile libraries has now increased to 50, reaching out
to about 5,000 readers in 150 villages.
Special books have been
written fa? them and the syllabus is tailored aid oriented to the
functional needs and solutions to the day-to-day problems of the people.
School for Children :
When you have a literacy programne for adult s and
no provision
for the education of the children, there would be no future development
In this area, parents were not encouraged to send their children to
school because the latter are also economically engaged. However, a
beginning was made in the form of nurseiy school established at
Govindpur in 1970.
This was later on upgraded to piimaiy school level
and in 1972 a junior high school was started.
In 1975 it had 150
children in the junior high school and 65 among them were residents
in the hostel.
- 72
Health and Family Welfare :
Semi-starvation, mal-nutrition and scarciiy of safe
drinking water were combined to breed many diseases, often
spreading epidemics like small pox, dysenteiy and malaria.
High mortality rate itself acted as a family control for
tte tribal people.
The institution’s medicare was, therefore,
geared to both prevention and cure of diseases, aided by
health education, nutrition and family welfare programmes.
Its dispensaiy-cum-hospital is equipped with Qualified staff
and stock of medicines.
annually.
Nearly 10,000 patients are treated
Training of local people in health problems is
another unique programme, and■so far, about 250 people have
been trained in this.
4
COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF GRASSROOT
DELIVERY SYSTEMS IN CHIRAIGAON BLOCK
by
Dr. S.M. Marwah,
Prof, of Preventive and Social Medicine,
Institute of Medical Sciences,
Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi-221 005.
In the Chiraigaon Block [Projected 1979 population of
1,53,723], the grassroot Primary Health Care delivery systems
were analysed as indicated below:
Grassroot Primary Health Care Delivery Systems
.! ____________ !___________ , I
Public Sector
Private Sector ‘
J------------------- ..
I
.
-
,
____ L
I
U .P. Government
1
’'
Banaras Hindu University
t
T
Referral Three Tier System
and Private Sector
Primary Health Centre
Rural Health Training Centre
Physicians M3S-2
Lecturer-1
1. Allopathic-1 [FRCS]
MOH-1 plus
-Ayurvedic MO -2
2. Ayurvedic-3 [BHU
LMO-1_________
Qualified]
Female
3. Homeopathic-1
Staff
LHVS-2
[Recognised]
LHVS-3
ANMS-11
ARMS-3
4. CHVS-114[Govt.Supported]
FWW -1 Social Worker-1
5. RMPs with certificates-45
_____________ plus Case Worker-1__
6. RMPs withont Male Staff
certificates-28
Inspectors -3 Inspector -2
7. Unregistered but with
Ext.Educat or-1 Medico-Social
proper clinics-12
F.P.HA
-4 Worker
-1
8. Unregistered working in
BHW
-9 Compounder -1
own homes-710xl0=7100[64O
Lab.Tech
-1
Vaccinators -2
out of 710 in 10000 popu
-1
Compounder -1 Lab.Asst
lation studied in Ph.D.
Lab.Tech
-1 Plus FPAI-CBD
Thesis]
Project Staff
9. Plus other voluntary
Ayurvedic 2 with MO and
agencies.
Dispensaries Coimpounder one each
In terms of health care delivery, it could be roughly indica
ted that approximately one third of care was delivered through
public sector, one third through private sector and one third through
home remedies[not included here]. The consolidated comparative
evaluation methodologies for the grassroot delivery systems in the
Chiraigaon Block are highlighted.
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A glimpse of good work-I
By Arun Shourie
Z1N September 6’ several news- of the National Agricultural
^papers carried dispatches from Commission a plan was drawn
Lucknow about exchanges in U.P. up to execute a new species of
Legislative Council regarding the development projects. The pro
activities of an ashram in Mirza - jects were included in the Fifth
pur district. A reader glancing Five Year Plan.
•
through the dispatches
would
The work that has been done
have gathered the following im- by me ashram is revolutionary,
pressidhs: that a report had been and 1 use the word advised
placed on the table of the Legis Visiting tne ashram and meet
lative Council which showed that ing us dedicated workers is a
tlie ashram was a hot-bed for joy. To grasp its revolutionary
foreign agencies (including the nat-ure, you must first picture
CIA naturally), that it had been the district and the kind of
gobbling up money for work it projects
that in the normal
claimed it had but which in fact course come to oe pushed in
it had not done, and that the
Government had seen enough such areas.
As is the case with adjacent
merit, in the report to refer the
matter to the State’s Crime In Bihar, Mirzapur is rich as rich.
vestigation Department for a can be, in arable land, in irri
gation potential, in minerals.
detailed inquiry.
wealth.
The huge
The facts are that the Minister m forest
power station of Obra,
who tabled the answer io a ques thermal
dam and its power
tion made fun of the so-called Rihand
station,
two
large
cement
fac
report: that the "report” was not- tories of the U.P. Cement Cor
a report at all but an idiotic
the Birla giant Hincommunication that had been poration.
dalco. an impressive chemicals
sent to an earlier Chief Minister factory
one of the
two years ago: that since that country’sof Kanorias.
highly auto-communication the- U.P. Govern mated coal most
mines — all these
ment had again examined the and more are
in the project
work of the ashram and after
satisfying itself about its conti area of tne ashram. Two superthermal
power
stations,
one at
nued excellence had released
further funds for the program Kota and the other at Blna,
mes of the ashram: that earlier are coming up at an outlay of
th^^ar the Agricultural Finance about Rs 1000 crores, as is a
C'J^Wation. our largest finaiJC.r.! third cement plant: a Rs 60
nVstnution for lending to the crore dam is being put up ac
River. So,
agricultural sector, an institution ross the Kanhar
that today has as its members 15 large projects and enormous in
there have been
nationalised banks, id non-ne- vestments
tionalised banks and 6 foreign aplenty.
banks: that this institution had
Yet. for 3 to 4 months a year
prepared a detailed
167 page
evaluation of the ashram's work tribals, who constitute the bulk
and had praised it in glowing of the population of the area,
subsist on mahuwa, a flower
that grows wild and on chak. The day after the discussion in wad
a wild grass.
the Council, persons from the
Twenty thousand jobs. the
ashram released a detailed refu
tation of the allegations that had Government says, will be creat
been made in the communication. ed during the next, three years
This response was furnished to in the four blocks as a result or
the correspondents of every paper projects in hand. As the Adirepresented in Lucknow as well vasis do not have the skills that
as to news agencies.
Several will be needed in these jobs, the
correspondents did not even file jobs will go to persons other
the response to their papers. In than them, the poorest of the
any event only one paper de
voted three paragraphs * to the
Or consider another statistic.
rebuttal, reducing it to cliches. The annual income of Central
The papers that had made most and State Governments from
of the allegations did not carry this area is estimated to be
even one word of the rebuttal.
around Rs 200 crores. Rs 20
It was only a week later and crores would • office to secure
that too by sheer coincidence th,a area against floods and
I learnt which the ashram drought, the alternating plagues
had been talked about. of the area. But the outlay is
learnt the details I was never forthcoming.
horrified for it soon became clear
Consider yet another pah’ of
• that the Press had been party figures.
outlay in
to spreading calumny. As this is the four Development
blocks in which the
not the first time this has hap ashram’s project
is being run is
pened and as, inspire of goodwill around Rs 40 lakhs a year. On
and the usual resolutions, it is the other hand, every year liquor
unlikely to be the last, we will (illicit Uquor, that is) worth Rs
do well to study in some detail 1.5 crores is sold to the tribals:
the dispatches from Lucknow, by way of direct and indirect
the ‘report’ that was said to con taxes on this liquor, the Govern
tain the revelations as well as the ment every year siphons off Rs
facts.
60 lakhs from the very tribals
on whose development it gene
But first a bit about Mirzapur, rously spends Rs 40 lakhs.
the ashram and the work it has
By the mid-seventies workers
been doing for the past 25 years
Mirzapur is the fourth largest at the ashram summarising
twenty
district in the country, larger, their experience , of
in fact, than some of our States years came to four conclusions.
onH
z.f
pooresj. Th(?
They concluded, first, that the
district is cut in uyo by the existing system of administra
tion. planning, everything that
river Son which
:h flows from touched
on development had be
Madhya Pradesh ........ _
to Blnar in the east. The area come anti-people. Thtough their
to the south of the Son. known experience on the ground they
how strong the nexus was
as Sonpar. is the one ilia- con saw
the liquor merchant.
cerns us. Four blocks in Son- between
the
forest
contractor.
the
par comprise the area. in whicn money
the
local
the Banwasi Seva Ashram has official andlender,
the local politician.
been operating.
You may pass what plans yon
These four blocks , cover about will in Delhi, they learnt, but
2.000 square miles, and have the nexus on the ground would
about 400 villages. About 300.001) ensure that the outcome always
persons live in them, most of went in favour of these notables.
them tribals. They are among the Moreover, they learnt the plans
poorest, even by the standards that would be formulated in
of a poor region like eastern Delhi or Lucknow would also
UP. Five villages ln these blocks be to a pattern. The Kanhar
have
v’"”“ been taker
4”’—' up for inten. dam costing Rs 60 crores would
be taken up but. not small tanks
hive development. in 4MUUJBr
w
another *u100
efforts have been limited initially and bunds on each rivulet. To
to helping 10 to 15 per cent of cite just one reason whv this is
so, money can be more easily col
lected from 10 contractors among
The ashram was set up to whom a Rs 20-crore pro ject has
the nild-flfties. For
twenty been d’v’ded (10 per cent Is the
years it was engaged mainly coing rate say the cognescent! in
to relief work, for the area
VPi than from 3000 families
prone io droughts and floods. each of Whom is doing the earthBy the mid-seventies as a re work on its portion of the project.
sult of the
recommendations
Second.
their
experience
taught them (and as they wore
Swvodaya workers it confirmed
for them what Gandhiji had
taught) that no outside agency
cun do the people's work for
them. Its role can only be and
should only be an enabling role.
The potential beneficiaries had
to be mobilised to take matters
in their own hands, they had to
be mobilised to solve local pro
blems by local initiative using
local materials. This had seve
ral operational implications.
Plans had to be built from
the bottom up: what do these
families in this locality need,
vzhat are they doing now, what
resourc.es and skill do they have.
what can be done to improve
these? Similarly, the fact that
an outside agency must perform
an enabllnit function only
meant, for example, that if it
established a dairy with cross
bed cows or a hospital, its pur
pose would not to be to provide
milk or medical facilities to the
entire population but to develop
skills among the people them
selves so that they could manage
rows or di-gnose ailments and
handle them.
Third, their experience taught
them that the obstacles were
so formidable that results could
be achieved only if the entire
community
was
mobilised.
Watersheds could not be ma
naged by individuai 'farmers
acting Individually. The money
lender-contractor-liquor
mer
chant-politician - Patwari-piliceman nexus was so strong that
it could
not be broken
by
individuals,
however
brave and daring, acting indi
vidually.
Fourth the
workers were
convinced that development and
change could not be brought
about by charity. Rs 20 crores
would be required for eliminat
ing floods and drought. Another
Rs 20 crores would be needed
for land development and ra
vine reclamation. Outlays of
tliis kind could only come from
the State and they would come
only if political pressure could
be brought to bear on it. And
who would bring political pres
sure to bear? Only people who
had become conscious of their
power and their rights, not
ones who had been conditioned
to seek charity.
AU of us have heard so much
of all this so many times In the
past two decades that it all
sounds a cliche. And yet Sonpar is one area in whch these
principles have actually been
put into effect.
The results have been drama
tic. In four years, reports the
Agricultural Finance Corpora
tion. per capita income has
increased by 75 pc-.- cent. Thirtyfive per cent of the families
have been brought above the
poverty line. Gross cultivated
area has increased by a third.
Intensity of cropping too has
improved.
Two hundred lite
racy centres have been opened
and, unlike many schools that
appear in our education statis
tics, a-e functioning. The pro
gramme has, to quote the AFC
evaluation again,
“made tre
mendous impact on the health
of the tribals and (has resulted
in) reduction in mortality rate,
simultaneously increasing the
longevity of life among the
children, and adults....on an
u,20’000 P^ents are
treated by the ashram’s , clinic
and its five health pests... ” I
must eschew figures for want of
,
S1X general features
should
noted.
First, this is. one project area
in which achievements far out
strip targets.
The target for
land development was exceeded
by 37 pc” cent in the 100 vil
lages and by 15 per cent in
the 5 villages: For area brought
under high-yielding
varieties
by 86 p©v cent and 50 per cent
respectively.
Second, all this has been done
by small projects,
specifically
designed for individual families
for individual ravines. Put up a
bund at the top of this ravine
be
to make a small tank:’ convert
the unused land further down;
into terraces: percolation from
the tank uphill will ensure mois
ture to the new terraces, banana
trees, introduce mulberry trees
train people in sericulture. Such
ideas would not strike city dwel
lers like us and wen when con
fronted with them he would not
grasp their importance as we
cannot comprehend the level at
which life is lived in
large
areas of our country.
Third all these projects have
been selected, executed monito
red by people’s institutions—the
Gram Swarajya Sabha consist
ing of all families in the village
the Kshetriya Gram Swarajya
Sabha at the block level and the
Kendrlya Gram Swarajya Sa
mi ti for the project area as a
whole. This has heightened
group consciousness as well as
th© sense of responsibility to
wards others. Consider a small
example. Loans are being given
to famil’es
through revolving
funds managed by the Gram
Sabhas. The ashram has formu
lated norms for repayment: W
years for irrigation and land
development work, 3 years- for
leans given to purchase bullocks,
one year for seeds and fertili
sers. The Sabhas do not fix any
regular schedule of repayments,
they settle repayment on tlu?
basis of the crop of the bor
rower every season. And yet 90
per cent of ths repayments in
variably arrive when the nor
mative instalments fail due. ‘The
repayments”, notes the Agricul
tural Finance Corporation team
“compare very favourably with
recovery rates of financing ins
titutions which have a much
firmer legal hold over borrowers’
assets”.
Fourth, at each stage, each
of tnese improvements has been
put on a self-sustaining basis.
Outsiders have not com© and
done something for the tribals.
Tne tribals have learnt the skills
needed for lhe activity. AU
civil works in the urea, to take
one example, are being design
ed, executed and supervised en
tirely by ashram workers and
trained local workers. As a re
sult building — not mud huts
but strong structures of stones,
locally backed bricks and tiles
— are being put up at an in
credible cost of Rs 3 to Rs 8 a
square foot. As locals are the
ones who are doing the work,
things can be done that just
would not get done by out
siders. No
city-dwelling MD
would travel in these areas
without a jeep, but the locally
trained tribal thinks nothing of
bicycling 35 kms a day.
Fifth, it is not just that the
numbers regarding per capita
income, irrigated area etc. are
higher. The way of life of the
people is changing. Tribals who
had only cut trees for centuries
are now planting trees yielding
mangoes, jack-iruit, banana,
lime, guava. A population that
till 15 years ago knew only
slash and burn agriculture is
now taking to one new crop
after another ,to one improved
variety of each crop after an
other.
People who lived off
wild grass and flowers are now
tending
vegetable
gardens
around their houses.
People
who knew only to leave their
animals free to roam in the
forests are now stall-feeding
them with fodder.
But more significant than all
these figures is the revolution
in the tribals’ consciousness.
Watershed management, plan
ting of new crops and trees
has taught them that nature is
not a god beyond their reach.
Selecting projects, executing
them, managing them, learning
new skills setting up and run
ning new forms of social or
ganisations has taught them
that the money lenders, con
tractors and liquor merchants
are not gods either.
‘Enough of your- figures and
points. Tell us about the CIA’.
(To be concluded?
ai
A glimpse of good work-11
By Arun Shouric
rrHE work of the Banwasl Seva
Ashram liar.
Improved the
living conditions of the tribals
In Soups r. Mirzapur district, or
course. More Important. It has
altered their consciousness, their
ability to manace their affairs.
to husband natuie. to stand up
to exploiters. And it. has ceristnjck , a b,0'v at the
money • lender-liquor merchantcontractor-local
otiicial-poiluiian combine.
the Ashram.
Area under liigh yielding varie
To substantiate this erudite
This is the communication that. ties increased from 15.4 acres report, the Deputy Minister ap
the press has now projected as to 535.5 acres....'
pended two annexures, The first
a ‘report’ and which I have des
be a statement from
Page 6 yet again: During the was said
cribed as idiotic. Its format is
a resident of the area. The al
simple. Verma takes an annual 1965-67 droughts the Ashram re legations In this statement are
report of the Ashram, lists ceived food and medicines lor even more absurd than those
It misused them
work it says has been executed distribution.
of
the
Deputy
Minister and the
and
‘
thousands'
perished
for
and just asserts that it. has not
it turns out is, from a
in fact been done. QED. I shall want of medicines and food’. resident,
and
The relief work of the Ashrum family of money-lenders
•
■■■"-.v ivpi-e.^nmiw
still remembered by the peo had been employed by the gov
lions from it to show how even is
and often a mother, when ernment Itself! The second anan idiotic document can become ple
the age of a child, counts nexure is said to be the text of
an instrument for tarnishing asked
with reference to the ‘Kiclidi Ka the conversation of the Deputy
good work.
In these areas, says Verma on saal the year of the gruel. Nor Minister with a Dutch lady he
page 1 of his ‘report’, 'it isjrtst is there any record. In the dis found visiting the Ashram. In
trict reports or anywhere else. the conversation she Is all prai
with leaves that women hide of
’thousands’ having perished se for tite work that is being
their shame’. Now, Verma must
have a fertile imagination to get in Sonpar, during the droughts. done. Proof, conclusive proof.
past the clothes of fully clad
‘A health education says the Deputy Minister, that
women and get straight to their
family planning scheme foreigners have an interest in
flesh.
hospital have been start- the Ashram and. to boot, are
by the
^ut
there
is no doctor, no being brain-washed
I could not locate and was
and no patient... .The Ashram managers!
not shown any accounts of the medicine
clinic is run by a Mrs
Ashram, says Verma on page 3. Ashram
forget the report. Did
Ragini. She calls herself an the"But
Immediately after this charge. M.D....
Ashram
receive
foreign
mo
’ (The person in ques ney or not?
Verma uses two pages to repro tion is Dr
Ragini Prem who was
duce. item-wise, the sources of an Associate
Professor at a me
Indeed, It did. From seven
income and heads of expenditure dical
college
in
Andhra
before
agencies.
All
contributions
of the Ashram.
she and her husband came over were received with the full
Page 5: I was informed, he says to the Ashram. The remark of knowledge of the Central gov
that i he Ashram claimed Rupees the Deputy Minister was enough ernment. Information about
fifty lakhs for constructing one to initiate a police inquiry into each donation was supplied to
bundh and yet when I saw the ?®»„„,credenl'ials’ <Are you an tiio Home Secretary of the Cen
bundh it seemed to me to be an MBBS. asked the police inspec- tral government as required by
old bundh and one that the gov
he ca,ne- *T am an the Foreign Contributions (Re
ernment itself had constructed. MD. said Dr
Ragini. ‘That pro
Now, the balance sheet of the ves you are not an MBBS even gulation) Act. And contribu
Ashram upto June 30, 1979 shows on your own admission’, shouted tions from each of the seven
that the Ashram spent only Rs the Inspector. He too was shown agencies (three from UK, two
1.63 lakhs and not titty lakhs the door.) In fact, the health from West Germany and one
on bundhs that too for cons training, services and education each from Denmark and the
tructing eight bundhs, not one scheme is a model of what should Netherlands) which gave funds
this Ashram have also been
bundh
(The Deputy Minister’s
be done- Here is what to
allegation was enough io propel the AFC team
found: ‘The health accepted by PADI, People's Ac
an inquiry into the accounts of programme has helped immen tion for Development (India),
the Ashram. The inspector was sely and as many as 98.35 per tlie government, organisation
given the balance sheets. Inno nn;L°k.the fsmllles benefltted that lias been set. up to receive
and disburse foreign funds to
cent of the mysteries of double- !
J lh,s Programme.... The voluntary
organisations.
?ook keeping, he thunder
.P°Pnlation earlier was
ed, I have caught you red-hand- suhiected
to endemic diseases
But to get back to Babu Lal
co. You are making money by and • consequently to high morshowing the same item at two wo SV^rnte niain’y because of Verma. Apart from filing his
places and charging twice for y ant to proper medical aid. scar “report", he has been publicis
each, item’.
The person who city of food, drinking water, etc. ing his “facts" at press con
ferences and the like. At these
maintains the Ashram’s accounts
‘litIes were made gatherings ho has deemed it
tries to explain that correspond nndfl?bl i»°facthe
pro^eet Emilies appropriate to refer to the Ash
ing entries have to be made on
the , Programme
it ram workers as "gundas", "dathe liabilities side as well as on
l^mfndou.l lmPact on the colts". "blood-thirsty wolves"
the assets side. ’What?’, shouted
oi the tribals and reduc- and much else. Incensed, an
the inspector, 'Are you trying to health
teach me?’ Don’t you know I am U0"111, 1PortaIlfey rate, simul- Ashram worker filed a defama
nfyrr1Creasing the lonS’ tion case against him last year.
a B.Com.? You will know what Ivkv
of life among the child Verma has been evading the
is what when I get all of you evity
thrown into jail’.
The books ren and adults.... On an aver- services of summons. Two se
were closed on him and he was aJe 20.000 patients were treat curities
(of Rs. 1500 each)
ed every year by the Ashram’s which two of his friends had
shown the door).
c.imc and its five health posts.
Page 6: Tn the 400 villages £La” ?vcra«.130 patients had furnished to the court have
neither
can one locate any been referred by each health been forfeited. And now non-ballindustrial activity nor fcan find post to the mam clinic and 100 able warrants have been issued
a single educated person. It Is home visits were made by a against him.
claimed that under
Bhoodan Health Post worker...... ”
I asked Nanaji Deshmukh, a
4500 acres have been distributed
among 1300 landless- families.
Page 11: ’While this Ashram leader of the former Jan San
But no one has received any has been set up ostensibly to gh, one who himself has consi
experience of construc
land whatsoever....... ’ Here is help Adivasis. it is in fact a derable
tive work, of its difficulties and
what the AFC evaluation report hot-bed of intrigue and in the Us
I asked him about
says on these matters: ‘The guise of volunteers conspirators his triumphs,
assessment of the work of
adult literacy programme has from all over India have been the Banwasl
Seva Ashrr.tt. He
benefited 60 per cent of the gathered together.... I met one
families.
This has helped to volunteer' who told me that he knows it well. he said, and It is,
raise the literacy level from 14 was a resident of Mirzapur and outstanding. I asked him about
per cent to 27 per cent....The “ ’the son of the Congress-I Babu Lal Verma. He knows
number of
people technically MP.... This Ashram is out and him well too. But I do not
trained has greatly increased (as out a centre for political cons- think he would like me to print
a result of) the job-oriented piracies, as if jt were a strong- his assessment of the man's
training given by the Ashram.... hold of some Christian mission pathological state.
Cases presented in the appendi aries or CIA....” In a letter
I have gone into all this de
ces... .indicate the receipt of
he wrote t0 the Chief Mi tail about one man, about his
Bhoodan lands’ by almost every that
later urging him again to “report" on one Ashram to show
small farmer....’ As for indus- nisteraction
against the Ashram, how careless it is for newspa
trial'activity’ the visitor has only take
he returned to this refrain: pers to just swallow and purvey
to see the work that is being "...
Please do look at the detailed such material.
done to make baan rope to
I had sent you in May
weave blankets, to produce shoes tenort
All of us know how difficult
1978 in which I had shown that
and bags from locally available this
Ashram has been set up by it is to attract support and help
leather, to produce tiles and the opposition
(then the Cong for constructive work in India
bricks, to raise silk-worms.......
ress-I) as a base for foreigners today. All of us als0 know that
Page 6 again: I could not find and is today a centre for spre even vague and unsubstantiated
slander sticks and can create
a villager who had benefited ading anarchy....”
from the extension work of the
Even in the small
In 1978, there was no Cong impediments.
Ashram...the people do not ress-I
Ashram, difficulti
MP from UP. let alone caseareofbythis
even know that the
Ashram
no means over. While
Mirzapur. Far from the Ies was
provides improved seeds, live from
there last week news
Congress-I setting up the Ash
stock etc.’ Contrast this with ram
came
that
Gayadln
Sahu the
a base lor Ute CIA, in
what the Agricultural Finance 1978 as
Mrs Gandhi’s government liquor merchant, had arranged
Corooratlon’s evaluation report
dispensation under which
*:
says
’The Ashram's farm of 160 had ordered an investigation »«ew
the 25 liquor shops are being
into
its
affairs
as
IP
’
s
name
acres is a standing demonstraAnd Munn! Lal the
• tion of the efficacy of complete was associated with the Ashram reopened.
watershed management... ..The and all organisations that had forest contractor, had managed
programme for 100 villages had anything to do with hint wero
a target of assisting in the pur naturally taken by Mrs Gandhi’s
chase of 600 bullocks.... The Government to be bases for
achievement reported as on foreign agents. Notice also that
31.6.1979 was 1815 bullocks be what was “as if a stronghold tors rather than to the cm™'
nefiting 919 families.... This or some Christian missionaries L the °L» ’
number does not include those or CIA" in his “report", had I®.
difficulties of good
farmers who received such assis become in his letter a confirm by our carelessness?
tance from the revolving fund... ed base for foreigners.
to
i 8:
l!le tril)als; a simple
pedal-operated
machine
has
been introduced and
with its
neiP a worker now turns out 8
to lOkilos of rope a day and
eargORs. 8 to 10 a day.... in
fou^Bmrs. notes the AFC team,
the number of families going
to money lenders
fell by GO
per cent, the number of fami
lies indebted to them fell by
two-thirds. The number borrow
ing from mopey lenders for so
cial obligations fell by twothirds, the average amount bor
rowed by each also fell to a
third of what it had been.
The number borrowing for con
sumption fell to a quarter and
the average amount to one-fifth.
Money lenders who had been
charging 15 r to 200'■ a year as
interest, notes the AFC lean-.
were themselves forced to bring
down the rates ' of interest....
The nexus used to capitalise on
disputes among the people. Now
these are being settled by the
communities themselves. In the
last year 66 cases
were filed
against Mahajans who used to
grab land and reduce borrowers
to bondage through
debt. Al!
except two were won.......
Writing about the need to
smash the nexus of
............ hmg. The exploiters do
? for they know words
?
hurt them. But actually
transforming power relation
ships on the ground is another.
1LTit l?hnd 1° ignite re»ction.
rhe Ashrams success in doing
so is the genesis of the calumny
that is being spread about it to2Syiian<L lhat the Press has
swallowed and publicised.
m
’led
by a M
urml
La!, W"
the liquor
merchant,
Cayadin Sahu, and Maha Ians th a
money lenders, were the kings
of this area till the Ashram beAnd ’Xy01* a,mon8 the tribals.
Ana they are the ones who used
to finance and otherwise lookafter local official and IdS
politicians.
MLAs
of
the
area happened to be from
'
the Jana
Sangh. It
one of them, one’Subedar Prasad
(a school teacher who became
Minister of State for Small In
dustries in UP’s Janata govern
ment) who was put up to write to
the U.P. government that the
Ashram was harming the tri
bals, that it was not doing any
thing productive and that all
assistance to it should be stop
ped .
Little came of his complaint
for meanwhile officials of the
Central and State governments
continued to visit the project
and praised it in glowing terms.
Ancr m any case, it was thought
a bit imprudent for an MLA.
from the area itself—who, after
all, would have to go back to
the people for votes—to come
out openly against an activity
which was so popular with the
people.
Horses were, therefore, switch
ed and another Jan Sangh MLA.
a Babu Lal Verma, then Deputy
Minister for Area Development
and Minister in-charge of Mirzapur district, was put up. He
visited the project and then sent
? 15 page letter to then Chief
Minister listing ftrictures aeair..-;
can claim to host at least 50 per cent of the
species common to South India, Mr.
Karthikcyan says.
Studies have led from one thing to another.
and butterflies have proved that the reason for
their existence goes beyond flitting about from
flower to flower in an apparently random
manner, doing their bit for propagation.
Butterflies, scientists now know, arc indicators
of the inconsistencies of nature.
Mr. Karthikeyan. who can be counted
among the small group of lepidopterists
(lepidoptera — scale winged, is the order to
which moths and butterflies belong) in the
city, says although butterflies are studied
chiefly for, well, being butterflies, it has now
been established beyond doubt that they have
behavioural tendencies unique to them and
their study can be as engaging as that of
birds.
Butterflies are particular about the plant
species which host them. They may be a
parasite or a pest on certain plants, but their
advantages far outdo their shortcomings as
Popularising a concept
properties and uses; wood seasoning and
preservation; chemistry of forest products and
wood bio-degradation and a group on tree
improvement are engaged in research
activities.
According to its Director, Dr. V. V.
Srinivasan, the Institute is working or
processing/utilisation of lesser known timber;
assessment of wood properties of nonWhen it took up the UNDP project in 1992
conventional and plantation timbers for their
in Devanahalli taluk, 30 km from Bangalore
suitability in furniture, handicrafts.
packaging, etc; development of low cost
seasoning technology for the small scale
The Institute of Wood Science and Technology’s main aim is to
timber industry in rural areas: development of
establish a solid research- base for increasing tree productivity, says indigenous substitutes for imported raw
material in perfumery industries; protection of
R. Chandrakanth.
wood under land and marine conditions;
utilisation of alternate timbers for catamarans
and in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
etc.
The benefits of these research activities
for: transferring technology' on improved agro disease at Yelawala near Mysore and three
there to be seen - in Devanahalli and also
outstation marine centres at Vishakapatnam, arc
forestry programmes, farmers pined for teak
in the coastal areas where the fisherfolk still
Kochi
and
Goa.
seedlings. In the first year of the project, the
use catamarans.
Four divisions under wood science — wood
IWST distributed 47.400 teak seedlings and
till date the total seedlings distributed has
crossed the one lakh mark in the project area.
The farmers are happy that a research
institute is endorsing that a well managed
teak tree can give 32 to 35 cubic feet of teak
in 25 years. And the survival rate of trees
here has been 80 per cent, as against the
normal rate of 65 to 70 per cent.
Seeing the success rate, more and more
families are joining the programme and the
number of families covered by it is 660 in
Devanahalli and 270 in Chittoor. The fiveyear project of the UNDP with investment of
Rs. 5.5 lakhs is aimed at ’inter alia’, tree
improvement programme, vegetative
propagation, tissue culture, seed technology.
bio-fertilizers and tree farm economics. The
project areas are being constantly monitored
by Mssrs. C. R. Rangaswamy. C. R. Sarma.
Pankaj Agarwal and D. P. Khali of the IWST.
The IWST is supplying teak plants raised from
seed collected In Hunsur division fr m
selected seed stands.
With pressure on land and also on forest
produce increasing, the IWST has fixed as its
For some years now. teak plantation
schemes have come a cropper, despite doubts
raised about the ’tall claims’ made by the
plantations on the girth size. Some of the
doubts were laid to rest when the Institute of
Wood Science and Technology' (IWST) found
itself selling the teak concept. In and around
Bangalore, teak has become a popular species.
immediate objective to establish a solid
research base for increasing tree productivity.
Established in 1938 by the Government of
Mysore as a Forest Research Laboratory in
Malleswaram and upgraded and named as
IWST in 1988. the institute has been doing
pioneering work in forestry programmes. It
maintains three field stations — a germ plasm
bank, a clonal bank and a nursery at
Gottipura; progeny trials for control of spike
crucial characteristic as the wrong choice of
the host plant could mean the perishing of
the larvae.
Loss of habitat is a threat, and if butterflic
lose the plant species they are used to, the
chances are they will migrate from the
specific region.
In recent years, butterflies have been giver
a new lease of life, as Bangalore has
undertaken to retrieve its once glorious greet
canopy. The return of the butterflies, or thei
’putting off an exodus' is an indication that
Bangalore has taken this green signal in the
right spirit.
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