Village women usher in winds of development
Today the village boasts of electricity, metalled road, drains, toilets hand pumps and a primary school
Till a year ago, the Dalit-dominated Dharabpur village, located 41 km west of Hamirpur was among the most backward villages in the region.
But today the village boasts of electricity, metalled road, drains, toilets hand pumps and a primary school.
The transformation, however, was not because the MP adopted the village under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana or funds were allocated under the MLA’s local area development fund.
It was the resolve of villagers, most of them below the poverty line, which brought about the change.
“Consecutive droughts accompanied by unseasonal rain left the farmers distressed. Many men migrated to cities in search of petty jobs and the women were left behind to support the children and the elderly,” a villager Kamlesh Kumari told HT.
“We had to trudge a long distance to get potable water as most of the hand pumps and wells were dry. The villagers decided to revive an old pond on the outskirts of the village to regenerate groundwater. The women formed a group jal-saheli (water friend) to work for water conservation,” she said.
“The villagers constructed mud channels on the field and connected it with the pond to store rainwater. Soon, the pond was overflowing with water and the groundwater level improved as well. The filling of the pond was no mean achievement for us,” Kamlesh said.
“It boosted our morale and we decided to work for the makeover of the village,” she added.
The construction of pucca road and drain was next on the priority list of villagers.
“We met the district administration officers and drew their attention towards the plight of villagers. The work of construction of roads and drains was sanctioned and funds were released. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Dalit households were given funds for construction of toilets,” Kamlesh said.
“After equipping the village with basic facilities, we decided to focus on education of children, especially girls,” said village head Rajkumari.
“A unanimous resolution was passed during a meeting that the villagers will send their children to school. Children who had passed primary school were sent to secondary school in a nearby village. With the availability of water, villagers started rearing goats and cattle to increase their income,” she said.
“The district administration is supporting the initiative of water conservation and management. We will promote people’s participation in water conservation programme,” said block development officer (BDO), Sarila, Gajendra Pratap Singh.
Vice-president of PWC India Foundation Jaivir Singh, who visited the village, said there was a sharp decline in groundwater table in Hamirpur region.
Commending the work of jal panchayats and jal sahelis he said the PWC India Foundation was assisting farmers in water conservation.
Sanjay Singh from Parmarth Sansthan, an organisation working in rural areas of Bundelkhand, said besides rejuvenating ponds, they were constructing check dams and outlets for water conservation.
“We are motivating farmers to set up seed bank and community kitchens,” he said.
We had to trudge a long distance to get potable water as most of the hand pumps and wells were dry. The villagers decided to revive an old pond. KAMLESH KUMARI, villager