MY VILLAGE, MY RULE

MENDHA LEKHA, GADCHIROLI, MAHARASHTRA

Visitors cannot miss the board at the entrance of Mendha Lekha village in Maharashtra. It reads in Marathi: “There is our government in Delhi and Mumbai. In our village, we are the government.” With a dense forest cover across 1,800 hectares, Mendha Lekha is one of the richest villages in natural resources in the country. The main produce, bamboo, has transformed the lives of villagers ever since they earned community forest rights in 2011. The empowered gram sabha is the sole authority to earn royalty from bamboo farming—to the tune of Rs 1 crore annually. A dividend goes to the villagers, giving them economic empowerment.

The 500-strong village takes its forest rights seriously and has prepared a register listing the flora and fauna it has been given control over. Superior quality honey from the forest is another source of earning. The gram sabha has been issued a Permanent Account Number (PAN). It is empowered to invest its profits from bamboo trade into soil research and development.

Apart from training local youths in bamboo research, the gram sabha has created a grain bank to ensure food security for the entire village. Each family contributes 10 per cent of its income to the gram sabha. The money is used to provide villagers interest-free loans to reduce their dependency on private moneylenders.

With financial stability has come social harmony. The village has not witnessed any social unrest or caste dispute in the past five years. Researchers from across the world have been visiting Mendha Lekha to study its community rights model. Maharashtra tribal development minister Vishnu Savra says the village has become a model for tribal welfare. “It’s an example of how to use government schemes in an impressive manner,” he adds.

On December 5, Mendha Lekha took another step towards community rights by resolving to henceforth practise only community organic farming across its 300 acre farm area. “We don’t want our customers to eat poisonous vegetables or grains,” says Maniram Duga, the village head. While the gram sabha will bear 40 per cent of the expenses, the remaining expenditure will be met through central government grants. The gram sabha will keep 10 per cent of the profits and the rest will be distributed equally among villagers.

The journey this far, however, was not easy. Devaji Tofa, the community leader of the village, attributes the achievements to the tradition of non-violence, so much so that villagers extracting honey wear protective gear to avoid hurting the bees. “We are ready to bear the pain in case of bee bites, but will never hurt the bees,” says Tofa.