Poverty alleviation and rural development are two intricately linked issues in Third World countries. However, in his book, Rural Development – Putting the Last First, Robert Chambers observes that due to misperceptions by those he refers to as “outsiders” or “rural development tourists” these two issues are still far from being conclusively addressed.
These “outsiders” are both local and international rural development programme workers who are neither rural nor poor. Their impact on rural development and poverty alleviation has, so far, been hampered by six fundamental biases(Spatial biases, Project bias, Person biases, Dry season biases, Diplomatic biases – politeness and timidity, Professional biases). (read more http://www.shvoong.com/social-sciences/anthropology/1706030-rural-development-putting/)
Here are some examples of highly educated rural Indians who abandoned their lucrative career to pursue their dream of rural development.
Rangaswamy Elango
Rangaswamy Elango, a chemical engineer who quit his job to transform his village, is the Panchayat President of the 5000 strong village of Kuthambakkam near Chennai. A few years ago, the village was fraught with poverty and lacked basic infrastructure. Violence against lower castes and women was rampant, had 35% of its population was involved in illicit liquor brewing. Today, the village has been transformed and has good basic infrastructure in place. The villagers are now busy building an environment-friendly local economy based on a cooperative model, producing locally their basic necessities (like food and clothing) within their own village. Inspired by Gandhi, he has successfully implemented his vision of true “Gram Swaraj”, a self-sufficient village. The career path of Rangaswamy Elango needs to be widely known. Just fifty more Panchayat leaders like him across India are enough as nodes from where sensible village development can radiate in all directions. (Read more http://goodnewsindia.com/index.php/magazine/story/elango-kuthambakkam)
Shiva Balak Misra
Dr S.B. Misra was born in 1939 in a remote village in Uttar Pradesh, from where he inched his way, armed with brilliant academic credentials, to faraway Canada where he discovered 565-million-years-old fossils that plugged questions in Darwin’s theory of evolution and made him an overnight star in academia. Four years on though, on the verge of fame and fortune, he quit that life and returned to his village where, soon accompanied by his newly wedded wife Nirmala, he set up a school that changed thousands of lives. While most of the Indian villages are not covered by news papers he publishes India’s first rural news paper from his village. His son Neelesh mishra (famous lyricist of song “jadu hai nasha hai”) is also actively working for rural development. (Read more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prof_S.B._Misra http://www.gaonconnection.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neelesh_Misra http://www.flipkart.com/dream-chasing/p/itmdyu8v3rswjbva)
Popatrao Pawar of Hiware Bazar Maharashtra
Hiware Bazar is a village in the Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra, India. Prior to 1989, the village was facing several problems such as migration of the villagers to the nearby urban areas, high crime and scarcity of water. The village experienced mass exodus during the severe drought in 1972. However the village experienced a turnaround after 1989, Popatrao Pawar, the only postgraduate in the village contested for the post of sarpanch (village chief, head of the gram panchayat) and won. He managed to get the 22 liquor shops closed, secure bank loans for famers and started rainwater harvesting, water conservation and management programs, which involved building 52 earthen bunds, percolation tanks, 32 stone bunds and nine check dams. Its development plan was based on village Ralegan Siddhi, 35 km away, also in the same district, turned around by Anna Hazare. By the 1990s, reverse migration started as families started returning home. In 2012, the village with its 235 families and a overall population of 1,250, had a monthly per capita income Rs 30,000, up from Rs. 830 in 1995, plus it had 60 millionaires. (Read more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiware_Bazar)
Chhavi Rajawat
Chhavi Rajawat was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan. She is from a small village called Soda in Malpura tehsil, Tonk district. She is an alumnus of Rishi Valley School (Andhra Pradesh), Mayo College Girls School (Ajmer). Lady Shri Ram College (University of Delhi). She became the Sarpanch (Head of a Village) of Soda, a village sixty kilometers from Jaipur, Rajasthan. She is very good in meeting with people and she is taking a leading way in development of Soda village. After becoming the Sarpanch of the village, she has implemented many projects successfully i.e. rain water harvesting, toilets facilities in most of the houses etc. The Times of India, a leading English newspaper in India, credits her as the changing face of rural Rajashthan. On 25 March 2011, Rajawat made a well-received address to delegates at the 11th Infopoverty World Conference held at the United Nations. Rajawat was honoured by former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at the Technology Day function at New Delhi. (read more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhavi_Rajawat)
There will be, and are, many more unsung heroes. Will try to convey our gratitude to all of them, and swear to help in their efforts.
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