A Village Awakens…

A small village in the foothills of Satpuras-Payvihir. It is a tribal village with about 500 population, most belonging to Korku and Balai tribes. There is nothing much ‘happening’ in the village. Yes, there are some hills in the surroundings which were barren once. But that’s not a publicity ‘material’, you know! So obviously, nobody cares about this village. Even the villagers don’t expect others to care. But, they themselves care for this village. The ‘own’ it. They hold themselves responsible for any good or bad in the village. And this is the crux of development through community participation.

     This is where the lush green Melghat region just starts. Elegant Satpuras dominate the distant landscape. The hills around encircle the village and give a feel of being a guardian angel. Ramlal, a village youth smiles looking at the hills. He has seen them transform from barren, ghastly elevations to partially green landforms. And he hopes that they become lush green. He is very frank and at times brutal about the related facts. “We did grave injustice with the hills, and with ourselves. Our earlier generations literally snatched off everything on the hills and forest. And till we realized the gravity of our crime, we already had started suffering the punishment”, he confesses. A few years ago, the villagers wantonly exploited the ecosystem. The whole landscape was bereft of its beautiful endowments. Till the village youth got a nudge from NGO, Government and their own conscience.

    Confidence oozes out of Ramlal’s words. The villagers do not need any outsider to explain things. They themselves can share their first hand experience. This is what makes the visitors understand the ethos of the things here. “Youth has great power. We know this. We feel empowered,” other young guns of the village joined in. One simply cannot miss the spark in their eyes when they narrate their story.

     The story continues. After realizing the mistake, the villagers organized themselves and used Gram Sabha as a forum to discuss plan of action. They got support from NGO Khoj. They used the much debated MGNREGS to look after livelihood issues. But more importantly, the community stood up and acted in a commendable way. They studied the Community Forest Rights. They decided strategically the plan to harness forest produce sustainably. They formed vigilance troops to guard the forests and prevented wanton grazing. They took oath to protect the forest and soil. Soil and Water conservation methods followed.

    This soon transformed the village. The barren countryside turned verdant. Villagers now ventured into other reforms. School and Health services were made better. Sanitation was given good deal of attention. A biogas plant is now coming up. The tribal panchayat was used to discuss social reforms. Poultry and Custard Apple orchards started yielding good incomes. Markets in Akola, Paratwada, Akot were tapped by the villagers. They are diversifying the produce to include many medicinal plants.

     Rewards and recognitions might be secondary on the village agenda. But villagers are proud to tell about the accolades they earned. Payvihir won the 2014 UNDP India Biodiversity award. “The story doesn’t end here. There is a long way to go”, Amit- another village guy adds. “We are trying to spread the awareness in other villages”. Khoj is working on Nayakheda village in the vicinity to follow the Payvihir way. Payvihir is an inspirational story now. The village has risen. It has shed its past mistakes and led itself to a glorious future. It has generated hope in the nearby villages. Amidst the problems of environmental degradation, poverty, rural and agrarian distress, a village stands tall economically and ecologically- happy to be ignored by rest of the world…