THE_CONCEPT_OF_A_SMART_VILLAGE
"India lives in its
villages" - Mahatma Gandhi
S
|
Social, Skilled and Simple
|
Zero Tolerance for Caste and Creed
or better no caste & creed and no discrimination on Gender and Religion;
Everyone is Literate and skilled; Simple living and high thinking
|
M
|
Moral, Methodical and Modern
|
Moral values of Gandhiji, Swami
Vivekananda etc Methodical using Total Literacy and latest techniques; Modern
like cities
|
A
|
Aware, Adaptive and Adjusting
|
Highest level of awareness on
global social & economic issues; Adaptive and adjusting to fast changing
environments
|
R
|
Responsive and Ready
|
Responsive to collective wisdom,
cooperative movement & larger social issues; Ready to generate own
resources for self-sufficiency and self-reliance
|
T
|
Techno-Savvy and Transparent
|
Techno-savvy for IT and Mobile
usage; Transparent in harmonic relations and delivery of services
|
Source: www.smartvillages.org
Punsari
is a village having a population of 6000
people. It is situated 90km from Ahmedabad in Gujarat state. Punsari has been
called a "model village". Its headman , Himanshu Patel, was only 23
years old when he took up charge. The project to make Punsari a smart village
began in 2006, then, it was like any
other undeveloped Indian village. Having graduated from Mumbai , Mr. Patel is a technology and media savvy man. He
proudly states that his village offers "the amenities of a city but the
spirit of a village".
Every
home in the village has toilets, there are two primary schools, a primary health
centre, street lights and a drainage system. And that's not all. The entire
village is wifi enabled, has CCTV cameras installed at strategic points and a
public address system which covers the entire population with the help of about
140 waterproof speakers, which are used by the Sarpanch to inform the
people of new schemes and to make important announcements. The speakers are
also used to play bhajans, shlokas, and slogans of Mahatma
Gandhi. Mini-buses are used for transport purpose within the village. The
panchayat has started a bus facility called the Atal Express for women
which is used for the import of milk. 25 CCTVs are installed at prime junctions
of the village so that the litterbugs can be spotted and punished. It has a record
of "no case of school dropouts" and a growing list of state and
federal government officials who come from this village. Punsari has been
awarded the "best village in Gujarat" several times and it may very
well be among India's most developed villages. Mr Patel leads an 11-member
committee which runs the village affairs. Of these, five are women.
The
committee's headquarters look like a modern corporate office - on one side is a
conference hall where the council holds its meetings, on the other is a glass
screen on which one can see four windows of live pictures beamed from the CCTV
cameras installed on key locations in the village. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has sent officials to Punsari to study its development model and prepare a
scheme for creating model villages all over the country. The village has also
been visited by "more than 300 officials" from all over India who
want "to learn how they can replicate our model in their states", Mr
Patel says.
There are five primary
schools in Punsari. All the five schools have CCTV cameras placed to enable
parents check their wards' performance without interrupting the lectures and
also to keep a watch on the teachers. This has not only helped in monitoring staff but also in
improving overall sanitation in the village, reducing violence and improving
discipline in the village.
Initially
clean drinking water was a problem. Now
the village has its own mineral water plant. The panchayat had installed a reverse
osmosis plant in 2010 to ensure the supply of clean drinking water to the
villagers. The water is supplied to all the households at nominal charges and
even Below Poverty Line (BPL) families get it free of cost. This mineral water
plant also outsources the water to other villages.
It is interesting to know how people were motivated to
pay taxes by giving them dustbins as a gift. This has also improved tax collection
level to 90 %. Every morning and evening a trolley collects waste from the
households.
In the last 6-7 years, there have been no cases of infant
mortality, maternal deaths and female suicides which were very common
earlier. There are 2 MBBS doctors permanently appointed at the Primary
Health Centers (PHC) centers. Number of women in Self Help Groups (SHGs) has
increased from 2 to 111 and women’s community has been strengthened. Many small
enterprises are set up by these SHGs.
Most
concepts of a SMART village are fulfilled by Punsari village.
You
can be the change
You
want to see in the world ..
-
Dr. M. Jyothsana,
Associate Professor, GITAM Institute of Management