INTRODUCTION
Since
India is a predominantly rural country, with more than two-thirds
of its population living in villages, proper development of its villages
is essential for the nation's progress.
Any such development will have to be through an integrated approach,
combining the various dimensions of community living, such as education,
health, economic development, vocational training, organic farming,
water harvesting, etc. However, before any programme can be initiated,
the village community itself will have to be encouraged to perceive
the need for change and to take responsibility for any activity that
leads to such change. The role of government and development organisations
will be to act as supporters and catalysts.
In this context the Sri Aurobindo Rural & Village Action &
Movement (SARVAM) aims at developing and establishing such a progressive
model village community, which will also create an environment conducive
to the integral growth of the individual. As such, activities will
involve not only the physical development of the person but also the
emotional, mental, and the deeper, higher spiritual dimensions of
his or her personality.
The project is targeted at every individual in the village - child,
woman and man - with the child as the central focus, around whom the
entire project will evolve. The necessary inputs - material, financial,
technological, emotional, social and psychological - will be provided
while at the same time, eliminating any inhibiting constraints that
may prove to be obstacles.
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APPROACH
& STRATEGY
The
approach will be multi-dimensional, involving work at several levels:
•Psychological change
and
empowerment of
the
people.
•Meaningful involvement of
the people in all aspects
of
development -
from analysing
issues, discovering
solutions, making
and implementing
plans to learning
from their outcomes.
•Involving and working with existing networks, services, and
resources at all levels.
•Use of available infrastructure, local material, technology
and human
resources as
far as possible.
•Involving expertise of traditional institutions and local leadership.
•Finding solutions suitable to local requirements and existing
situation in
India, while
also looking at what the world has to offer.
•Working with the full awareness that success of the programme
is
dependent on
the change and opening to a higher consciousness.
•Action plans and programmes will be owned and managed by the
community,
who will identify
key persons or leaders from among
themselves
and issues for
intervention,
as well as set out realistic,
measurable
and achievable goals.
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AN
INTEGRATED PROGRAME
The
programme will include activities in the following areas:
1. Physical and Economic Development using viable technologies, ecology,
rural
industries, and
agriculture.
2. Vital Development through harmonious organisation of the family
and community,
particularly the empowerment of women, skills enhancement
and
entrepreneurship.
3. Psychological and Cultural Development through education and training,
with
an
emphasis on intellectual,
ethical and aesthetic development.
4. Spiritual Development through the right understanding of religion,
spirituality
and
yoga and their
role in life.
A
NEW APPROACH TO EDUCATION
Education
in India has hitherto been confined to rote learning or aimed only
at providing a certain skill without touching students' mental capacity
or character. SARVAM's approach to education will be tailored to suit
prevailing conditions in rural areas but at the same time will cover
all aspects of life. Teaching methods will be simple, interesting,
based upon and related to the children's surroundings and experiences.
Character and personality
building will also be an important objective. Vocational skills and
training for agriculture, handicrafts, rural and agro-based industries
or service activities required in a village setting will be an important
component. Those with the aptitude for higher studies will be trained
accordingly with the view of studying at the nearest universities.
Education will be value
based and include intellectual and moral instruction and embrace development
of both children and adults. Schools, technical instruction in different
vocations, classes for music and dance, a cinema hall where educational
films will be shown, a lecture hall, a library, a reading room, varied
physical education, etc. will be set up.
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ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT AND ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
It is necessary that we take the new tools created by science and
technology to the villages. Simultaneously we will have to take into
consideration the nature of the setting and the subject, and combine
the modern with the rural. Discretion has to be used as to what to
introduce and what to leave out. Only that technology or method which
leads to the overall development of the community will be used while
anything that runs the risk of disrupting the finer elements of an
indigenous personality, will be left out of the agenda.
Economic development and self reliance for all strata of rural community
will be a very important part of our work. SARVAM will draw on the
varied experiences of all those who have worked in this field and
develop new innovative models suited to Indian conditions and ethos.
Through this effort we believe there will be a notable change in the
economy of the village as a natural consequence of the integrated
programme.
ENVIRONMENTAL
AND ECOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
Poverty
is one of the world's greatest environmental hazards. Fulfilling the
basic needs of rural poor may be the first priority of rural development
but this should not put additional pressure on the already over-exploited
resources of nature leading to further degradation of the environment.
Any further adverse impact on an already fragile terrestrial eco-system
will in the long run, instead of helping the rural poor will only
intensify and accentuate their problems.
Thus we have to find a new path to lead villages to economic self-reliance,
through a development process which instead of working against Nature,
will work in harmony and cooperation with Nature. As far as possible
one must use local raw materials that are eco-friendly. Nature has
provided us with all the answers but we have forgotten to ask the
right questions.
Another issue which demands an ecological and systemic approach is
the need for promoting rural-urban symbiosis. The need of the hour
is not local self-sufficiency but networking systems to establish
a complementary harmony between them. Development strategies will
therefore be based on these principles.
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ROLE
OF HEALTH
A primary objective of our work will be to take up health in all its
dimensions, with a new and total awareness of the human being, leading
to the elimination of disease and illness by eliminating the root
causes, and bringing forth an inner harmony.
Medical treatment will include and encourage various alternative
systems, including traditional and indigenous practices, along with
allopathic system. Activities will include regular medical visits,
a hospital, a dispensary, and a nursing home for segregation of contagious
cases. A department of hygiene will have the exclusive function of
inspecting all public and private buildings to see that the most rigorous
rules of cleanliness are observed everywhere.
The Rural Health Centre will include:
•A medical clinic.
•A mobile medical unit which will visit villages regularly.
•Arranging specialized treatment by networking with other medical
hospitals.
•A village outreach programme where health workers will interact
with local people
to create awareness not just about health and hygiene but also
issues
like AIDS, Drugs,
Tobacco, etc.
•Specialised health workshops for women, youth, etc. to make
them aware
of
the
role they play.
MANAGEMENT
AND EMPOWERMENT
A project of this nature will demand a new approach to management.
The primary motive of all those who join in this effort will have
to be dedicated service. It will be a team effort with minimum hierarchical
structure.
We must be clear that our purpose is not merely to provide funds
and resources but to help the people of the villages to realise that
they are capable of bringing about a major change in their lives and
environment. To motivate them enough to work for and take up the responsibilities
for such change. SARVAM will act primarily as a catalyst and a support
and coordinating group.
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IN
BRIEF
To ensure that all the required measures are carried out effectively,
one has to ensure that the people involved understand the fundamental
need for a change in attitude and consciousness. It is necessary to
see hope for a better world for themselves and their children because
of the changes in their personal lifestyles, development of the entire
village they belong to, and a sense of unity with the nation as a
whole.
The creation of dedicated village action groups is one of the first
conditions for proper development in villages. They will be able to
destroy the aloofness, the separateness of our lives and bring back
the sense of community, the habit of mutual assistance and mutual
benefits. Such groups will take up the lack of resources and remove
it. They will find ways of healing family feuds and individual discords,
to restore the lost sense of brotherhood. They will seek out the sick
and give them medical relief, organise drought and flood relief, ensure
justice and protection. The basis of a new India will be laid in these
ties which bind together the hearts of the people.
Our aim is to create a big family in which it will be possible for
the individual to develop his capacity and express himself, yet come
together for the welfare of the whole community. We will try to build
the village according to the most modern plans, meeting all the up-to-date
requirements of hygiene and public health. Along with residential
houses, there will be gardens and sports grounds for physical culture,
well designed community kitchen and recreation centres for young and
old alike. Nothing necessary for life will be forgotten, with everyone
functioning on a basis of common, collaborative life and work.
ACTION
PLAN
FIRST PHASE
In
the first phase, SARVAM has taken up the integrated development of
two villages, Poothurai and Perambai in Villupuram District of Tamil
Nadu, bordering the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The project will
involve a novel integrated approach in every component aspect, including
education, vocational training, health, economic development, organic
farming, water harvesting, waste management, alternative energy resources,
etc. It is hoped that the two villages will be an inspiration for
other village communities.
OUTREACH
PROGRAMMES
Along with this our work will reach out to the whole of India in three
ways:
1. The Integrated Rural and Village Development Programme will also
become
a Training Centre,
so that institutions and organisations from
all
over India can
send their representatives for a practical, hands on
training,
of short and long
durations.
2. For such a large task it is important that all NGOs network and
collaborate,
learn from each other and help each other. Therefore
we
would
like to create a Website where exhaustive information about the various
successful projects and
institutions in rural development will
be
available, with contact information (person, address, e-mail,
telephone,
etc.) that will enable links to all institutions through an
interactive
supportive network.
3. We would like to prepare well researched, aesthetically and interestingly
presented
documentary films, based on actual life experiences, on specific themes
like rural education, rural health, rural economic development,
organic
farming,
water harvesting, etc. These would be dubbed into
all
major languages of India and taken to villages all over India through
the
latest IT technology.
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