MADHYA PRADESH DARSHAN III EDITION

RURAL IMMERSION 2011

Group16VIDISHA

AkshayGupta
AlokBharti
AnushaK
ManthaTejaswini
NitinKumar
PranitSaindani
PrasannaPatange
RohitPhulsunge
SudeepTripathy
SwastikPanda

AboutVidisha

Vidishaissituated65kmawayfromBhopal.ThedistrictofVidisha,with1624villages,5towns,7Tehsils
is located in the Eastern part of the fertile Malwa Region. The economy is primarily agriculture based
with81%ofthepopulationinvolvedinfarming.Around64%ofthetotalareaof7371km2isutilizedfor
farming.

VisittoPipariyaAjeetVillage
Onthefirstdayofourvisit,wewereescortedtoavillagecalledPipariyaAjeetroughly85kms.from
theVidishadistrictheadquarters.Thereweredifferentgovernmentschemesbeingimplementedinthe
villageincludingNREGA,Anganwadi,pensionfortheelderlyetc.

NREGAimplementationwascoordinatedbyfewofficialsincludingthechiefengineerofthedistrict,the
villagesarpanchandthevillagetreasurer.Onlyonememberofeachfamilyinthevillagewasmandated
to get 100 days of work @Rs.122/day. The chiefengineer came up with infrastructure development
ideas and the ways to implement them. For instance, he had engaged workers in building canals,
Shantidhametc.Thetreasurermaintainedthedetailedaccountsoftheworkersanddisbursedamounts
aftertakingtheirsignatures.There werecomplaintsonthepartoftheCEOthatpeoplehadgonetoo
lazybecauseofthegovt.spolicytofeedthemfornowork.TheywouldnowsettleforonlyRs.100rather
thanRs.122. Therearisesaquestionastowhyshouldthey befediftheyare unwillingto work?Back
comes the reply, that the party would then lose its vote bank. No, one knows what happens to the
differential between the amount sanctioned and the amount that is actually paid to the villagers for
their work or no work. Nevertheless, there has been good work done in the village post NREGA
implementation. The accounts of the rural people under this scheme are maintained in the Punjab
NationalBank(PNB).Alistofthepeoplebenefitedunderthisschemewiththeiraccountnumberswas
presentedtous.TheCEOalongwithotherofficialstoldusthatthechancesofmoneynotreachingto
the deserving people has lessened (in fact has become null) due to the highly computerized way of
operationsthesedays.AComputeroperatorhasbeenappointedtominimizethemisallocationoffunds
andsofarthisschemeishighlysuccessful.

The Anganwadi system facilitates schemes such as Ladli Lakshmi Yojana, Midday meal scheme and
Integratedchilddevelopmentscheme(ICDS).LadliLakshmiprogrammegrantedRs.1,18,000toeverygirl
ofthevillagewhoattainedtheageof21years.Thiswasdonetocontainthescourgeoffemalefoeticide.
The midday meal scheme was intended at providing free and nutritious food to all the school going
childrenofthevillage.TheICDschemelooksatprovidingchildrenintheagegroupof06yrswithpre
school education and stopping malnutrition, morbidity and subsequent mortality. Nourishing mothers
andtheirchildrenareprovidedwithsupplementarynutrition.Immunizationprogrammesfortheabove
targetgroupiscarriedoutthroughtheMedicalOfficer.

Thereare2schools:oneprimary(classes15),theothersecondary(68).Allchildrenofthevillagehad
been enrolled into the schools. We got to know from the people there that the district has about 1
schoolinevery3kmsradiusdistance.Infactgirlswhoaregoingtoschoolarefacilitatedwithabicycle
under the LADLI LAKSHMI scheme. Some of them after completing their schooling had moved on to
collegeinVidisha.Accordingtotheheadmasterofoneoftheschool,thepasspercentagewas50%for
class10th.Somestudentsweremeritoriousenoughtogetscholarships.

Regardingpensionschemes,seniorcitizensabovetheageof65yearsarebenefitedfromtheseschemes
andgovernmentadjustthepensionafterconsideringtheinflationandthenumberofyearsworkedby
thepersonduringhisadulthood.

VisittoLateri
LateriisatehsilandpanchayatintheVidishadistrictwhichis100kmfromthedistrictheadquarters.We
reportedtotheareadevelopmentofficerwhoappraisedusofthedevelopmentprojectsundertakenin
thetehsil.

We were allocated the village of Anandpur to sensitize us to state of life in rural communities and to
observetheimplementationofgovernmentschemes.Anandpurissituated20kmfromLateri.Wewere
providedaccommodationatShriSadguruSevaSanghTrustAshram.

Anandpur has a Government Higher Secondary School, in addition to an Anganbadi and a primary
school.IntheAnganbadi,wefoundoutthattherewerecertainissuesregardingthedistributionofthe
middaymeals.Originally,thesystemwassupervisedbytheschoolteacherswhowereresponsiblefor
checking the quality of the food. Following complaints by the parents concerning the quality of meals
served,thegovernmentdecidedtohandovertheresponsibilitytothevillagecommunities.However,it
turnedintoapoliticalissuewithdifferentcastesfightingovertheauthoritytooverseethescheme.

NextwevisitedthevillageofKaladeowherewewitnessedtheEkdivasiyaprashikshan(aprogramme
forthedistributionofFertilizersandPesticides).Thisprogrammeaimedateducatingthefarmersabout
theuseandbenefitsofvariousmodernfertilizersandpesticides.Theprogrammewasundertakenbythe
KisanKalyantathaKrishiVikasVibhagorthedepartmentofAgricultureDeveleopment.Theeventwas
attendedbythevillageSarpanch,theAreadevelopmentofficer,theChiefInformationOfficerandthe
LocalCouncillor.

Farmerstrainingcamp

This was organised on the 5th day of our visit in Kaladev village under the purview of Lateri district
Collectorate.ThiseventwasgracedbythelocalMLA,theSDM,COOofJanpal,headofthefarmers
associationi.e.KrishikarSangathanandtheheadofthegrampanchayat.Thevenuewasthegroundsof
a middle school. This was organised to distribute free organic pesticides and fertilizers for the
leguminous crops like pulses in particular. The main reason for this initiative by the government is to
push the production of the legumes in MP. Currently many of our pulses are being imported and in
ordertoachieveselfsufficiencytheGov.ofMPistakingupsuchinitiatives.Inaddition,theimportance
of organic farming is being reiterated to all the farmers across all districts we visited. They spoke at
length about the usefulness of natural manures like cow dung, cow urine etc. and about the use of
earthwormsinagriculture.Someoftheoldgenerationfarmerssharedtheirorganicfarmingexperience
withtheyoungerlot.

Toavailtheschemewasthefarmershouldhavelandbetween4bheegasto12bheegas.Mainlythiswas
aimed at medium scale farmers and this was aimed at popularising the legume sowing. Even though
theyhighlightedtheimportanceoftheseadditivesforleguminouscrops,itwasalsousefultoincrease
the produce of other crops as well. The official from the agricultural department gave the assembled
farmersadetaileddescriptionofthecontentsoftheorganicfarmingsupplementkit.Healsoexplained
infulldetailtheexactproportion,sequenceandprocessofusingthesupplements.Healsostressedon

the need to reduce dependence on the chemical pesticides and urged farmers to use organic farming
methodology.Thefarmershadgoodknowhowofthedifferentpesticides/fertilizersandaskedrelevant
questionstoclarifytheirdoubtsaboutthesame.Thenalistoftheeligiblefarmerswasbroughtoutand
thekitsweredistributed.

The Government is surely taking up a lot on initiatives to ensure selfreliance of the small scale and
mediumscalefarmers.

ShriSadguruSevaSanghTrust

Shri Sadguru Seva Sangh Trust (SSSST) is a humanitarian organization, established in 1968 on the
premiseofselflessservicetomankind.ParamPujyaRanchhoddasjiMaharajfoundedtheTrustwiththe
goalofalleviatingthesufferingsoftheneedyandthedowntrodden.

Ensuingtheenormousneedofhavingbasiceyecareservicesavailableincloservicinitiesofthevillage
communities, SNC began reaching out from its hospital precincts to the villages. This was achieved
through their multipronged activities which over the years have gradually grown to include
comprehensiveoutreachcamps,schooleyescreeningprogram,nonschoolgoingchildreneyescreening
program, vision centre services and eyehealth education programs. These activities have positively
assistedinreachingouttimelyandqualitativeeyecareinterventionstothecommunities.

Over the years, the organization has grown up to a greater strength and presently ambits one of the
largest rural eye care institutions in the region viz. Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya, and another
comprehensivegeneralhospitalviz.JankikundChikitsalaya,boththehospitalsaresituatedatChitrakoot.
OtherinstitutionsoftheTrustarealsodedicatedlyworkingtowardshealthcare,educational,socialand
rural development activities in the Central India. The Trust has also expanded its healthcare and
educational activities in the rural areas of Anandpur, where two new hospital units viz. Shri Sadguru
SankalpNetraChikitsalyaandtheShriSadguruSankalpMatruSadanareaddedtotheexistinggeneral
hospitalofShriSadguruSankalpChikitsalya.

ReflectionandLearnings
The trip to Vidisha was an eye opener for the group who had never ever witnessed the rural life so
closely.Gettingtoknowtheadministrationatthegrassrootlevelwasanenrichingexperienceforthe
wholegroup.Wehadonlyreadaboutthevariousschemesofthegovernmentearlierbutonthistrip,we
observedthemcloselyandlearntthevariousproblemsfacedbythegovernmentinimplementingthem.

The rural areas, though benefitting from various government schemes, have many areas to improve.
Thereisaneedforthestakeholderstounderstandtheirrolesandresponsibilitiestowardsdevelopment.
They must also be aware of the various alternatives available for the problems faced by them. At the
sametimethebeneficiariesalsohavetoshowfaithingovernmentsintentions.Theymustunderstand
thattheprocessofdevelopmentisatwowayprocesswherebothbeneficiariesaswellasgovernment
havetoworktogether.Thedevelopmentwouldbesustainableifapublicprivatemodelisimplemented.
Itwillalsospeeduptheprocessofdevelopment.