Success Stories

Listed here are a few success stories to begin with. We will be adding several more stories to this in the months ahead. If you have any suggestions or have a story to share that highlights the success of local self-governance please write to us at contact@lokrajandolan.org

1. Odanthurai Panchayat shows the way in power generation
2. Rainwater harvesting helps Michaelpattinam out of water scarcity
3. Hivre Bazar
4. Download Hivre Bazar - Hindi Version (pdf)

Odanthurai Panchayat shows the way in power generation

In a country where villages are still struggling with inadequate power supply and expect the government to fix the problem, Odanthurai Gram Panchayat, 40 km north of Coimbatore, has set an example in producing its own environmentally friendly power.

The most notable of Odanthurai’s self-help ventures in electricity generation is the 350-kw wind farm that it set up in 2006 under the direction of a well functioning Gram Sabha and the leadership of R. Shanmugam, who was Panchayat president from 1996 to 2006.

Having seen the government helping many private companies acquire village land in Coimbatore district at subsidized prices for setting up wind power projects, the enterprising Shanmugam thought: ‘Why not a wind power project under Panchayat ownership? After all a village community, through its Panchayat, is the most legitimate owner of land and wind, the two natural resources that directly go into wind power generation.’

Shanmugam worked out the costs. A small wind farm would cost Rs 2.3 crore. Odanthurai panchayat could generate Rs 35 lakh as margin money for a bank loan. After government help, the panchayat would need a bank loan of Rs 1.15 crore.

The Gram Sabha liked the idea and gave its collective seal of approval to the proposal. Odanthurai’s first-of-its-kind proposal took the district administration by surprise. Never had it imagined that a Panchayat could also aspire to be as entrepreneurial as a private company.
‘How can a Panchayat set up a wind farm; there are no precedents and guidelines for such a project under Panchayat ownership. These projects have always been meant for industries. Then there is the question: can a Panchayat borrow money from a bank?’ was the predictable response of the District Collector.

As the project was disallowed, Odanthurai Gram Sabha remained resolute. The village went to court against the decision of the district administration. The court quashed the government decision.

The state government finally sanctioned the project which was taken up under the Remunerative Enterprises Scheme. Commissioned in 2006, the project became the first such project undertaken by a local body in India.

The windfarm generates 7.5 lakh units of electricity annually. While the panchayat’s need is only 4.5 lakh units, the remainder is sold to Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). This gives the panchayat an annual income of Rs. 19 lakh.

“After repaying the bank loan of Rs. 1.15 crore, over seven years, the cost of generating electricity will be virtually zero,” beams Shanmugam.

Odanthurai has also made inroads in other renewable sources of energy. It has 65 solar streetlights in two hamlets and a nine-KW (kilo watt) biomass gasifier to pump drinking water.

Though the panchayat faces three hours of power disruption every day, it ensures that drinking water pumping operations and street lighting are not affected, as renewable energy is used for such needs.

The success story of Odanthurai has inspired many panchayat leaders to plan projects aimed at harnessing renewable energy.

Now Shanmugam often wonders aloud: ‘Why can’t the government help all Panchayats own windfarms and let them generate revenue for running their affairs without any other financial assistance.’

That’ll indeed be the true local self-government.

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Rainwater harvesting helps Michaelpattinam out of water scarcity

In 2001, when Jesu Mary was re-elected president of the Michaelpattinam panchayat of the drought-prone Ramanthapuram district of Tamil Nadu, she was determined to find an enduring solution to the water scarcity faced by her village.

Michaelpattinam, which is Mudukalathur block, had not only been suffering water shortage, but its groundwater had also turned saline and slightly yellow.

In attending a seminar in October 2002, Mary learnt about the great benefits of rainwater harvesting. She learnt that rain water harvesting could not only replenish the ground water sources but also improve the quality of water.

Convinced that rainwater harvesting must be tried in her village, she launched a campaign to implement the technique only to meet a lot of skepticism and apathy. So she started with one home on a pilot basis and worked patiently to build the confidence of her community.
The Michaepattinam Gram Sabha showed receptivity to her idea and gradually the entire village was won over.

Today, each of Michaelpattinam’s 250 households has rainwater housing structures, which are essentially systems that guide rainwater into underground pits that can be used for water supply.

The augmented water supply of a household has encouraged families to construct toilets. Now each household in Michaelpattinam has a toilet.

Village women no longer have to walk 2-3 km to fetch water or to but water. Their needs are well taken care of recharged groundwater table.

The village also decided to get its public tank supplied with rainwater harvesting structure.
The success story of Michaelpattinam so much gladdened Jayalalithaa, the then chief minister of Tamil Nadu that she ordered that all Panchayat’s take up rain water harvesting.

It has been another heartening tale of how collective decision making in local matters can effectively deal with local problems that elude solutions pushed by state and central governments.

In 2003, Mary received a World Bank award for successfully implementing 100% rainwater harvesting scheme in her village.

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Hivre Bazar

Hivre Bazar is a small village, with less than 250 families, near Pune in Ahmednagar district. It is a story of remarkable turnaround on all fronts. In 1989, 90% of its families lived below poverty line. Today, there are just three of them. In 1989, per capita income was Rs 842. Today it is Rs 28,000. The village has excellent roads, school upto class tenth and a new hospital is coming up. Earlier, people used to live in jhuggis. Now, every family has a beautiful pucca house with a toilet, water and electricity connection. No FIR has been filed in this village in the last five years. Earlier, the area was crime infested.

The village suffered from all conceivable problems till 1989. Between 1972 and 1989, the village faced series of droughts, which broke the backbone of villagers. The land is arid and there is no irrigation. The people rely on rainfed cultivation. Many people left the village. In 1980’s there was a lot of groupism in the village with lot of infighting. The village was crime prone. Liquor was freely made and consumed.

In 1989, about 70 youngsters came together and decided to change their village. They requested village elders to allow one of the youngsters to become village sarpanch for a year. After great persuasion, the elders agreed. Popatrao Pawar, a 26 year old boy, had completed his M Com and was a budding cricketer having played in state team. He was requested to give up his career ambitions and work as village sarpanch. He agreed. He was made sarpanch for a year.

Popatrao decided that he would not take any important decisions himself and would take all issues to Gram Sabha (general village assembly of all voters), which he considers as village parliament.

The biggest challenge before Popatrao and his team of youngsters was to win the hearts of all villagers. They started with the village school, which was in shambles. The roof used to leak in rains and the floor was broken. Popatrao’s team repaired the floor and the roof through shramdaan (voluntary labour). This impressed some villagers. In Gram Sabha, people were requested to donate their land for village school. Two families donated parts of their houses. The youngsters repaired it through shramdaan and made it into a part of the school. By the end of the first year, the villagers were quite impressed by the selfless devotion of these youngsters. They decided to allow Popatrao to continue as sarpanch for the next four years.

Popatrao got Rs 60,000 sanctioned from Zilla Parishad to construct one room in the school. The youngsters again performed shramdaan and made two rooms out of that money. The school, which was till fourth class earlier, was upgraded upto seventh class. But the Government did not sanction teachers. The youngsters, by rotation, started taking classes. The school results were excellent. This won the hearts of all villagers. Between 1990 to 1993, about 22 families donated their land or parts of their houses for school purposes. The villagers also started turning up in large numbers for shramdaan for any purpose.

The village land is arid. It was decided in village assembly meetings to conserve water by constructing watershed structures. They first approached the forest department, which agreed to build watershed structures in 70 hectares of forest land around the village. The forest department had done that in 1980 also. But it did not work in 1980 because the villagers sent their cattle for grazing and cut trees and plants. This time, before the forest department started their exercise, the villagers passed a resolution in Gram Sabha meeting banning any grazing and also banning cutting of trees. As a result, the forest department’s efforts worked this time. This shows how the government schemes and efforts fail, when they are done without taking people in confidence.

The villagers decided to build water conservation structures on the rest of the land surrounding village. The whole village participated in this exercise and offered shramdaan.

All this resulted in the water table of the village rising from more than 80 feet to less than 15 feet. Gram Sabha also banned sugarcane and banana crops because these are high water guzzling crops. The Gram Sabha also banned use of tubewells for irrigation as that depletes water table. As a result, all people now grow onions, jawar, bajra etc. This has been the key to their economic prosperity.

There is just one Muslim family in the village. The Gram Sabha decided to build a mosque for the one family. Donations were raised and the mosque was finally built. There are about ten dalit families. Their daughters are treated as daughters of the village and the entire village contributes for their marriages.

Hivre Bazar could do it because there was a good sarpanch, who took the people along. But it is not mandatory under the law for a sarpanch to do that. Therefore, we need a law, which institutionalises the processes of Hivre Bazar.

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