Page 78 - SocialHarmony

82 Social Harmony

renowned for its handicrafts. Why can’t the sarpanch of every
village dream about making his/her own village famous? The
villagers of Dharmaj, near Anand have come up with a unique
concept. Instead of quarrelling among themselves over pasture,
they have started growing grass and have developed an
organization for supplying fodder to cattle owners. The income
from this has enabled them to build a huge hall which even a
large city would envy. Navalgadh in Surendranagar district has
pioneered the Gobar Bank. Dung of around 1500 registered
animals is collected and used to produce Gobar Gas, which
supplies electricity for the village. Further plans include
providing fertilizer to villagers in proportion of dung deposited
by them and selling the excess fertilizer to generate income.
The ladies of the Swaraj Group manage the Gobar Gas Plant
and generate income for around 90 families. I request the
sarpanch of every village to explore such options. Why can’t
every village have a Gobar Gas Plant or a centre for economic
development? If villagers are determined, they can bring about
an economic revolution and create history. This will happen if
all the members of the Gram Panchayat truly understand their
role as leaders and work for the development of their village
and their state.

Lady Sarpanches Bring a New Ray of Hope
When a lady becomes the sarpanch of a village, some

unusual problems are created. Let me relate a humorous
incident when I was working in Haryana. At one of the meetings,
a gentleman introduced himself as SP. I told him that this is a
BJP meeting, not a government one, so he could not attend it.
He countered that he had been attending all such meetings in
the past. We kept on arguing, and would have argued even
more, till he revealed that SP means ‘Sarpanch Pati’ (husband
of the Sarpanch), not Superintendent of Police. I request all lady
sarpanches to keep the responsibility of their position in their
own hands, and not pass it on to their husbands.

I am reminded of a meeting with some 17 ladies from
Umreth village about five years back. They informed me that