Counsellor: Sri Deepak Raghu, IA&AS

Sustainable Practices in Rural India: Examples w.r.t. SDGs

Example : Hiware Bazar 54 millionaires exist in the village Each resident of Hiware Bazar earns almost double of most of the

country’s rural population A five pronged approach has been adopted for the socio-economic

infrastructure of the village that includes : Free labour Ban on Grazing Ban on Tree Cutting Ban on Liquor Family Planning

(http://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/hiware-bazar--a-village-with-54-millionaires-4039)

1995 – 160/180 families were BPL in 1995 2017 - only 3 families are BPL Have different set of BPL indicators

Access to 2 meals a day

Capacity to enroll at least 2 children in school

Expenditure on health

*(3 times higher than the official poverty line)

Example: Hiware Bazar “ Water Budgeting “ The village implemented drip irrigation system to

conserve soil and water Avoiding crops like sugar cane and bananas Rain water harvesting Digging trenches around the hill Afforestation Contour farming

Example: Hiware Bazar HIV/AIDS test is compulsory before marriage Ban on smoking, tobacco, liquor etc Cleanliness given utmost importance – 2 houses share biogas plant

Example: Ramchandrapur The first village in Telangana region to win the Nirmal Puraskar in 2004-05 a decade ago the villagers pledged to donate their eyes for the visually

challenged. all the houses in the village have smokeless chullahs and toilets with tap-

water facilities. first village in the state to construct a sub-surface dyke on the nearby river

and solve drinking water problems by constructing two over-head tanks in each house.

The village does not have drainage system and all the water generated from each house is diverted to the gardens, which are planted by the villagers in each house.

Example: Baghuvar , Madhya Pradesh -the only village in India that has functioned without a sarpanch since independence, and that too efficiently. -Every house in the village has its own lavatories -There is a common toilet complex.

- The village has underground sewage lines as well as the highest number of biogas plants in the state.

- The gas produced is used as cooking fuel and to light up the village.

- Thanks to its unique way of water conservation, this village also has enough water to survive drought-like conditions for years.

Baghuvar, Madhya Pradesh

Example: Odanthurai, Tamil Nadu

- The Panchayat has not only been generating electricity for their own use, but also selling power to Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. -already won international acclaim through its unique welfare schemes and energy self-sufficiency drives. -has begun efforts to develop a corpus of Rs 5 crore to install wind and solar energy farms. - This project will enable free supply of electricity to over 8,000 residents.

Odanthurai, Tamil Nadu

Example: Eraviperoor, Kerala It is the first gram panchayat in Kerala to have free

Wi-Fi for the general public. The village has also launched a free palliative care

scheme for the poor and is the first panchayat in the state to get ISO-9001 certification for its Primary Health Centre.

It has also been recognised as a Model Hi-tech Green Village, by the Horticulture Department, for its green initiatives.

Example: Punsari, Gujarat Closed-circuit cameras, water purifying plants,

biogas plants, air-conditioned schools, Wi-Fi, biometric machines

And all of it was done in a matter of eight years, at a cost of Rs. 16 crore.

The man behind the transformation is its young tech-savvy sarpanch – 33-year-old Himanshu Patel – who proudly states that his village offers “the amenities of a city but the spirit of a village.”

Example :Bisnoi tribe villagers-Western Rajasthan has, over the centuries, protected commited to the conservation of forests, trees and wild animals in and around their villages.

Bishnois do not cut trees for fuel and timber; they remove only the dead trunks and twigs.

Spotted deer, black buck and blue bull can be seen foraging fearlessly in their fields. Even if the crop is consumed by herds of deer, the Bishnois do not chase away the animals

They hugged the khejri trees in protest and as many as 363 of them laid down their lives to save the trees.

Example: Ralegan Siddhi It is a model of environmental conservation. programs like tree planting, terracing to

reduce soil erosion and digging canals to retain rainwater.

the village uses solar power, biogas (some generated from the community toilet) and a windmill.

The project is heralded as a sustainable model of a village republic.

All the village street lights each have separate solar panels

Example: Dharnai, a village of 2400 residents in Bihar, beat 30

years of darkness by developing its own solar- powered system for electricity.

With the help of Greenpeace India solar-powered micro-grid, they are able to generate electricity for homes, street lighting for roads and lanes, and water pumps.

It is the first Indian village where all aspects of life are powered by solar energy.

Gandhi ji: The real India lies in villages To empower the villages we need to ensure

that villages are self sufficient Concept of Swaraj SDGs can help us to make our villages

sustainable and self sufficient at the same time without compromising development.