Jaipur: Dhanora is all dashing now thanks to remarkable development the village has witnessed over the years, courtesy Dr Satyapal Singh Meena, an IRS officer. Nestled in the lap of Chambal region in Dholpur district of Rajasthan, Dhanora is an ideal model village, a feat Dr Meena has achieved through his path-breaking initiative known as ‘Soch Badlo Gaon Badlo Abhiyan’ (SBGBA campaign). Toilet facilities in every household well connected with the sewerage line and treatment plant, wider paved roads with plantation, solar lights, CCTV cameras, full-fledged library, community and wellness centres, information centre, meditation centre, Utthan coaching centre enabled with online teaching facility, well equipped schools, water conservation structures, Dhanora today boasts of everything only to earn the sobriquet of India’s first smart village.

According to Dr Meena, SBGBA is based on the principle of giving back to society. “It is our collective responsibility to improve the ease of life for our people in villages. If every person starts contributing his bit, then there is no problem. What we have been able to achieve in my village Dhanora can be replicated in other parts of the country as well. It is a matter of creating awareness and driving the people towards better goals,” added Dr Meena, while admitting that the community development has not been institutionalised in our country even after 75 years of independence as we have not evolved an ecosystem and the inbuilt biases and prejudices of rich and powerful people towards the rural populace, majority of whom are deprived sections of society.

Started in May 2012, SBGBA has now over 2000 volunteers, known as SBGBT family, who are engaged in ameliorating the woes of poor rural habits in the eastern districts of Rajasthan and some other parts of the country as well. “SBGBA works with a multipronged strategy. We also provide financial support to underprivileged students, work for the empowerment of women, especially girls, impart skills for self-employment, and solve local problems locally through mutual cooperation, cohesion and public participation," he said.

Mass awareness, active public participation and proactive support of local administration are the key to village development. Our motto is to create modern facilities in the villages without disturbing values of the rural society and ecosystem of the village. The idea is to ensure holistic development of the community through their wholesome engagement,” emphasized Dr Meena.

Some of the key initiatives under the umbrella of SBGBA are Soch Badlo Gaon Badlo Yatra aimed at creating mass awareness among the people about government initiatives, schemes, their responsibilities and brainstorming for local problems; Green Village - Clean Village to promote preservation of the environment in general and water conservation in particular; ‘Aao Padhen Aage Badhen Abhiyaan’ and ‘Shiksha Paao Gyaan Badhaao Abhiyan’ to encourage students towards education; Raktdaan-Mahadaan for blood donation.

Through ‘Gram Vikas Samitis,’ SBGBA mobilizes resources for village development and supports the Panchayats in their development activities. The most aspiring project of the SBGBA is ‘Utthan Sankalpana’ which helps the needy students study and prepare for examinations, especially those girls who have been married early and could not continue their studies in bigger cities. 'Utthan Bhawan' is a ray of hope for thousands of rural students. The team is helping and motivating volunteers to establish and run 'Utthan Libraries' and 'Utthan Coaching Institutes' in various villages.

“We strongly feel that even our smallest efforts do play a quintessential role in changing the lives of the rural people. Therefore, we appeal to people to join these initiatives to create a better future for our villages, make collective efforts, and try to create a responsive and harmonious environment for everyone around us. By doing this, slowly but certainly, we would be able to set in a great change in the overall ideology of the rural populace,” said Devendra Singh Dhanera, Chief coordinator, SBGBA.

Smart Village Dhanora, 30 km away from Dholpur district headquarters and is 248 km away from Jaipur city with a population of around 2000, conveys a lot. Burdened with almost every problem an Indian is familiar with, Dhanora has charted a different course. It is green, open defecation free, with good roads and sewerage facility, information centre, mediation centre, community centre for meetings and functions, good school, drainage, urge for education among children, umpteen helping hands, community determination to stand up against adversity and helping the needy – all what is required to justice the saying that India’s soul lives in its villages!