Koderma (Jharkhand): It is a real and sustainable empowerment. The Koderma District Administration in Jharkhand has presented a wonderful example of bringing change through a synergy between government policies and people’s active participation. Swawlambi Gaon, an initiative of Aditya Ranjan, IAS, District Collector (DC), Koderma, aims at making villages green, clean and Aatma Nirbhar or self-reliant.

District Collector Aditya Ranjan began by organising Gram Sabhas and Raatri Chaupals to know about areas where villagers wanted to bring change. The success of the program was hugely dependent on the participation of people. With time and continued efforts, ideas and opinions were shared between the district administration and villagers.

After countless meetings, it was found out that community and personal hygiene, water conservation and education were the priority areas and a matter of concern for villagers as well. “We decided to begin by focusing on cleanliness. Response from the people was quite encouraging,” says District Collector Ranjan.      

A cleanliness drive was organised. People were encouraged to volunteer to clean their houses, neighbourhoods, public areas, common places like roads, wells and other public utility spaces. This activity brought a sense of ownership among villagers and they started to consider it as their responsibility to keep their village clean. Villagers constructed soak pits in their houses to collect waste water and prevent dirty water from flowing. 

On a personal level, villagers were continuously made aware of the importance of hygiene for a healthy and long life. As a result villagers started paying attention to personal grooming like cutting nails, washing clothes.

Going ahead to the next point of concern, water conservation, the DC selected barren and unproductive lands in villages and got large trenches dug in those lands to build ponds and check dams. These can be used to conserve water. Also, steps were taken to collect rainwater in the fields for irrigation. These steps not only helped in increasing groundwater level but also saved 30,000 litres of water.

For conservation of forests, a pilot project called ‘Kulhadi Bandi’ was launched in just four villages to put a ban on cutting of trees and forests. Seeing the result, it was applied to around 120 villages.

However, if any forest land needs to be cleared, it should be brought into the notice of Gram Sabha and should be discussed. Only then the permission can be given. If a person cuts any tree without special permission of Gram Sabha, he shall be punished by Gram Sabha and a complaint shall be registered against him by the Forest Department.

The villagers were also encouraged to do plantations on a large scale. Saplings were available at almost all villages. According to District Collector Ranjan, close to one lakh plantations were done by villagers.

After successfully completing three initial phases of the initiative, involving cleanliness, water conservation and plantation, the next step is to work towards providing livelihood opportunities for the women. At the same time, villagers will be surveyed to know about their area of interest. Based on which concerned department will be roped in. 

The pilot project, which was started from four villages, has now been extended to 120 villages now. The District Collector himself is meeting villagers to motivate them on a regular basis. /BI/