Mahatma Gandhi used to say that if the village perishes India will perish. India will lose its richness. Her own mission in the world will get lost. The renewal of the villages is possible only when it is not exploited. A village named Patoda on the outskirts of Aurangabad exemplifies civic management which big cities in India like Mumbai, Pune, Bangaluru, Delhi and Chennai need to copy. About 3,350 residents of this village are living happily with amenities unimagined. The village looks lush green.
The residents of this village are provided free flour mill service to its villagers, free milk to kids, free drinking water, free hot water, and free Internet service!!! The village soon might get free dinner also. However, to avail free services each villager has to follow some basic rules of their Gram Panchayat. It is a give and take relation. Villagers have to be self-disciplined to be the beneficiary of every “Free” service mentioned above. No organization, can run without the financial discipline – be it a nation or be it a small village, monetary discipline has to be there for its sustenance. After all, the village panchyat needs to maintain the expenses. The villagers need to pay water tax based on actual consumption; the village gram panchayat has posted 100% water and property tax recovery over the past few years. This regular and sufficient income has allowed the gram panchayat to introduce innovative measures for the benefit of the villagers.
The man behind the revolution of this drought hit village is one Shri. Bhaskar Pere – the former Sarpanch (the Village Head) who is a farmer by profession, Bhaskar Pere was fed up with the regular draught and the dull and clumsy atmosphere in village. He was a typical draught-hit farmer. The village used to be very unclean. He along with some other villagers decided to change destiny of the village. He realised that change will come only when other villagers are motivated to change their lifestyle. Pere is a man with vision, determination, courage and a great business sense who transformed his village ‘Patoda’ into an ideal village by implementing several innovative ideas that won his village hundreds of awards from the state and the central governments including ‘Nirmal Gram’ award and his village has been honoured two times by the President of India. This village has adopted measures which big cities in India could not. It is self-sufficient in true sense.
Water is a precious commodity in Marathwada, so they decided to save every single drop. They recycled sewage water and used it for crops. So, even in a rain-deficient year, their crops survived, which boosted their confidence. Other villagers, who initially didn’t participate in their work, started taking interest. These villagers learnt the art of water harvesting.
In Patoda, it is compulsory for every household to build a toilet and install water meters. Solar water heaters, besides providing cheap power, save trees. Pure drinking water is supplied from a reverse osmosis water purification plant through a water vending machine at a nominal cost. Solid waste management of the gram panchayat puts even the best municipal corporations in the country to shame. Further, around 100 CCTV cameras keep round-the-clock vigil throughout the village, while its Anganwadi matches the best kindergartens in cities.
While the entire Indian national politics is busy talking about the farmer suicides in Maharashtra, particularly in Marathwada, I don’t know why Patoda model is not discussed on political platforms. Well, so many NGOs are working round-the-clock to alleviate the farmers’ plight. The bureaucracy dishes out statistics on farmer suicides at regular intervals.
It is high time those citizens of this country whether villagers or from cities must stop expecting that Government must do everything for them. Why do we have that attitude that always somebody should favour us? For decades, this thinking has been systematically been entrenched into our mindset that we are helpless and that some external support is a must for our betterment. Our politicians are so busy with their political agendas that they use statistics for their benefits.
Patoda consists of 602 homes and 3,350 villagers. Percentage of females is more than that of males in this village (Male = 1654 & Female = 1696). Therefore, you will find many schemes and projects run in this village are designed for making women’s life better. Every woman in this village is highly respected. On every home in this village, one has to write the name of the family headman as well as woman. Writing only men’s names on the homes is not allowed. The name bord outside house must consist of the lady of the house too. Bhasker Pere wants the women to have some free time in evening; therefore he was heard saying in his interview on ABP Maza channel that the dinner will be served by the panchayat.
Villagers generally are habitual of eating paan and gutka or tobacco and spitting here and there making its own village look ugly. Washbasins are installed especially for spitting. Several dhobhighaats are created for women to come together while washing their clothes and for talking with each other; the idea is that communication must never be disconnected at any point between villagers.
The Gram Panchayat has offered RO water purification system which gives its villagers drinkable water at very nominal rate and to advance tax payers first few litres are free.
The Gram Panchayat building is kept clean and tidy beyond imagination with an open area and meeting rooms on terrace for meeting people. Doors of the office are fitted with an automatic open-close operation with the sensors.
The moment you enter the territory of Patoda village, you will see a clean and scenic bridge on the Kham River welcoming you. Each house in village is provided with two trashcans by the Gram Panchayat — one for dry garbage and one for wet garbage each. And each such garbage trashcan is collected from the houses regularly and processed inside the village itself for producing fertilizers.
Values-based leadership is the idea that leaders should draw on their own by practicing what they preach. Values-based leadership philosophy asserts that people are mostly motivated by values and live according to these beliefs. Shri Bhasker Pere, the Sarpanch of Patoda village is an ideal leader. And, truly the nation must learn civic amenities lessons from him.
