Dear All,
I had posted my thoughts on JJ on 28 Dec 2005. I am pasting them again for consideration by members.
"A good beginning and my congratulations to all those who were involved in this ice breaking and trend setting meet. The task is huge and there is no time to waste.
The key to a successful community development effort is to take everyone together without expecting anything in return. More often than not despondency sets in after a while and that is the biggest challenge. There are more reasons than one for such a stage to arrive and the foremost is having an AIM that is impractical. If the AIM is modest and targets the grass root problem, success is likely. Therefore, the aim must be well thought out and maintained at all times.
Nothing would happen till the times the villagers themselves are not convinced of the urgent need of ‘Education’ and ‘Being Equipped to Face the Challenges’. And they would be convinced only when the group wanting to make a difference is well equipped to make that difference. By being well equipped I mean that members should be able to devote time, energy, resources and money to achieve the chosen aim. It is a long haul and the results would take years. As time passes one would also realise that no amount of effort was enough and so much more could have been done. Therefore, it is important to chart out a well thought out ‘Rural Developmental Schedule’ so that it could be taken up elsewhere too as a ‘Model Project’.
I strongly believe that in order to make any progress on this front we need a group that visits the villages (better if one is from that area) and assesses the need. I can give out a few even without visiting a village: Clean drinking water, Sanitation, Primary education, English speaking, Primary health, Inoculation, Access to Markets for Agricultural Produce, Liquor, Drugs, Crime, Focus on Girl Child, Dowry, Village Politics, Alternate Energy Sources and Accountability of Panchayats.
Once the needs are assessed, the next step is to tackle them in their order of priority, as each area would have a different priority.
How to find the resources to best address each issue? Besides sincerity of purpose and will to make a difference, the most important factor that would decide the outcome of the effort would be FUNDS. However, I feel if we can all join hands even that should not be a major problem. I had given this suggestion in my village 25 years back and was laughed at but I was right because my suggestion meant sacrifices from those who had left the village for greener pastures. The suggestion is simple and I don’t mind repeating it here. Each person who has left his village and has a monthly income (Government, Private, Self-employed, Business, Thief, Dacoit, Smuggler etc etc) must make a monthly contribution in cash to a fund that should be controlled. There is no other way to do any of the above mentioned insurmountable tasks without a collective effort of this nature. If each person can contribute even 3 - 5% of his income for the betterment of his own village, we can succeed. Can we start doing so from 01 JAN 2006? No NEW YEAR RESOLUTION can be better than this? You would be surprised to know the amount of money that can be collected. Each village has at least 200, if not more, persons who are working. An average salary of Rs 20,000/- per month is taken for rough calculations. 200 people X Rs 20000 X 12 Months = Rs 4,80,00,000. And 3 - 5% of that is Rs 14,40,000/- & Rs24,00,000/- respectively (hope my calculation are right?). We can change the face of our villages in 10 years flat.
There is nothing to ponder but members may have a different view".
Regards,
JS Malik
