Wednesday, May 25, 2016

GLOBAL PARLI (part 1) - Concept

Soon, the rains will arrive and the need for supplying water will cease. We will have to graduate from social work to real nation building.
IT IS TIME TO CREATE A PERMANENT SOLUTION. 
Time to evolve to the “GLOBAL PARLI” project.
Gandhiji used to say that every village should become self-sufficient. We think that villages are too small a unit to become self-sufficient, but if we were to take a group or cluster of villages, then we can make it almost complete.
Ralegaon Siddhi (population 2300) and Hiwre Bazaar (pop 1250) are “model villages” that used the local knowledge, involvement of villagers, funds from the government development scheme and techniques suitable to their geography and conditions. There is lot to learn from them. But are they replicable or can we copy their methods across India? I think there are limitations. For example, because of low rains, Hiwre Bazaar has decided that it will not grow any crops this year. They are reasonably prosperous and lot of its income comes from Dairy business, so they are in a position to take such a decision. But can the farmers of Marathawada do so? Also, are they not too small a size to become the model that rural India is looking for?
In Parli Tehsil, in the Beed district of Marathawada – we selected 15 of the worst-hit villages with total population of around 30,000 and have planned to create a cluster of villages called “GLOBAL PARLI”.
Our Goal: INCREASE PER CAPITA INCOME OF EACH FARMER BY 250% IN 3 YEARS.
Year 1 goal – Make these villages tanker-free and drought resistant forever.
Year 2 goal – Increase yield and ensure value addition to agriculture by putting up supply chain system, agro-plants, direct-to-customer sales, ayurvedic units etc
Year 3 goal – Create reverse migration models and focus on education, vocational training, health, sports, art and music.

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