A senior bureaucrat in Uttar Pradesh has taken up the task of creating ‘model villages’ — which is expected to be a movement to make the country’s villages self-reliant and deliver prosperity to the rural areas which otherwise remain disconnected from the urban ideas of development. 

The vision of a ‘model village’ was formulated by senior Indian Administrative Services (IAS) official Heera Lal who presently works with the National Health Mission in Uttar Pradesh. To implement this vision, he has set up a non-profit called Model Village, which is based in Lucknow.

“The vision for a ‘model village’ will ensure not only rural development but will also help in educating the village folk about their rights. The training given to the rural population will help in generating employment in rural areas. This initiative can possibly solve the migrant crisis in this country,” Saurabh Lal, chief development officer of Model Gaon told Gaon Connection.

Saurabh Lal further explained that the primary motive of the NGO is to make sure that the ‘village manifesto’ reaches the villages. A village manifesto is a document that helps in outlining the objectives of the Model Gaon. It also aids in providing information to the villagers about the process through which they can avail better incomes and live a prosperous life with substantial hygiene and sanitation.

“We provide information on issues like hygiene, education, medicine, yoga, clean drinking water, marketing, communication, organic products, self reliance, and dispute settlement. These manifestos help in better communication with the local villagers,” the NGO said. 

Explaining further, Saurabh Lal said: “We begin our process by training educated young women and men so as to assign them the role of a ‘change-maker’ in the village. Also, farmers are imparted education about FPOs [farmer producer organisations] and they are assisted in setting up such FPOs.” 

The founder of the NGO, the IAS official Heera Lal stated that a farmer is the greatest entrepreneur in the country and the Model Gaon NGO basically tries to empower the cultivator in a manner in which she/he becomes self-reliant. “This will help in eradicating poverty and unemployment from India’s villages,” Lal said. 

The NGO also consists of retired bureaucrats who guide the development programmes by employing their expertise.