Not just in cleanliness and sanitation, Gangadevipally in Geesukonda mandal in Warangal (Rural) district in Telangana is an ideal village for many other things—sustainable agriculture, total literacy, zero crime rate, women empowerment, zero child labour, supply of safe drinking water to all households, abolition of plastic, enhanced community participation and banning liquor shops.
However, this change has not come overnight. Gangadevipally, like any other average village in India, was once full of poverty and problems, lacking in basic facilities like drinking water, roads, school, medical care, etc. Alcoholism and wife-beating were rampant among men and there were two or three deaths due to consumption of spurious liquor in the early 1980s. From there, the village’s journey to progress has been exemplary.
When The Sunday Guardian visited the village on Thursday, many women spoke of their empowerment in different ways, not only in terms of thrift groups or increased money savings. The village has a “widows committee” led by Medida Susheela, 44. The “committee” strives to provide social support to widows so that they can carry on with their lives after the death of their husbands.
“We have around 40 widows, excluding very old widows, in our village. We tell them not to remove bindis and bangles once their husbands die. We want to remove the stigma associated with widows and encourage them to carry on with their livelihoods. We frequently socialise so that the widows do not feel lonely,” said Susheela, a widow.
This widows’ group is one of the 26 community committees formed in Gangadevipally over the past three decades. Almost all the elders in the village, with a population of 1,300 are members of the different committees including agriculture, drinking water, sanitation, health, roads, cattle, anti-liquor, youth, women, anti-plastic, loans recovery, dish antennas, tax collection, literacy, etc.
“This change has come over the years since 1983 when our then sarpanch Kusuma Raja Mouli took an oath from all us that there would not be any liquor shop in the village. We consciously banned liquor shops and the open consumption of liquor as it is a bane for any ordinary village,” said Pendli Malla Reddy, 55, president of the water committee.
Raja Mouli convinced the villagers that excessive consumption of liquor was not only harming the health of the alcoholics, both young and old, but also ruining their economy and making them indolent. “We have started noticing considerable change in our village once we shut liquor shops or belt shops (illegal liquor vendors) since 1983-84,” said Malla Reddy.
This triggered many changes. The closure of liquor shops and open discouragement of liquor consumption have brought down violence and disputes and facilitated the unopposed election of sarpanches in successive local bodies’ polls.
Top officials in the Central and state governments took note of this and started paying attention to the village for its unique drives such as total literacy, abolition of child labour, women’s self-help groups, etc. The village won Nirmal Puraskar by the Union Ministry of Rural Development in 2007 and bagged special grants from other allied departments. There are 110 solar street lights in the village.
There has not been any law and order problem or major crime in the village in the past several years. The villagers are known to solve all their disputes at the panchayat level, through negotiation and talks.
Of course, the last time in the 2015 elections, Gangadevipally had an election on party lines, where the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi was pitted against other parties. But that did not spoil the peaceful atmosphere of the village. “After all, elections are part of our democracy, and there is nothing wrong in fighting polls. But we never allow the differences to come in the way of our unity and village development,” said Lalitha, a ward member.
As a result, there has not been any law and order problem or major crime in the village in the past several years. The villagers are also known for solving all their disputes, if any, at the panchayat level, through negotiation and talks. “We avoid going to the police station. We also will not allow outside political leaders to meddle with our unity,” said Malla Reddy.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, who visited Gangadevipally, granted it Rs 10 crore, which has changed the face of the village. All roads have become CC (cement concrete) and the village high school has got a facelift. The drainage system has been created and a spacious gram panchyat building has been built. It is also used as a community meeting place.
Now every person in Gangadevipally knows the value of their community support. Being a small village, they all know each other and take interest in the problems of others, and try to help them. “We have 23 women self-help groups and each of us take around Rs 15,000 as short-term loans and promptly repay them,” said Guda Saroja, who coordinates loan recovery among the groups.
This has had a salutary impact on the bankers, who are more than willing to lend money to the villagers, at a time when banks are averse to rural financing. Recently, when on 6 February, the villagers celebrated “Bodrai Jathara” (Village Goddess), Andhra Bank extended a Rs 1 crore loan to the village event.
Another local NGO, Bala Vikas, from Warangal came forward to repay the loan to the bank so that the villagers could be debt-free. Bala Vikas, among other NGOs, has been taking special interest in Gangadevipally’s developmental and community activities. “Anybody would like to support a progressive village,” said an official of Bala Vikas over phone.
Thanks to the support from NGOs and government departments, Gangadevipally put in place a safe drinking water scheme at a cost of Rs 80 lakh in 2008 and opened a water ATM (or ATW). Every household is issued a swiping card at a price of Rs 365 per year so that they can draw 20 litres per day for Re 1. For an extra 20 litres, they need to pay Rs 4. Besides, all households have tap connections.
The twin pit practice also called “twin pit” leach toilets has put the village on the national stage in promoting human waste as manure for agriculture. In this method, all the houses in the village have dug two pits of toilets. Once the first one is filled, it will be closed and opened for a year for manure as fertiliser, replacing the chemical fertilisers.
After Parameswaran appreciated the twin pit technology in the village, the Centre and many states have begun showcasing Gangadevipally as a leader in the practice. Warangal (Rural) Collector, Prashant J. Patil, told this newspaper that the laboratory reports had stated that there was a 25-30% increase in crop yield after using bio-manure. Raja Mouli, who pioneered the change three decades ago, was more than happy with all the praise that is coming to Gangadevipally. Today, he is most sought after by the officials and experts. “Many top officials tell me that they would like to visit my village along with their children to show what an ideal and happy village is,” he told this newspaper.
People of Gangadevipally are now used to visitors saying that they would like to come and settle here after their retirement.
“We know that it is not so easy to come from cities and live in a village like this, but due to the talk, rents in our village have gone up slightly, to Rs 2,000 for a house,” said Lalitha, who feels proud to belong to a village which won praise from the PM and the CM.