Case Studies

Empowerment of Village Development Committee

Village Shekhupur district Hamirpur was suffering from a peculiar problem since 2002. The only pond they had in the village for animals had dried up in the summers of 2002. Three thousand cattlehead were there at that time in this village. The poor villagers were losing at least 40-50 of precious living animals per year due to dehydration and 20-30 animals per year got lost into adjoining villages and cultivated fields in search of water. "Hamare itne saare janwar pyaas ke mare mar jate the hamari aankhon ke samne aur hum kuch nahi kar paate the" (our cattle use to die due to thirst in front of our eyes and we were hapless to do anything for them), they said.

The villagers contacted the village Pradhan and asked for a solution but the Pradhan said this is not his work. This issue was then raised by the villagers in the village development committee's meeting organised on 20/2/2005 by Parivartan Pariyojana. The villagers expressed their deep concern about the safety of their remaining cattle, and asked the VDC members for an early solution. All of the 11 members resorted to contact the village Panchayat for this matter. The Panchayat when contacted expressed its inefficiency in resolving the matter. The lack of funds was stated as prime reason.

Lost but determined VDC members with the support of Villagers met BDO (Block Development Officer) and narrated the whole matter. They demanded early solution to their grievances. The BDO took up the matter at higher level of District Panchayat. The Presiding Officer, Ganshyam Hori, took personal interest in the matter and sanctioned Rs 5 lakh for the construction of concrete pond at a new place in the same village measuring a handsome 100/90 meters.

New renaissance on part of the villagers and VDC members is paying of rich dividends as there are no more lost cattle reports and deaths of cattle. This has been possible due to the action taken by Parivartan Pariyojana, feel the villagers. The villagers were of the opinion that if Parivartan would have not taken the matter to higher authorities their problem would have never been solved and all of the cattle in the village would have die due to negligence and thirst.

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