GRAM SWARAJ TRUST

My friend asked me what one issue I would consider most critical to the village concern. 'Village employment'. I did not need a moment to think.

They have their ethics, and their dharmam and their morals. They have their community decision systems, which function after factoring in all aspects of a problem. They are hard working, and have the basic work ethic of a community that works with its hands. Everything else is in place.

If employment is made the single, and critical factor, then many things will fall in place. An alienating and meaningless 12 years of schooling will also be addressed to sync with the employability.

We have registered a trust for our village - 'Gram Swaraj'. Our village is Paalaguttapalle (Dalitwada), Chittoor (Dt)., A.P. 

The dream is self reliant villages which can sustain themselves, rely as far as possible on themselves for their needs of consumption, governence etc., and contribute vibrantly to the larger society.  

The interventions need to be in a way that strengthens the identity and confidence of the communities, and based squarely on their own knowlege systems.The idea is to work in ways that could be replicable across villages everywhere.

There are immediate needs and activities in the present - 

- employment creation and support

- strengthening local health systems and establishing ayurveda which interleaves perfectly with local systems. Good ayurvedic medicines are given to all the people, and as it restores health substantially, this poorly nourished community has been demanding it. The children are given milk and ashwagandhadhi daily which has improved their health and immunity remarkably.

- working towards addressing the water crisis which means rainwater harvesting on one side, and moving to less water intensive cropping on another

- addressing immediate needs to people as the persistant drought has in many ways rendered people unable to address basic nutrition. Also, some families, especially families headed by single women, easily slip into destitution in such times, and support of different kinds is required.

- Educational needs of children.

Towards all this we invite friends who would like to work along ... We would also like to build up a fund that could support all this,

Some details of the village vision and work are in
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6js3nX7Ndl5dWRUZk01dWZQRGc/edit?usp=sharing