When we create healthy villages in the other India

Enough thought has been given to it. Enough has been written about it. The problem is understood many times over. But the implementation is missing. The time has come to take ownership of solutions and implementation.

On the one hand, we are saying that India’s GDP is growing at 6 to 8 per cent which by any standards is a healthy growth. But, because we are starting at such a low level, if we are to catch up with the rest of the world, we have to drive the engine at 12 to 14 per cent growth.

It is politically hazardous for governments to promise 12 to 14 per cent growth, because if it reaches 6 to 8 per cent, then you are considered a political failure. So the government is cautious. Officially, the government is saying 6 to 8 per cent is acceptable but in actuality it is necessary that the government push the drivers of growth, such as tourism, the software sector, industry etc. The government must assist them to achieve 12 to 14 per cent in the next five years.

More important than this is to take charge of the second India: the rural population. It is essential to first create healthy villages. The definition would be: Clean drinking water, sanitation, public toilets, waste disposal, hygiene education, vector control and schools, are essential to eliminate the disease burden on the rural population.

One model such as this already exists. Hero Honda, CII and Escorts Heart Institute adopted the village Joniavas. Joniavas has 2500 residents and abuts the back wall of Hero Honda’s Daruhera plant in Haryana. Joniavas was adopted as a pilot project.

The audit undertaken showed any village you may have been to. The sewage from the village dwellings flowed freely in the front and back lanes, in between homes. The backyard of each home was the garbage dump and the hand pump from which the whole village used water was right in the middle of the sewage dump. There were several water bodies replete with mosquitoes breeding. The school had no wall around it. There were no toilets for the children. The girls would not go to school because of the fear of having to relieve themselves in public behind bushes. The road leading to the village had slush that was six inches thick.

After the audit, work was carried out with finances from Hero Honda; Escorts Heart Institute and CII provided technical knowledge and supervision. Over a two-month period, a pucca drainage system, garbage disposal system and a potable water pump was installed. A wall was built around the school. Toilets were provided for the children. The mosquito breeding was destroyed. A compacted earth road was built going into the village. The primary health centre was activated with constant motivation and supervision. The total cost was Rs 12 lakh.

The responsibility for maintenance was undertaken by the sarpanch with two volunteers. There is a monthly supervision by Hero Honda, CII and Escorts Heart Institute. Now multiply this 100,000 times over and we have a beginning for a healthy India. By reduction of the disease burden on the rural economy, this could have a great multiplier effect. To induce industry to do this: the rural population then earns more, they spend more and the whole economy moves forward.

The Next Step. President Abdul Kalam has raised a workable and brilliant proposition. The President proposed that the linking of such transformed villages to form a critical mass of 50,000 villagers to create a new rural model. This would mean pulling together between 30 to 40 villages and linking them with metal roads and public transport.

They would have access to one proper hospital, one college, shopping facilities and an entertainment complex. This means that all the villagers would have access to one major hospital in their vicinity, as well as all the other benefits of a small town. This will open the opportunity for telemedicine from the local hospital to city hospitals.

All this can become a reality with an extensive network of public and private partnership, which has proved to be a powerful resource. The outpouring of public participation in the Tsunami relief efforts showed this amply. We need to convert disaster relief to a continuous participation with corporations, health care providers, voluntary bodies and (extra)ordinary citizens who are ever willing to find ways and means to fulfill their social obligations.

It must be made mandatory that every major industry must adopt a village close to their factories and manufacturing plants, where a large proportion of the beneficiaries will actually be their own employees and their families. This is not a one-way street. Industry will feel the benefits.

So stop the whining and complaining which seems to have reached epidemic proportions in India. Address what you can do, in whatever form, to make it work for all of us. A broad based participation by all the stakeholders of our society is essential. Only then can we truly accomplish the targets of resurgent India.