3 Palwal villages surprise with six-star rating

Bijendra Ahlawat

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Palwal is considered one of the most backward regions of Haryana. But three villages of the district have surprised everyone by securing all top three positions by achieving the six-star rating in the Seven Star Gram Panchayat Rainbow Scheme that concluded recently. A total of 1,120 villages in the state achieved star rankings.

Though no village in the state could get seven stars, Nangla Bhiku, Janacholi and Jainpur villages of Palwal got six stars. This is the first time that the state government has organised such a contest. 

Geeta Devi (35), sarpanch of Janacholi village, says it has been a journey from ‘zero to hero’. In November 2017, the district administration announced the Super Village Challenge to accelerate development projects and ensure their speedy implementation at the village level. She adds the campaign not only made sarpanches to involve themselves in development works but also changed their outlook. “We took upfront all major issues such as education, cleanliness (hygiene), social participation, environment, women empowerment and governance”. Geeta was elected sarpanch for the first time in 2016. She holds masters degrees in English, Hindi and yoga.

Nangla Bhiku in Prithla block is another village that has got the six-star status. It has a population of 2,000. It has carved a niche for itself on various parameters and  visitors get a different feeling due to the prevalence of an aura similar to a swanky city. The village has sewerage and it is perhaps one of the few villages in the state to have an independent Wi-fi network and CCTV cameras. “I spent Rs 11 lakh that I had saved after my marriage in 2010,” says Rajender (31), sarpanch of Nangla Bhiku village. 

He says all buildings in the village have solar power connections and the use of polythene is banned. The village got the first prize in the Super Village Challenge. It was awarded the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar in April this year. “I intend to develop it as the best village in the country,” says Rajender, a graduate. 

Lalita Devi (25), sarpanch of Jainpur village that also got the six-star rating, says that various works done such as making the village open defecation free, cleanliness campaign, drive against polythene and laying of soakage pits and a drainage are responsible for this achievement. Garbage bins have been provided at every nook and corner of the village. 

The Super Village Challenge programme, which preceded the state-level Star Ranking programme, is the brainchild of Abhinav Vats, Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associate for Palwal. The Star Ranking programme is based on the parameters of gender ratio, education, hygiene, environment, governance and social participation.

Vats claims that he implemented the John Nash Game Theory, which he had studied in economics in college, to turn people into agents of change. “Essentially, the idea is to align everyone’s interests. There are three agents in rural development: Sarpanch, district nodal officer of a department concerned and frontline workers of the department in the village. The gamification model seeks to use people’s natural instincts for competition and getting results. So, that’s what we did,” he says. 

Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma says Palwal has become the first district in the country to launch a project of this kind. Financial grants were given only after actual performance. Their objective was to change the age-old attitude of ‘Chalta Hai’ and it showed results.