One name, one aim, two villages

Medak: It looks like Ibrahimpur, the name which has become synonym for sustainable development due to the clean and green initiatives of the people of the village in Siddipet mandal, has become more of a brand name. Another Ibrahimpur village in Chegunta mandal of Medak district has not lagged behind in achieving Open Defecation-Free (ODF) status in no time, thanks to the administrative will shown by its Sarpanch and the kind of support he got from the entire village.

“It wasn’t easy in the beginning. But as I was active in cultural groups which have been spreading awareness on communicable diseases, AIDS, superstitions and other social evils in villages, it became easy for me to get everyone on the same page,” Bedaramaina Nagabhushanam, Sarpanch of the village told The Hans India, after receiving award for achieving ODF status and for implementing 100 per cent cashless transactions in his gram panchayat.

It all started with a rally he organised in his village with the help of all departments, women’s groups and like-minded villagers. The cultural group rallied around the village with garlands of plastic containers - ‘chembus’ - which are used to carry water when villagers go out in the open to defecate. People were educated about the ill-effects of defecating in the open during that rally.

As a result, 150 households in the gram panchayat came forward to build Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs) on their own. Soon, others followed suit and 512 households gave their consent for construction of IHHLs. Looking at the interest shown by the sarpanch, Vijay Prakash, SE, RWS&S gave complete support for the effort.

Though 60 per cent of amount was given to the gram panchayat from Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) funds, the sarpanch had to mobilise more funds - all by himself - to complete the work. All 512 IHHLs were constructed in six to seven months, achieving ODF status for the gram panchayat.

“All castes, communities, organisations and politicians irrespective of their political affiliation worked towards achieving the ODF status and supported our efforts. Without their support it would’ve been a difficult task,” said Nagabhushanam.

Not only in construction of IHHLs, but also in Haritha Haram the village has done something extraordinary. Over 1 lakh saplings were planted in the village by the residents as ‘Srama Daan’ without expecting anything in return for planting the saplings from NREGS funds. The saplings were given to them by the Forest Department.

Most of the saplings were planted in the 16,000 hectares of forest land lying in the periphery of the village, so that green cover not only in the village, but also in the forest could improve. Most of the saplings were of fruit-bearing trees.

Though the political will and developmental stories of Ibrahimpur in Siddipet district and Ibrahimpur of Medak district are the same, the only difference between them is that Ibrahimpur in Siddipet is Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao’s adopted village and that is the additional advantage they have in getting everything sanctioned easily.

The developmental story of Ibrahimpur in Medak district is something written by the villagers and appreciated by the district administration, as the gram panchayat received awards for achieving ODF status as well as for implementing 100 per cent cashless transactions as part of the 68th Republic Day celebrations held in Medak on Thursday.

By Vivek Bhoomi