Why people of Gangadevipally are happier?

The moment we enter Gangadevipally village one thing that strikes us most is the smiles on their faces. Men and women of this tiny village that has been commended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an ideal village in his radio broadcast, ‘Man ki Baat’ on February 26 appear to be happier than most of us in Telangana or for that matter in the country.

Those smiles are not just signs of politeness. They reflect the overall happiness of the village which has been making news on the development front over last two decades. Yes, people of Gangadevipally are happier than most of us in other villages, towns and cities. Of course, happiness is a relative word and I say they are happier if not the happiest.

My visit to this village on March 23 comes against the backdrop of reports of India slipping by four positions from 118 (2015) to 122 on the World Happiness Index -2017. Our country may have gained much on the economic front in the last two years, but we slipped by four ranks on the happiness front, among a list of 155 countries.

Definitely we cannot copy someone on their happiness but we can emulate them, if study reasons for their happiness. During this brief couple of hours visit to Gangadevipally, what I noticed was that community participation, healthy lifestyle and economic self-reliance are the two key factors that can make any village happier, in the given conditions in our country.

Gangadevipally has around 26 committees and almost every person in the village is a member of one or the other committee. They have committees from cleanliness to prohibition, from drinking water to sanitation, from anti-plastic to school enrolment and from dish antennas to loan recovery. What struck me most is widows committee which is as symbol of women empowerment in the village.

All this hasn’t come in isolation. Gangadevipally was once a stronghold of CPM and later was influenced by the ideas of Marxist veteran and late legislator Maddikayala Omkar. Of course, today it is like any other village and all parties have their presence here. In 2015 August, CM KCR visited this village and announced a grant of Rs 10 crore which visibly changed the village.

The village that is on the left side of Narsampet road 18 km from Warangal city is not only clean and green but also is full of all signs of modern amenities like cement roads, solar street lights, dish antennas and drainage. If you take a closer look, almost all the 350 odd houses have toilets with twin pit facility which gives them sanitation as well as bio-fertilizer for their agriculture fields.

In fact, these twin pit toilets are the main reason why PM Modi has mentioned Gangadevipally in his radio broadcast. The toilets were visited by a team of 40 IAS officers led by union drinking water and sanitation secretary Parameswaran Iyer on February 18. They were so impressed with the toilets that officials are other states are now making a beeline to the village to study the practice.

As per the practice, every house builds two pits for toilets and once a pit is filled, it will be closed and the next will put to use. After a year or so, the closed pit will be opened and its soil will be used as manure for agricultural fields. The village with a population of around 1,300 has about 1,000 acres of agriculture land and mostly cotton and maize are grown.

Once neglected and undeveloped like any other surrounding villages, Gangadevipally is now richer too. A few years back the land value in the village was negligible, but now it is difficult to buy any land here, even if one is ready to cough up around Rs 15 lakh per acre, away from roadside. Sometimes pride of a village enhances its land values too.

Pendli Malla Reddy, 55, president of water committee talked about the water ATM facility they have said that every house in the village gets safe drinking water at Re 1 per 20 liters a day. Extra water is supplied at Rs 4 per 20 liters. Every family is issued a card at Rs 365 per year and they can draw water by swiping it at the water ATM or ATW (anytime water) machine at the heart of the village.

Gangadevipally won dozens of awards from the central and state governments since 1985 when it banned liquor shops in the village. Now not even a belt shop is allowed here. Most of the elections to gram panchayat are held unanimously, so that the village bagged Rs 1 lakh reward from the government. Several NGOs too evince to provide facilities and support to the village.

Happiness of the village can be felt through the words of Susheela, president of widow women committee of Gangadevipally. “We have around 40 widow women as our members and we ask them to wear bindi and bangles which is birthright of women. We encourage widows to take small livelihood activities and ensure pensions,” said Susheela, suggesting a clear sign of community participation.

Others in the village too said that people are united on every issue. They may back different parties during the elections, but after that politics are not allowed to come in the way of their development. So, no wonder that the village now has 100 per cent literacy, 100 per cent school enrolment, 100 per cent results and100 per cent child labor free. Bankers are ever ready to lend them. (RamaKrishnaSangem.Blogspot.in)

By Rama Krishna Sangem