Under Tundahali Panchayat of the Ormanjhi Block of Ranchi district in Jharkhand lies a quaint little village, Kukui. The census 2011, however, presented a bleak picture of this picturesque village. With a population of 404, the average sex ratio at 838 was far lesser than the average in the state (948). Its literacy rate at 63.14 percent was, again, lower than the average of the state at 66.41 percent. Added to that, the female literacy rate stood at an abysmal 47.27 percent.
The village, situated at less than 50 km from the capital, was the proverbial ‘last mile’. It relied on mud tracks for commutation which would turn swampy with every rainfall, thwarting any commutation to and fro. Though the village faced no acute water crisis, yet only the farmers with the means to construct wells and procure irrigation facilities were able to harvest three crops a year. The rest of the lot cultivated and sustained on a single harvest per year.
Many steps taken
Today, in 2018, Kukui village, has a very different story to tell. In 2017, The Art of Living entered into a partnership with the government of Jharkhand to create 60 Beacon Panchayats across 15 blocks in seven districts of Jharkhand for facilitating sustainable rural development. Tundahali Panchayat was one of the project areas. Even before that, within its own capacity, The Art of Living had facilitated the construction of the road in the village and conducted community mobilization exercises through its several empowerment programs (the Nav Chetna Shibir, Youth Leadership Training Program). With the 60 Beacon Panchayat projects making headway, Kukui now got a renewed impetus.
- Construction of a road
- Ongoing capacity building and empowerment programs
- Skill development center
- Enabling a micro-entrepreneurship initiative for women
- Measures to strengthen land and water rights of marginalized groups
- Awareness campaigns
- Resource-building exercises
- Technical guidance to elected representatives, panchayat volunteers and functionaries
- Complimentary wellness workshops to enable individuals to find inner peace. This led to the community rising above differences and coming together in a spirit of service.
- Natural farming training for over 50 farmers in the village. With mentoring support, 10 farmers began practicing natural farming of vegetables.
- Over 250 fruit bearing and medicinal saplings were planted through resources generated from within the community. Each villager planted the samplings within their home premises aimed at income generation.
Sonaram Mahto, who has been the elected pradhan (head) of the village since 2007, says, “Earlier it was so difficult to even make all villagers sit in one place. Now with The Art of Living’s community mobilization and sensitization programs, everybody has come together to work for development.”
He also feels that with all panchayat members, even from neighboring panchayats and several panchayat functionaries, having received the training, the functioning of day-to-day governance has become much smoother, with lesser bottlenecks. The elected representatives and mukhiyas (village heads) have started regular public meetings at the Panchayat Bhavan. The Gram Sabhas (village meetings) have become vibrant with increased participation from the community, particularly women.
Face-lifting progress
In the last year, extensive capacity building and income generation work have also happened in the village.
The village now hosts a skill development center supported by The Art of Living. The prime beneficiaries of this center have been the women in the Self Help Group (SHG). They have been imparted training in sanitation, paper bag making, stitching, and leadership skills.
The Art of Living has also made available two sewing machines in the center to enable these women to run a micro-entrepreneurship initiative. Around 10 farmers have started practicing natural farming of vegetables, with the training provided to them. Within the village premises, 250 fruit bearing plants have been planted, aimed at income generation for the cultivators.
In the most recent development, The Art of Living has embarked on a participatory natural resources management project will benefit Kukui along with 50 more villages in Ormanjhi and Burmu block of Ranchi. As Sonaram foresees: this will be a vital step for food and nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods for the villagers.
Happy days have just begun for Kukui and its residents.
