The PBD started with a grand inaugural ceremony at the Indira Gandhi Stadium about 5 miles from Vigyan Bhavan. PM Vajpayee, DPM Advani, External Affairs Minister Yashwanth Sinha.

We were told that more than 2000 delegates are attending this event. GOI and FICCI know how to throw a party. The $ 200 fee was just a pittance compared to what they have spent.

There is a better 2-way dialogue-taking place in some of the sessions. Most Ministers love to make long speeches. But, it is ok

On the local TV, there is a lot of debate about the whole thing. The one significant question that I heard was: “During the last 20-30 years, these NRI were gone. The rest of India worked hard to turn things around. So, why are we having this big party to these NRI’s.” But, I think this is a minority opinion. In general, everyone is happy with the event.

On the first day, there were many in the audience who felt that having a party is ok but at the end of the party, let us get to work. Some also mentioned about helping the poor and unfortunate people who live in villages.

A television crew Door Darshan visited our Exhibit Booth and interviewed Suri Sehgal.

Picture-1: Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India lighting the ceremonial lamp at the 2nd Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

Picture-2: Invocation by Mr L Subramaniam and team

Picture-3: Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardees with the Honb'le Prime Minister of India including Kalpana Chawla's husband (third from the right)

Picture-4: Hon'ble Minister of External Affairs, Mr. Yashwant Sinha at the 2nd Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

Contact information:
Telephone:
E-Mail address

In the morning session, Tarun Khanna, Indian faculty at Harvard, gave the only true hard-hitting speech. He said that it is time the Indian Diaspora and the Govt sit across at a table and start discussing different ideas and projects. Our Ministers know how to duck a question by narrating stories from ‘purana’ and diffusing the issues raised.

In the morning session, we distributed the NRI-Home-Coming 2-page color flyer to almost 800 delegates in the main session.

In the afternoon session on Social projects, we were able to interact with many working in this field. We have signed up many from the PBD for the Jan 12th one-day workshop. As of now, we expect a total attendance of around 75 at the Jan 12th event.

I was requested to get in front of DD’s camera this morning and say 2 lines about why I am attending the PBD.

With another group of DD people yesterday, we have received cooperation to showcase our Rural Development projects in India.

"Voluntary Sector & Development-Pravasi Bharatiyas: India's Partner in Social Developmet" : A Report

The roundtable on “Voluntary sector and development-Pravasi Bharatiyas: India's Partner in social development” was chaired by His Excellency Mr Sudershan Agarwal, Governor of Uttaranchal and moderated by Mr. Harsh Mander, Country Director, Action Aid India.

While welcoming the delegates to the session His Excellency Mr. Sudershan Agarwal, Governor of Uttaranchal applauded the contribution and principled stand of the NRIs on issues like child labour, environment etc. in India's development specially in the states like Kerala, Gujarat and Punjab. He urged to the NRIs who have done well in various parts of the world to make emotional and social investments in India. He cited examples of NGOs and NRI networks and partnerships and urged towards providing viable policy framework where interested NRIs can network with existing NGOs without having to reinvent the wheel.

Dato' G Palanivel, Honble Dy. Minister for Rural Development, Malaysia highlighted the strengths of non-resident Indians and applauded the achievements and contributions being made by the Indians all over the world in various fields. He stressed upon the role that can be played by the NRIs for poverty eradication in India.

Mr. Mander stressed on the need for more equitable development and a just, clean government. He said that apart from feeding a hungry person, we must help that person to fight against the system that deprives him of that meal. Indians residing overseas must show solidarity to the people who are trying to bring about changes in the system.

Dr Ashok Khosla, President, Development Alternative made a presentation on public private partnership for achieving rural development in India. We have to facilitate rural-urban convergence and there is an urgent need for promoting public-private partnership platforms where NGOs, industry, government and academia work together and mix their inputs with the participation of actual citizens. To develop the rural Bharat, institutional systems have to be built/strengthened and livelihood enterprises, especially mini or micro enterprises have to be encouraged. Achieving the latter requires adoption of technology to improve productivity.

Ms Priya Vishwanath, Chief Executive Officer, Charities Aid Foundation India spoke about how the Diaspora wants to give. She said that while the reasons for giving amongst the Indian Diaspora might be varied and personal, they have a desire to be active stakeholders in the future of India. The nuances and practicalities of the resources available from this source needs to be worked out and a framework to utilize the same, has to be developed.

The next speaker Mr Raju Rajagopal, Executive Member, Indians for Collective action, USA, talked about the means and role of networking in the voluntary sector. The communication channels now at our disposal must be leveraged to connect with Indians across the world and participate in development issues. He said that amendments in FCRA would enable the Diaspora to fully participate in development issues.

Mr Venkat Krishnan, Director, GIVE Foundation made a presentation entitled “so what happens to my money?” He said his organization wants to address the credibility issue and through its website donors can pick a cause of their choice, find out about various organizations and decide exactly how they want to contribute and how their money will be utilized. There are accountability norms for NGOs that are registered with his organization.

Dr Arjun Daluvoy, Director, Dept of Surgery, Desert Valley Medical Center, USA said that projects like meals on wheels and medicines on wheels were extremely successful in USA. Following that he has set up mobile clinics in Nellore District. His voluntary work in India includes providing charity surgery to those who cannot afford it and educating people about prevention of AIDS.

Mr Kabir Kumar, Director of Field Operations, Indicorps, USA, felt that neither there is shortage of positive, selfless people committed to bringing about a change nor a lack of resources or desire to give. What is missing is information about NGOs doing good work and credibility. He felt that it is more important to devote one's time than giving money in order to make a difference.

Mr Raj Loomba, Chairman & Mg. Director, Rinku of Loomba, PLC, UK pointed that Indians have a habit of sharing successes and not failures. But by sharing failures we can work better and speed up the collective learning process.

Interaction with the audience at this stage threw up some interesting issues. There were suggestions that we should not just focus on what the Diaspora can do for India. There are segments of the Diaspora that need help and Indians and the rest of the Diaspora should come forward and lend them a helping hand. A question regarding regulation of NGOs was raised. The panelists said that norms for credibility and accountability needs to be worked upon. The right to Information Act should be extended to NGOs as well. It was felt that personal visits to the NGO can act as a check and also help in understanding the problems they face.

Picture-1: Vigyan Bhavan

Picture-2: NRI Home Coming Exhibit Booth

Picture-3: The session on Voluntary Sector

Contact information:
Telephone:
E-Mail address

Jan 11 Day 3 PBD

Different States of India made presentations to the NRI community to come and invest in their States. There were 7 States in the list.

The highlight of Day 3 was the meeting at Rashtrapathi Bhavan to see President Kalam.

President APJ Abdul Kalam on Sunday asked the non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin (PIOs) to share their knowledge to help India become a developed nation, lift all its people above the poverty line and make them literate by 2020.

"You should perform the best for the country you live in. .... We don't need anything from you, but your knowledge. Make your family in India happy and use your knowledge and experience to make India developed," Kalam told a large gathering of NRIs and PIOs at the Moghul Gardens in Rashtrapati Bhavan where he hosted high-tea for them.

Kalam, as usual, departed from protocol and mingled freely with the guests, who came here to attend the second Pravasi Bharatiya conference. He shook hands with them and freely gave autographs to many of them who jostled to get close to him.

In the evening, the Charge D'Affairs at the US Embassy Robert Blake Jr had invited most of the US-based NRI's for cocktails. The new designated US Ambassador to India has not taken his post yet. Robert mentioned that 4 out of the 8 'Samman' awards presented at the PBD were given to US-based NRI's including Kalpana Chawla. He also referred to the growing relationship between US and India in various fields.

PBD - my impressions

It was a great networking opportunity. It was like attending a 3-day Indian marriage event - a marriage of 'bharat vasis' and 'bharat vanshis'. We were told that GOI spent about Rs 8 crores on this PBD attended by over 2000 delegates. It is my personal wish that these 2000 delegates and others, now think about contributing to India in their own way.

Contact information:
Telephone:
E-Mail address

Jan 12 one-day workshop - India International Center

During the PBD, almost 30 more people signed up. We had a total of 75+ attending the workshop.

Like the Chicago workshop, this event also succeeded in bringing NGO's, pioneers, activists together. Dr Suri Sehgal opened the workshop. Dr Ajai Kumar, Dr Bang, Rajender Singh, Anil Joshi, Prof Indiresan, Virendra Singh and others made presentations.

We made sure that ample time for networking was allowed.

Minnesota State Senator Satveer Chowdhary addressed the group during the out-door lunch.

We will collect all the presentations and put it on the website by mid-February.

Picture-1: Vikram Akula - SKS - Hyderabad addressing the Workshop.

Picture-2: Dr Suri Sehgal of SMS Foundation greeting the audience

Picture-3: A panel discussion consisting of Dr Murthy (DRI), Raghini (DHAN), Dr Bang (SEARCH), Dr Anil Joshi (HESCO)

Picture-4: Ram Krishnan introducing the NRI Home Coming project.

Picture-5; The venue- India International Centre - Lodhi Road

The Learning Journey team assembled at the SMS Foundation offices in Gurgaon Haryana. It consisted of Mohan Jain, Bhamy Shenoy and his wife Suman Shenoy, Mrs Jaya Indiresan, Jan Dirk (a journalist from Netherlands), Ram Krishnan and Bob (get his real name). A number of SMSF staff joined the bus for the journey to the 2 villages - Goela and Ghagas.

Picture-1: Shows the inside of the bus. Bhamy and Suman Shenoy in the front row. Ellora Mubashir and Jan Dirk on the second row. Mohan Jain in the last row.

Picture-2: Upon our arrival at Goela village, we were greeted by almost the entire village. A special 'shamiana' was erected. The village Panchayat leader (Sarpanch) and the panchayat council members were present.
In his speech the Sarpanch remarked "that Sarkar (the government) made lots of promises, mostly during the election times. They never helped us. It was only after Sehgal Foundation agreed to support us and work with us, we have seen actual progress in our village."

Picture-3: Shows Mohan Jain with a fresh crop of mustard seeds in his hand, talking to the panchayat sarpanch.

Picture-4: A fresh crop of red carrots being washed and getting ready for the market.

Picture-5: Gandhiji's message on a billboard says - in Hindi - "Bharat ki aatma gauv me basthi hai". Translation: "Bharat's soul lives in its villages".

Picture-6: Check Dam under construction. Check dams help to stop the flow of water in a river and make it available for the local village's needs in agriculture and domestic use. The height of the dam is usually 4 ft to 8 ft high, thereby easily allowing the excess water to overflow and benefit the next village downstream.

Picture-7: Shows Vermi composting. Agricultural and other organic waste is collected into a pit. A supply of earth worms are added. After a few weeks, the worms will convert the waste matter into organic manure, good for use in growing vegetables and crops the organic way without harmful chemicals. The worms multiply into more worms. Both the resulting manure and extra worms offers an income generating activity for the villager.

Picture-8: Shows a large water storage tank in the center of the village. Water harvested from the rainfall is collected and stored in this tank. The top of the tank is covered.

Our team's visit to the 2 villages under the Sehgal Foundation's leadership made us appreciate the wholistic and practical approach taken. The staff of SMS Foundation bring with them many years of field experience having worked for other agencies. Though SMSF has been engaged in these 2 villages for only about 1.5 years since mid-2002, significant progress has been achieved. Our best wishes for continued success.

Contact information:
S. M. Sehgal Foundation
Head Office - 289, Sector 17A, Gurgaon, Haryana - 122 001 India
Telephone:
E-Mail address:jay.sehgal@smsfoundation.org

Our journey took us to eastern Rajasthan to see the 'johads' (lake) and check dams constructed by the villagers themselves. Magasaysay Award winner Rajender Singh who pioneered the construction of johads may be absent in his villages but the villagers keep up the work.

'Paani ko rhoko' (stop the flow of water). India has only 2 seasons - drought and floods. When it does rain - for a total of 100 hours in the entire year - the water either flows away or gets evaporated with very little absorption to the underground. Unless we STOP the flow of water, in a fair and equitable manner, we will have no water to fulfill our needs.

Rajender Singh's water conservation activities are managed by young (Tarun) volunteers in the Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) located in the village of Bhikampura in the Tengazi district.

Picture-1: Shows members of our group listening to a TBS worker describing the check dams.

Picture-2: TBS staff showing us the johads.

Picture-3: Villagers cut out rectangular portions on the ground, then excavate the soil, take it to build the check dam. This measurement technique is used later to manage how the water is shared between the villagers. This measurement technique is also used to monetize the value of their manual work.

Picture-4: Shows a check dam full of water with some excess water easily overflowing the short height check dam.

Picture-5: Shows part of our group learning about certain agricultutal practices.

Picture-6: A view of the rebuilt 'arvari' river. Built by constructing a series of johads along the path of the old river.

Picture-7: During my Sept 2003 visit to TBS, I had the good fortune to meet Rajender Singh.

Picture-8: Thanks to Kuldip Kumar, our group met with the newly elected Chief Minister of Rajasthan - Smt. Vasundara Raje. She invited our group to consider Rural projects in her native district of 'Jalawar'.

How to get to TBS:
Bhikampura is located about 40 km NE of Jaipur. If you are coming from Delhi, it is better to reach Jaipur first (more miles) and then find a way to Bhikampura. This village is the 6th or 7th village away from the National Highway. As you move away from the national highway one village at a time, you can track the significant deterioration of the quality of the road. It finally disappears and you can make your own road anywhere.

Contact information:
Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS)
TBS Ashram in Bhikampura village
Thanagazi District
Prithvi Raj Singh, Satyender Ji or Kanhiaya Ji
Telephone:
(0141)-239-3178
E-Mail address
watermantbs@yahoo.com or jbf@dil.in
Web site
http://www.jalbhagirathi.org/jbf_tbs.htm
http://www.tarunbharatsangh.com

(text to be inserted later) Barefoot College is located about 70 km west of Jaipur towards Ajmer. The college itself is small campus with all the training and production facilities. It also has quarters for many staff to stay there. Using this location, Barefoot college has programs reaching out to villages located 50-100 miles around it.

Bunker Roy and his wife Aruna Roy are the chief founders and motivators behind this effort.

Our team left Jaipur in the morning and reached Tilonia after a 2-hour bus ride on a decent highway - this segment is part of the national quadrilateral highway.

Picture-1: Main building in the campus

Picture-2: Naren Bakshi (Ex-President of TIE) and his wife, from the Bay area in California have a house in Jaipur. We met them at the Pravasi event and they joined us for this trip. The Bakshi's and Suman Shenoy meeting the staff.

Picture-3: Bhamy is holding the Solar Lantern made here.

Picture-4: Staff assembling the Solar lantern.

Picture-5: Villagers preparing the electric cables.

Picture-6: A large solar panel on the roof, provides continuous power for the full campus.

Picture-7: A retail store to sell the various products made in the campus and surrounding villages.

Picture-8: Bunker Roy

The entire program, projects and technical details are available for another NGO or another State to install. Local funding and project managers will need to be assigned.

Contact information:
Social Work Research Centre (SWRC)
Tilonia, Ajmer District, Rajasthan 305 816
Telephone:
(01463)-42016/88204/88209
E-Mail address
swrc@unv.ernet.in

The Learning Journey did not visit the DRI Institute in Chitrakoot due to a schedule conflicts. There is a likelihood that Mohan Jain may have scheduled a visit later.

On this day, we left Jaipur by bus and drove 4 hours to Delhi using the 4-lane divided highway. We returned to SMS Foundation office in Gurgaon, met with Jay Sehgal and others before going our separate ways.

There are 3 or 4 projects in India currently focussing on bringing Internet access to villages - n-logue, Tarahaat and Drishti that I am aware of. The n-logue effort is championed by Prof Ashok Jhunjunwala and the TENET lab in IIT Madras. A few alumni have come together headed by Raj Varadarajan of IITM (1966 BTech) to implement this technology in Tamil Nadu starting with the northern most district of Thiruvallur. The Collector of this District - Chandra Mohan - is excited about this project and welcomes NRI participation. Mohan wants his district in Tamil Nadu with 539 villages to be the first in all of India with full Internet connection.

Why Internet kiosk when people have no water ?

I agree that Water, Food Security and Economic Livelihood are at the top of the basic requirements. The Internet kiosks aim to bring key information and services to the villages. Birth and Death Certificates, Land Deed certificates (patta) are examples of basic village information. Services such as distant learning, providing medical services to the villagers from a doctor in a nearby city are examples of key services. Other common items such as e-mail services, matrimonial exchanges are quite popular already. "Mandi pricing" where a farmer gets access to prevailing prices in nearby markets for his crop, gives him better revenue.

Picture-1: A typical internet kiosk - a PC set up, with a WLL connection. WLL stands for "Wireless in the Local Loop". Internet service is connected to a base station called the LSP - Local Service Provider - using cable. This service is now broadcast using the tall tower (Pic 3) using wireless direct to the PC's in neighbouring villages in a 30-35 km radius.

Picture-2: Varadarajan explains the Kiosk operation and its benefits to a group of SHG (Self Help Group) women. A fully developed kiosk can bring in revenues of Rs 3,000 for the operator.

Picture-3: The base tower about 115 feet high. The entire base station set up with the tower costs around Rs 15 lakh and 3 -4 months to build. The individual kiosk with the PC and modem set up costs around $ 1,100 per unit.

Picture-4: One of the current owner/operator of a kiosk from a nearby village is informing the SHG women about its 'economic livelihood' aspects of the kiosk.

Link to article on n-logue by Elizabeth.

Contact information:
V.Varadarajan, Srinagar Colony, Saidapet, Chennai 600 015
Telephone:
Res. (044) 2220-0094 cell (044) 3103-1380
E-Mail address
raj_varadarajan@yahoo.com

On Jan 21st morning, a group of about 15 people with interest in Tamil Nadu rural development reached the Tuticorin Railway station.

Some (Madhuri Menon, Ram Subramaniam, A.L.Rangarajan) joined the tour by taking the train from Chennai. Some (Venkat Subramaniam, Sudhir Krishna, Vijay Anand & Ram Krishnan) came from USA to join the tour. And some (V.Rajendran, Arihara Suthan, Suresh, Kailash) joined from nearby districts in TN.

We were also fortunate to have Elango Rangasamy from Kuthambakkam as our tour guide. See the last picture on Jan 23 for a group photo.

Dr.Jyothimony, Director of the Vidiyel Trust took our group to various parts of Vilathikulam village where he has devoted many years of personal time, skills and money to uplift the poor people in his district. His achievements are great. The recent failure of the monsoon and lack of markets for products made in this area, are hampering his progress.

Jyothimony started the day for us with a stop at the District collector's office. We then went straight to a SHG group meeting in progress, specially convened to better inform our group about SHG groups. Later, we went to a local school, followed by a small cultural dance program. Jyothimony had arranged a fantastic lunch for all of us at his home. Afternoon sessions in the local panchayat and village units kept the whole group busy till 7 PM and then we drove towards Madurai.

Picture-1: Our tour bus - a 25 seater, AC, push-back seats.

Picture-2: Meeting at the District Collector K.Rajaraman's office located within 100 yards from the Bay of Bengal beach.

Picture-3: The Vidiyel Trust board welcoming our group.

Picture-4: participating in the SHG meeting.

Picture-5: Vijay Anand (AIM - Baltimore ) and Dr Jyothimony

Picture-6: a view of our group at the meeting

Picture-7: SHG group leader explaining the current situation in the village.

Picture-8: Handloom unit, commonly found in this area. They have the skills to make handloom sarees and dhothis but no market to sell to.

Picture-9: Greeted by the local school children.

Contact information:
Dr. K. Jothimony
Executive Director, Vidiyel Trust
H.O.- 1/38 Madurai Road, Vilathikulam - 628 907
Tuticorin District, Tamil Nadu, India
Telephone:
(4638)-233-647 or 233-090
E-Mail address
vidiyeltrust_ngo@yahoo.co.in or jothi_mony@hotmail.com

DHAN stands for Development of Humane Action. This NGO is located in Madurai. Works in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The main HQ is located in Madurai. The mission statement reads - "Building institutions for development innovations and upscaling for impacting livelihoods to enable poor communities."

M.P.Vasimalai is the Director of DHAN.

Prior to starting our program for the day, we visited the famous Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. Ragini of DHAN deserves our full appreciation for setting up and taking us through the full day. She took us to many villages where DHAN is making a difference in the lives of the villagers. She took us to Kottampatti, Vellinipatti, Appanthirupathi villages. The main focus was to learn about the Water Shed programs and the livelihood creation projects connected with the micro-credit programs called "Kalanjiam".

Picture-1: Some of the tour group visited the Meenakshi temple for a early morning 'darshan'.

Picture-2: Watershed area near Madurai. Allows the capture of rain which would otherwise run-off. "Paani ko rukna" in Hindi. "Stop the flow of water" in English. "Thanniyei Niruthu" in Tamil.

Picture-3: Ragini helped us to interact with a SHG group.

Picture-4: A recently desilted water tank. Waiting for rain. Rains always come even after 1 or 2 years of drought. We need to capture that water when it rains. Therefore the best thing to do during a drought year is to desilt tanks, revive 'eries' and 'ooranies'. (Tamil names for different types of water holding areas)

Picture-5: Listening to the realities of life and how they cope with it.

Picture-6: Visiting a 'kalanjiam' in Vaigai Vattam ( Vaigai circle )

Picture-7: Director Vasimalai meeting with our group at DHAN's main office in Madurai.

Contact information: DHAN Foundation, 18 Pillaiyar Koil Street, S.S.Colony, Madurai 625 010, Tamil Nadu, India.
Telephone: (91)-452-261-0794 or 261-0805
E-Mail address
dhan@md3.vsnl.net.in
http://www.dhan.org

Mahatma Gandhi was visiting Madurai by train. He was requested to visit Dindukal to meet with local people. Gandhiji wanted to skip this stop and proceed direct to Madurai since he did not have much time. As the train passed the current site of the GRI - Gandhigram Rural Institute, some one forced the train to stop by pulling the chain. The stone marker shown in Picture 8 marks the spot.

Mahatma Gandhi's disciples Dr.Soundaram Ramachandran and Dr. G.Ramachandran founded Gandhigram in the year 1947. In 1956 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI) based on the 'Nai Talim' educational system of Mahatma Gandhi.

GRI focusses on Rural Social Sciences, Rural oriented Science and Technology, Rural Health and Sanitation and Rural Development and Agriculture. Dr. Palanithurai currently holds the Rajiv Gandhi Chair for the Panchayati Raj Studies at the GRI.

Picture-1: Main entrance to GRI. Full residential campus, peaceful campus close to a mountain range.

Picture-2: Vice Chancellor Dr G.Pankajam addresses the students. At 9:00 AM every school day, all the students assemble for morning prayers and any key messages. On this day, Pankajam welcomed our tour group. Vijay Anand thanked GRI.

Picture-3: Dr Palanithurai, shown standing leftmost with our group, gave us a spirited discourse on the role of panchayati raj and how far we have come.

Picture-4: An exhibit hall within the campus displays Gandhiji's photos and related projects.

Picture-5: GRI designs, tests and builds small and cost efficient houses for villagers.

Picture-6: Typical village scene - Sewage water running in the middle of the street.

Picture-7: Elango and the tour group visited Panjampatti village panchayat.

Picture-8: Our tour group standing next to the Gandhiji's remembrance stone. From Left to Right: Rajendran, Arihara Suthan (kneeling), Vijay Anand, Kailash, Sudhir Krishna, Venkat Subramaniam, Elango Rangasamy, Ram Subramaniam, Ram Krishnan and 2 more (to identify)

Contact information:
Dr. G.Palanithurai, Dean and Faculty
Gandhigram Rural Institute
Gandhigram - 624 302
Tamil Nadu, India
Telephone:
0451-245-2371 E-Mail address
gpgri_rgc@yahoo.com or gpgri_hung1@rediffmail.com

Vavipalayam panchayat consists of 10 villages. It is located about 20-25 km south of Palladam (Palladam is about 40 km due east of Coimbatore). Many of us on the different Yahoo groups were first introduced to Vavipalayam, thanks to Senthil Kumar who acts as a 1-man IT department for this panchayat. He has a software company in Coimbatore and recently got married. Senthil was in California for a few years and decided to return to his native land and village and 'make a difference'.

Vavipalayam panchayat made the headlines few years ago, when Mrs. Sudha Moothy was elected as the Panchayat Leader, without any political party support or with lots of funding.

We noticed that as we traveled west and closer to the mountains, there was a better chance of finding water and hence the landscape and the people's life are dramatically different. TN districts in southern most section plus the eastern sections tend to have water shortage and drought conditions.

Vavipalayam has more natural resources. You will enjoy the vast Coconut groves and other trees. Better village infrastructure - schools, roads, houses, can be found in the village.

Picture-1: On the main road from Dindukal to Vavipalayam, we saw probably 50-60 windmills, all working and generating power. We learned that a German Company had a role in the construction of the windmill farm. For those readers from the bay area in California, it is somewhat similar to the windmills along the Altemonte pass on the highway going east from Livermore.

Picture-2: Shows the main Vavipalayam panchayat office.

Picture-3: Mrs Sudha Moorthy (in blue Saree) meeting with our group.

Picture-4: Senthil Kumar and myself in front of the Coconut groves (like kerala)

Picture-5: Elango explaining to Venkat Subramaniam

Picture-6: Growing fish in a pond - for sale. an economic activity

Picture-7: Growing seedlings of 'nelli kai' for transplantation - an economic activity.

Picture-8: Night school in the village - no electric power to the school.

Contact information:
Senthil Kumar Arumugam - Senthil's Mobile number- 94431-19564
Telephone:
Sundaramoorthy - (04255)-279-303
E-Mail address
senthil@sslindia.org

We started the day by driving about 20 km going west on the Coimbatore to Ooty Road and reached the panchayat of 'Odamthurai'. Thanks to the dedication and committment of its Panchayat Leader, Odamthurai is an example of a well-developed village. It was pointed out to us that most residents of Odamthurai are actually people who commute to Coimbatore for jobs. Hence, Odamthurai is unlike most other villages where you will find poor villagers and farmers. Many of the residents of Odamthurai also have property in Coimbatore in addition to their lands in Odamthurai.

The Panchayat Leader of Odamthurai was recognized later in the same day at a large public ceremony in Coimbatore, arranged by Vijay Anand of AIMS, as a "Corruption free" panchayat. There were 3 other panchayat leaders who were recognized.

Picture-1: Odamthurai Panchayat Leader ( second from left ) discussing with our tour group.

Picture-2: This and the next 3 pictures describe the Biomass Gasifier installed in this panchayat. The resulting power is used for pumping and purifying drinking water for the village.
The main raw material used as the bio-mass material is shredded coconut trees. This part of TN is almost like Kerala and is full of Coconut trees.

Picture-3: Biomass Gasifier. Produces a gas from the shredded coconuts.

Picture-4: This gas runs a small turbine/motor to generate electricity. This power is used in pumping and cleaning the water.

Picture-5: This board compares the Cost of producing electric power - conventional vs Biomass. According to the display board, a unit of power from the Electricity Board (EB) costs Rs 4.017 whereas the same unit of power from Biomass costs Rs 1.395. (I hope the respective capital and installation costs are considered in a fair manner.)

Picture-6: A nearby small river brings fresh water.

Picture-7: Solar street lighting for one section of the village.

Picture-8: Sewage from public toilets are taken into a soak pit.

Contact information:
Telephone:
E-Mail address

Some of the tour participants assembled in Chennai to discuss and summarize our findings.

The following 4 areas were highlighted:

1. Water - conservation and watershed management
2. Energy - both conventional and alternate forms
3. Livelihood Creation
4. Dry Agriculture

Next step: a. It was suggested that we create a village or district level map, highlighting different aspects of rural development. For instance, if someone wanted to find the nearest village with Vermi-composting, this map will show it.

b. Arrange a 5-site tour of TN meant for the Panchayat leaders. At each site, a 2-day event will be arranged. About 100-150 local panchayat leaders will be invited. Elango has promised to select the sites and the panchayat leaders. Participation by other NGO's and social groups is most welcome.