It Boasts Of Wi-Fi, CCTVs And Also Insurance For All
Ahmedabad: Think of an Indian village and what comes to mind are images of mooing cows, open drains and children playing ants and frog games. But, Punsari, a motley village in Himmatnagar, talks about wi-fi and optical fiber broadband network, its children spend best of their times in airconditioned classrooms with CCTV cameras.
The village also boasts of its own
mini-bus transport system and there are 25-odd CCTVs located on important junctions to spot litterbugs. If you think this village is drenched in NRI funds, think again. Not a single rupee has come from across the seven seas, instead the village managed its funds over the last five years that it received from central and state sponsored developmental schemes.
“The village panchayat pays an annual premium of Rs 25 lakh against insurance for each of the 6,000 villagers who have a cover of Rs 1 lakh and a mediclaim policy of Rs 25,000. Our schools have zero dropout rates, CCTV cameras in classrooms help us keep watch on teachers in classrooms. Our reverse osmosis plant supplies 20-litre cans to houses for a token cost of Rs 4. These are bare essentials for a standard life today and why should our village be behind,” claims the village sarpanch Hemant Patel, 29. The village panchayat had a capital of Rs 25,000 five years ago. Today, the deposits have soared to Rs 75 lakh. “The turnaround happened when we sold part of our grazing land as plotted schemes to various communities. The money is deposited in government coffers,” says Patel.
The village received rewards from the central government and the state governments recently. District development officer Ravi Arora told TOI, “There is not a single family in Punsari which has an NRI family member. The village has just managed its accounts well and villagers here agreed on a co-operative approach to development.”
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