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Padayatra progress

The Padayatra begins on the 1st day of the new year, 2006. We are attempting to log the progress of the Padayatra everyday. There are, however,some difficulties in connecting due to some remote locations, as well as the 12 hr powercuts in the rural areas. We will be documenting various experiences and stories as we go along, in an attempt to create awareness amongst ourselves. If you would like to reach us, please write to grnearth@vsnl.com or if you want to reach Ranjit in the field, write to ranjitster@gmail.com

The Padayatra will conclude at Wardha on 28th Feb and the oath will be taken in Nagpur on 2nd March. Please click here for detailed schedule and location.

There will be a closed forum on 1st Mar to reflect on the Padayatra. The readers are welcome to send in their comments and those will be read out in the forum. Please write to us at grnearth@vsnl.com or ranjitster@gmail.com.

The links to the previous weeks are on the left.

Today is the 57th day of the Padayatra. It's on its last stretch and will conclude on the 28th of Feb. There will be a conclusion to the Padayatra, but it will be a chapter in a long endeavor that will see rural India progress in a sustainable way. As we march along the last leg of this journey, everyone wonders "What next?"
The last two months were filled with adventures, stories of distress and success and experiences, some life-changing. Many people poured in their hearts in this Padayatra, some walked, some organized and some studied. The thing that binds all of us is an intense desire to contribute to a sustainable society, free of exploitation and corruption. We want to empower people to stand on their own and make a difference in their own lives.
The scenes that we have seen are etched in our memories. Villages with no drinking water, where little girls have to walk for kilometers dragging their pot of water. Women trying to satisfy their hunger with a small piece of bread. Farmers feeling helpless under a heavy burden of loans that they don't dream to pay back in their lifetimes. Children eager to learn but left in a vacuum for lack of good education. Old couples left caring for their toddler grandchildren because the parents have migrated for work. Cattle being sold to be butchered because their owners have no money to pay for their daughters' dowry. Farmland where the yield is so low that it is better not to plant anything.
But we also saw villages with great water management. Farmers practicing organic and natural farming with profitable results. Schools with computer education encouraging their students for higher education. But all these made for only a few bright spots.
The experience is vast. Ideas, several. Where do we start? We will take an oath at the Dikshabhoomi in Nagpur to counter drought and work towards a sustainable future. But yet, each one of us and all of you watching us are asking, "What next?"

27Feb'06 - Future direction

There are four distinct structures that are emerging from the Padayatra. These structures will help focus our efforts to eradicate drought and work towards a sustainable future for Maharashtra.
The first is Social Organization. This social organization will be at the village level. It will involve getting all the villagers together, everyone from all religions and castes and take decisions collectively to work towards a common goal. It will involve identifying local leaders at the village level who will act as agents of change. There will also be leaders from local organizations that will be based closed to clusters of villages and will communicate and work with these clusters. They will be able to communicate the vision and dream of the Padayatra and facilitate training and meets. This first structure will get the village together as a unit.
The second is Information Dissemination. Information dissemination will be from intellectuals, civil society and social organizations to each and every villager, not from the medium of paper, but in person. This information could be about laws, schemes, knowledge, appropriate technology, water shed management, organic and natural farming, any information that will be beneficial for sustainable development.
The third is Social Watch Institute. This will be a credible institute comprising of intellectuals, academicians, thinkers, investigators to monitor and study ground level issues and influence policies and decisions at state level. The institute will be responsible for communicating issues and progress to the masses through various mediums.
Last is the Maharashtra Development Fund. This will support the first three structures. It will be managed by a board of trustees at the state level. This structure will enable individuals and organizations to contribute towards the development of the state.

28Feb'06 - Oath

A pledge for a prosperous Maharashtra

We have a dream, a dream to see a prosperous Maharashtra, our state.

On 28th February, 2006, we completed our Padayatra of 944 kms. What we saw was disturbing. There are dark clouds of drought looming over the state. Today, on the 2nd of March, we pledge to lift the state out of this crisis of drought.

Every person in Maharashtra should have enough food to eat and be able to earn it with dignity. Every village, hamlet and settlement should have sufficient potable drinking water. Every pair of hands that can work should get employment and a just compensation for it. All livestock should get enough fodder. We pledge to make every effort to realize this.

In doing so, we will ensure social justice and respect the rights and duties given to us by the constitution. Through complete people's participation and consensus in the planning process, we will ensure that the last person remains the focal point of all planning. We will undertake a people's education movement to achieve this.

The coming age is the information age. It is our objective to take information, knowledge and technology to the last person. By doing so, we will make the society of Maharashtra, a knowledgeable and informed one.

The poor are affected most by drought. Women suffer. Children and seniors are neglected. Farmers, dalits, backward castes and tribal communities get caught in a poverty trap. We recognize this. In the march towards progress, these communities get neglected. We pledge to ensure that they are not.

We believe the role of administration and government is equally important and this work will be done in coordination and dialogue with them. People's representatives and Panchayat institutions will also be included in this process.

We recognize that this is a huge undertaking. Yet we remain resolute. We plan to support our resolution with excellent management, trained workers, good research and strong organizations.

With our efforts, we pledge to make Maharashtra free of hunger, thirst, fear, unemployment, injustice, exploitation and drought. We dream of a prosperous land and a happy people of Maharashtra. Forever. To this dream and objective, we remain committed till our last breath.