ARUN JAIN'S DIARY

Trust you all are having a nice and joyful festive season!

Recently, Manju and I attended the Non-Violent Economy Network (NVEN) event at Madurai. I was very intrigued by the narrative of Non-Violent Economy. How come the Economy which provides livelihood to us all becomes violent?The movement is led by Global leaders from many countries who are relooking at the economy from a sustainable lens.

The Sustainability of Human Existence is now anchored around Climate, Water, Energy Systems, Chemical free Agriculture practices, Forests and Consumption.The word Economy is for 138 Crs people of India and 750 Crs Global people not for a select few. In India alone, there are more than 90 cr people living in Rural India spread across 6 lakh villages.

The lowest structure of local governance is the elected Panchayat System consisting of 2.5 lakh Panchayats, governed by 11 to 17 members each. Now the question is what is their role in our Urban Economy?How do we calculate the contribution of each village in the traditional economy?Are we in a hurry to produce higher and higher by applying toxic chemical fertilisers and compromising on Sustainability in Non Violent way?

I interpreted ‘Nonviolence’ as non-violence at Thought, Speech and Action Levels by an individual or community. Non-Violence for sustainability is to respect Nature, Climate, Water, Forest and Agriculture. It is also about Fair Trade& profit and about right consumption.

In the last 6 yrs, I am enjoying working with self motivated Development Accelerators (called NGO’s) through Mission Samriddhi who are completely committed to Sustainability without even knowing the word ESG or Non-Violence. I got humbled when the Tribal community of Shiratoki, a small village of Yavatmal, Maharashtra came together to participate in Collective Farming by pooling their 150 acres of the land. We got the opportunity to apply Design Thinking to solve problems of Fragmented land holding, Water, Natural farming and single crop dependency along with 10 other compassionate experts. We call this experiment HOCO farming (Holistic and Collective Farming). I must thank each one of the experts who are putting their substantial time in designing this non-violent economic experiment.

When Manju & I were thinking about a Diwali gift this year, we felt we need to participate in this movement in a very small way by sharing products from Non-Violent economy to our friends and families. We picked up a few products from rural non-violent startups. The Handbag is sourced from YellowBag Foundation which helps women gain financial independence, Millet based sweets and savouries are from The Timbaktu Collective, a non-profit organisation that works towards the sustainable development of marginalised people across 285 villages in the drought-prone and ecologically challenged in Andhra Pradesh

This Diwali, we were happy to be part of the Non-Violent economy movement.

Wishing you a Happy Diwali.

We set up ADK Eye Hospital in the district of Baghpat to serve rural districts of Western UP. The hospital is situated within a 45-minute drive from Delhi with state-of-the-art facilities. We are finding very high demand for Cataract surgeries and retina surgeries there from 7 districts (Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Shamli, Sonepat, Ghaziabad, Modinagar) with a population of over 12 million people.

Within 2 years, 50000 sqft exclusive eye hospitals are completing 1000 high quality surgeries a month with 5 state-of-the-art Operation Theatres.

We found demand has grown faster than what we anticipated. Thus, we are looking to enhance capacity and for compassionate eye surgeons for the hospital. The hospital will provide family accommodation and compensation.

We are also looking for healthcare fellows who want to work in western UP. We are exploring partnerships with international hospitals with focus on rural eye care for internships.

Could you please circulate among your circles to get the right compassionate surgeons and partnerships?

#eyecare #eyesurgeon #baghpat #uttarpradesh #ruralhealth #partnerships

Yesterday (March 26, 2022) was a historical and memorable occasion as we had the launch of HOCO Farming at Shiratoki.

Shiratoki is a village in the Zari Jamani region of Yavatmal district in Maharashtra. What made it truly memorable was that the 65 families in this remote village came together to make history. Forty farmers from the Kolam tribe broke silos and pooled 225 acres of land for Holistic Collective (HOCO) Farming.

I am proud to be a part of this fine example of Design Thinking in action. The first aspect was that they had broken the Rembrandt Silos by coming together. This requires all the farmers to have boundaryless thinking.

The second remarkable aspect was that they questioned assumptions. Thus far, they have practiced rain-fed agriculture that limited their produce to just a few crops a year. Average productivity resulting in meagre incomes had been the norm. This was now broken. They are now considering forty types of Kharif crops, Rabi and summer crops – all to be grown on the 225 acres of land with the direct involvement of 40 farmers.

This took dedicated and consistent effort by all the stakeholders. Gramin Samassya Mukti Trust, supported by Mission Samriddhi, was continuously supporting the seed that was collectively sown in conjunction with the farmers themselves. The seeds sprouted in two years. In the meanwhile, 18 farm ponds of 30m by 30m by 3m in size, many recharge pits, hundreds of meters of CCTs, farm bunds and dug wells are taking concrete shape, again with the direct involvement of the farmers.

Agriculture depends on effective water management. The tribal farmers saw the big picture (we call it L0) by mapping the terrain and then designing 18 water ponds of 100ft by 100ft by 10ft that are being dug using five JCBs.  Bhartiya Jain Sangh supported in designing the excavation operation and loaning the JCBs. The design team has been meeting every week on Mondays with 10 experts to plan and execute the activities. I am happy to note that the government is playing an active role.

HOCO Farming! Holistic because it integrates Personal, Social, Economic, Ecological and Institutional Development (the 40 farmers have formed an FPO and selected a 10-member Board of Directors). And of course, Collective in its truest sense wherein all the stakeholders are coming together aligned to the purity in this purpose.  

This launch is proof that going beyond limiting beliefs, collaboration, co-creation and innovation is the way forward. I am confident that this experiment will put Shiratoki village on the global map where people from different corners will come to visit, stay and understand the concepts of HOCO Farming.

#MissionSamriddhi #designthinking #ruralindia

Mission Samriddhi is building a collective farming of 300 acres by pooling in farmers of Shiratoki village, Yavatmal. The farmers were making less than 30,000 to 40,000 per acre.

MS design team consisting of 12 members with agriculture, water and social community experts, program managers, chartered accountants, terrain designers, market linkage experts and sustainable model designers have been working for the last 8 months on this project.

They need to design a capacity of 160 million litres of water storage for the next 2 crops. They are digging 18 ponds of 100 ft by 100 ft by 10 ft. All the large JCBs and large machines reached the site yesterday. There is a Bhoomi Pooja on 16th March at the site.

This kind of collective farming is getting designed among very few project heard. 

#community #design #sustainable #water #farming #agritech

We are proud to be partners with Banvasi Seva Ashram, five years on. As a part of our Mission Samriddhi programme, we are happy to contribute to their efforts towards child and youth development, while they also uphold Gandhian principles.

Sonbhadra is the poorest tribal district of UP where she has devoted herself. The entire family of Prem bhai – a Gandhian, his wife – Dr Ragini, MBBS MD and their two daughters Dr Vibha and Shubha are fully committed to this Ashram. They are transforming 445 villages of the district.

I recommend you to watch this video.

As of tomorrow, 24th November marks two years of our complete eye care charitable hospital, I congratulate Dr. Manju Verma and Dr. Ruma Gupta, who have driven this initiative and made our hospital a world-class one.

With 100 beds at this hospital, we are proud to have brought the facilities of urban medical care to rural India. Here patients can avail speciality care in a far easier manner. I have personally seen a 75-year-old lady accompanied by her grandson, travelling 20 km to attain eye care. ADK Jain Eye Hospital aims to make quality eye care accessible to more people like her. 

Today is World Environmental Health Day.

While the world celebrates this day, I was thinking about the connection between nature and humans.

Nature designed humans. Humans subordinated every resource and species of nature.

The human body is a marvel of nature. The design of the human body is optimally right.

It is not the strongest.
It is not the tallest.
It is not the fastest.
It is not the longest living.
It is not the fastest learner – actually slowest – a child takes over 12-16 years to become a fully grown adult.

But still the human body rules the animal kingdom.

Is good design all about right proportions and measured steps of growth?

#environmental #design #health #nature #wellbeing #designthinking

India Handmade Collective (IHMC) has a fascinating story of ‘connecting’ people. During a 2-hour virtual Design Thinking workshop session conducted recently, we had the opportunity to listen to 50 like-minded people who were involved in organic and handmade fabric. We were awed by the fact that they provide employment opportunities to farmers, spinners and weavers in the villages, connecting them with the right contacts and guiding them to upskill their talents.

For this process, they created a WhatsApp group and arrived at a common name for the collective by a pure consensus building process over a time of two weeks. They together decided the logo, the guidelines for working together in the group and then chose the right products for sale and the design for the online sales store.

I saw the power of purpose, driving the power of collectives.
It is just the beginning of the coming together of an institution. Let us wish them good luck!

#IndiaHandMadeCollective #ruralindia #ruralartisans

Today is a significant day as we celebrate the National Panchayati Raj Day to commemorate the historic Constitution Act (73rd Amendment) passed in 1992 which came into existence a year later on April 24, 1993. The launch of the e-GramSwaraj portal and app today makes this a doubly important day. The portal shows us the vastness of India’s local governance framework.

We have over 2.66 lakh Gram Panchayats across the length and breadth of our country. This is where ‘the rubber hits the road’ and this is where, as Gandhiji said, India lives. On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we at #MissionSamriddhi launched the India Panchayat Forum (IPF) at Gandhi Ashram, Sewagram in Wardha. I felt that the 73rd Amendment that provided a Constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj Institution is yet to realise its full potential.

On this significant day, let us work with them and help them achieve effective local governance, and become examples to the world.

#ruralindia #IndiaPanchayatForum

Article: Published on April 24, 2020
National Panchayati Raj Day

Today is a significant day as we celebrate the National Panchayati Raj Day to commemorate the historic Constitution Act (73rd Amendment) passed in 1992 which came into existence a year later on April 24, 1993. The launch of the e-GramSwaraj portal and app today makes this a doubly important day. The portal shows us the vastness of India’s local governance framework.

We have over 2.66 lakh Gram Panchayats across the length and breadth of our country. This is where ‘the rubber hits the road’ and this is where, as Gandhiji said, India lives. On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we at #MissionSamriddhi launched the India Panchayat Forum (IPF) at Gandhi Ashram, Sewagram in Wardha. I felt that the 73rd Amendment that provided a Constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj Institution is yet to realise its full potential.
The need for the India Panchayat Forum stems from this gap and is envisioned to promote the Gandhian vision of Panchayat Raj. This upholds the constitutional values, social justice and the highest standards of governance with a special focus on Antyodaya.

In our federal structure, our Gram Panchayats are the unsung heroes. Devolution of power to local government continues to be a contentious issue, but the launch of this portal ensures transparency, and thereby a level playing field. Each Panchayat has different challenges, and most do come up with innovative solutions.

On this significant day, let us work with them and help them achieve effective local governance, and become examples to the world.