To mould/build a community that epitomises collective wisdom and teamwork for promoting the common good and ecological sustainability.
About Imamganj: It is about 14 km interior from the highway. It is surrounded by three rivers, Rari, Kalyani and Gomti. So in that sense, it is like an island. The village is over 100 feet above the river level. So in spite of having 3 rivers close by there isn’t adequate water for irrigation.
Major Occupation of the people: It is Kheti. They principally grow wheat, chana, sarson, masoor and toor dal, vegetables like potato and tomato, jackfruit etc. 2 crops per year is the norm unless someone decides to grow peppermint. Then they get 3 crops per year. Off and on peppermint has been a money spinner. Right now Peppermint oil is selling at Rs 2000/- per litre. Unfortunately, the Imamganj folk didn’t have the holding capacity so they sold it earlier at Rs 1000/-. The downside of peppermint is that if crop rotation is not done it leaves the land infertile. Some households generate supplementary income through selling khoya in the nearby mandi.
About Quality Circles: A Quality Circle is a small group of persons doing similar work or belonging to the same work area who volunteer to meet regularly (on a fixed weekday at a fixed time for an hour), deliberate on and understand their work-related problems, go to the root causes of the problems and solve them.
It is necessary to limit the number of members in a circle. The membership of a circle should be limited to between 5 to 15 persons.
First stint:
Quality Circle is a Japanese concept that Japan had used extensively for their 1st Quality revolution in industry. I achieved great success in the industrial sphere with this concept in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Unlike Japan, a significant proportion of our population is dependent on agriculture so I felt it was logical for us to initiate Quality Circles for farmers. So I set out in Jan 1993 to initiate this concept in the rural sphere. I chose Imamganj for this. My first stint in Imamganj was from 1993 to 1999. I met with great success. Imamganj was the epitome of unity and teamwork.
My complete focus shifted to management consultancy from 2000 onwards. This happened as my son, who is hearing and speech impaired, urged me to focus more on earning so that I may leave a legacy for him. He was a teenager then and not feeling certain whether he would get employment. By the grace of God he graduated and got a back office job in a bank in 2011.
Second stint:
In Dec 2015 at the behest of a classmate, I took some of his folk who had lived abroad to visit Imamganj as they wanted to see rural India. Imamganj had slid back as a community. Politics was the main dividing force. That was the moment I decided to get back. This was the reason for the starting of my 2nd stint at Imamganj.
Initially, about 40 + volunteers came forward. I was elated as the village has just about 70 to 80 households. However, when it came to giving time for weekly meetings or volunteering for work, the group started thinning. By April 2017 only one person (Shyam Bahadur) was left. That was a Moment of Truth for me. I decided to continue my efforts. It paid off. From one person it became 2 (Ram Sevak joined). They decided to start a school to bring back unity in their community. More people have voluntarily kept joining to help in the school activities.
Note: This centre would need a Centre In-charge and a Lab In-charge for the Science lab. The Centre In-charge would be a voluntary position and filled as decided by the Quality Circle teams. The Lab In-charge would need to be a Science Graduate from some nearby village. He may require to be compensated for his services. His payment and other expenses for the upkeep of the centre would be derived from the levies for centre usage.
The obstacles: For the Centre, at least 1/2 to 1 acre of land is required where children can congregate and play outdoor games. An acre of land requires big money (say about 40-50 L).
The way out: The first attempt would be to get the land from the gram sabha. The SDM of the Tehsil and the Pradhan can help. The local pradhan belongs to another village. (Generally, a cluster of villages has a Pradhan) If I succeed here, then only the construction of the building would be left. Of course, the material for the building would need to be bought but the labour for construction will come from Shram Daan of volunteers. I’ll expect to raise the money through donations from supporters of this project, inside and outside of Imamganj.
2. For the farming community: I would like to see the voluntary Quality Circle movement grow such that
a. They make a smooth and gainful shift to Organic/Natural farming: For the shift to Organic/Natural Farming, I have the help of Mr.Shoor Vir Singh, a farmer from Bijnore (near Haridwar). Shoorvir had switched to natural farming in the decade of the eighties. His source of inspiration was Masanobu Fukuoka’s “One Straw Revolution”. I had read about Shoorvir, in a publication of the Gandhi Peace Foundation. The Publication was titled ‘Mohanpur Experiments in Natural Farming’. This had attracted me to Shoor Vir in the first instance in 1997. We’ve been friends since then. Shoor Vir has visited Imamganj over 20 times over the last 2 years, guiding some of the farmers in making the shift to organic farming. For some farming experiments of ShoorVir, refer to:
http://el.doccentre.info/eldoc1/e70_/mohanpur_natural_farming.pdf
b. Procurement of farm inputs and sale of produce collectively without middlemen in the value chain: As for collective procurement of inputs and collective sales of farm produce, I expect the Quality Circle teams to take this up once they have substantial organic produce.
c. A solar pump/windmill (depending on the feasibility) to pump up water for irrigation: I will need further expertise and guidance for this. I believe that there is a 75% govt subsidy for Solar Pumps for registered farmers with bore wells. I am not certain whether pumping out water from the river would be permitted. If not, the alternative would be using solar pumps for the existing borewells.
My attempt has been to promote a voluntary community movement. The movement is theirs, by them and for them. I hope and trust that the Quality Circle teams (that represent the community) would carry this forward. I have reasonable hope in Mr. Shyam Bahadur (57 yrs) and Ram Sevak (30 yrs) to lead the voluntary movement, along with their band of young teachers. Till now, they have stood the test of time. Over the longer span of time, some children of the present evening school are bound to take it on.