Gandhian Philosophy of Self-Reliant Village: a Study of Kuthambakkam in Tamilnadu

GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY OF A SELF-RELIANT VILLAGE: STUDY OF KUTHAMBAKKAM IN TAMILNADU Dr. R.B.Patil, Co-ordinator, Centre of Gandhian Studies, Shivaji University,Kolhapur. [email protected]

KUTHAMBAKKAM VILLAGE is 40 km from labor. He re-built the main roads, sewer Chennai. The village was once infamous for lines and other village essentials. At this riots, poor sanitary conditions, illicit liquor point he ran out of ideas to keep the brewing, unemployment, poverty and villagers gainfully employed. Then he violence against women but all this changed thought of producing many of the common when development was accorded priority. items consumed by the villagers, such as Nearly 160 families were previously food and everyday consumables. Instead of engaged in brewing illicit arrack in the spending money to procure the same items village, which has a population of 5500, from larger towns such as Chennai, he were motivated to give up this nefarious started producing these items in his own activity and take up honest income- village. In 6 years, Elango succeeded in generating activities by forming self-help reforming a village where 80% of the men groups. There are 1,175 houses, including folk used to be unemployed and drunk. 400 huts, of which 315 were upgraded into pucca structures. This change was brought Since the successful transformation of about with the efforts of Elango Kuthambakkam, several neighbouring Rangaswamy. villages have sought Elango's advice. Elango is now in the process of creating an ELANGO RANGASWAMY is a chemical academy in Kuthambakkam that will serve engineer, a native of the village and now as a place to teach and train panchayat Panchayat President of the village. When presidents from other villages. elected, he pledged to develop his village. He quit the Central Electro Chemical INSPIRATION FROM MAHATMA GANDHI Research Institute, Chennai in 1994 and AND OTHERS: Elango found inspiration started working on a rapport-building from the lives of personalities such as exercise in his village for two years, then Mahatma Gandhi, J.C. Kumarapa and independently contested and won the 1996 Kundrakudi Adigalar. He was committed to Panchayat election. He has achieved much revolutionise Indian villages with that any leader could be proud of - government support. He read Gandhian community-integrated housing, indigenous literature and was impressed by Gandhi's industry, gram swaraj and other ideals of economics and philosophy - "India needs local government. Elango was re-elected in production by the masses and not mass the 2001 elections with zero campaign cost. production". He wanted to do something on This speaks for the faith the villagers have in a micro level. So he decided to work for the him. upliftment of his native village Kuthambakkam. As president, he started building houses for the villagers to replace the thatched roof He is now on a mission to create model ones. He obtained assistance from the villages based on the Gandhian philosophy government to buy raw materials but of self-reliance. He wants to empower insisted on the villagers donating in their

International Journal of Rural vol. 15 no. 2 Oct 2008 Studies (IJRS) ISSN 1023–2001 www.ivcs.org.uk/IJRS Article 3 Page 1 of 7 panchayats in the spirit of the Panchayat he was in Chennai calmly telling the Raj. Secretary to the Government: "No, I will not sue you but I will sit in protest until you WATER DRAIN CONSTRUCTION: On the convene a plenary session of my village. Let outskirts of the village was a factory that your charges be read out, my defence heard polished granite slabs. It had a huge and the villagers decide my fate." disposal problem with its random off cuts which it was willing to pay to be carried He contacted the press. On Jan 10, 1999, away. Elango employed local labour, and 1300 people gathered and Elango defended built a drain which had smooth granite himself. Before the sun set on the day-long mosaic walls. Of the budgeted Rs.15 lakh trial, the Government sent in an order for this project, Elango spent just Rs. 4 lakh, revoking the suspension. The entire village half of which went in wages for local folk. had rallied behind him. "I understood Gandhi But the specification was to build the drain that day," he says. "First be truthful, and with rubble from a nearby hill. He had then be fearless. I understand the violated 'prescribed norms'. In other words, Panchayat Act, and I don't dispute that the he had deprived transporters of their ferrying ad-hoc manner in which some work is done opportunity and contractors of their civil technically violates the act. But think of it like works. Vested interests worked overtime. this - there is ideal construction material Elango was suspended from office under available with a local industry - they in fact Section 205 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayat have so much of it they are willing to feed Act [TNPA]. our workers if we will simply take it away! So we use this [granite] to make the storm He was devastated. He thought he had drain, and not the specified rubble. We save made a novel environmental, economic and many lakhs of rupees, but we have also development statement -- and he had been violated the procedural and technical thrown out and humiliated for his pains. Why standards. had he not heeded those that had said politics was a cess-pool? Why had he This is where Gandhi comes back into my abandoned a promising career? What had life as an inspiration. It is not merely in he to show for Sumathy's support? He went making the panchayat self-sufficient that I into a deep depression. He thought of draw strength from Gandhi, it is also to quitting. assert that dharma is essentially more important than the law. Also, because I Sumathy made one of her rare visits to know the laws and understand them, I can Kuthambakkam. She held him and asked see the purposes for which they are created. him if that was the end of his passions. Was That purpose is more important than the he going to give up because of this one set law. I wrote to the authorities and said "I back? She had brought a book for him, have not made any money from this 'Satthia Sodhanai', a Tamil version of procedure, the drain works well, and the Gandhi's 'My Experiments with Truth'. people are happy. We have saved money, and ultimately a good thing has been done. Elango says he had heard of the book but Yes, I did not follow the law, but I believe had not read it. His predicament gave it that a just thing was done". The authorities immediacy as he read it. It seemed written stopped trying to remove me. This kind of for him. He understood the mind of a explanation may be hard in large dogged man who had faced greater odds. communities, where people don't know each The book taught him grit. Within a few days other. In the panchayat, people know me, they can judge the justice of my action

International Journal of Rural vol. 15 no. 2 Oct 2008 Studies (IJRS) ISSN 1023–2001 www.ivcs.org.uk/IJRS Article 3 Page 2 of 7 themselves. And I use that awareness as activity. From this there is self-reliance, a my strength.” sense of pride and independence. You can call that gram swaraj. GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY AND ELANGO RANGASWAMY: In some of the interviews, Of course, I do not suggest the Gandhian Rangaswamy expressed his thoughts on way of the `charka' as the means to eke out Gandhian philosophy. a living. Since times have changed, one has Q. You're often introduced as a Gandhian ... to keep pace with modern trends and Ans. I do not say that I am a 100% changes in science and technology. A Gandhian. Maybe 40%, 50%, some such village that produces groundnuts, for number. What I mean is that I have found instance, must think of establishing an oil many of Gandhi's ideas, especially in My extraction unit to liberate itself from its Experiments with Truth, to be a source of dependency on cities for oil. This will also strength and inspiration for my work, and I help generate employment opportunities believe that many of the problems I face can within the village. be solved by applying that thinking. The label "Gandhian" is something I'm not sure PANCHAYAT RAJ AND ELANGO’S about. Sometimes I think that if I tell people VISION: The73rd constitutional amendment that I practise Gandhi's thinking or in 1992 widened the Panchayat Raj base Kumarappa's thinking, they may laugh at and made Panchayats local self- me, and say that Gandhi is all fine, but not government. Now there is an elected really practical for our times. But then I also Panchayat at every village level functioning think that if I am trying to do something for as government for that village with the the betterment of my village, and for my people’s support in the form of Gram Sabha. country, and if I find the strength for that There are financial and power devolutions in work in Gandhi, why should I be diffident in the form of financial commission grants and saying that?” other governmental schemes. Q. You are a panchayat chief, with responsibilities for your own village Despite the existence of the Panchayat Raj environment. That must offer plenty of constitution for almost a decade almost all opportunity to try out Gandhi's ideas on over the country, there is no significant gram swaraj. growth among panchayats to function as Ans. You can look at this as an economic local self-government. There are supporting idea, or as Gandhian thinking. The village institutions, NGOs and govt. departments to produces a few things, and tries to sell them, make panchayats deliver the constitutional typically in Chennai. Most of the things we mandates. In this situation, if there are sell are "unfinished products", such as demonstrating models for total development harvested crops, unpasteurized milk, nuts by the panchayats, they will create a ripple for oil, etc. We send these off somewhere among other panchayats by showcasing the like Ambattur to be processed, packaged, role models. This will be easy to replicate as and transported back to us. Typically, there more and more models use grassroots is a 100% markup in price in that process. democracy. We think of ourselves as consumers only of finished goods, but there is no reason why ELANGO’S VISION AS A PANCHAYAT we cannot be the buyers of the unfinished LEADER: goods as well as the processors who make a) To eliminate hunger and create a self- the finished goods. In the same move, you reliant, self-sustainable village economy in can eliminate all the middleman costs, and which all the able-bodied have employment also find employment through new economic opportunities and people develop pride and

International Journal of Rural vol. 15 no. 2 Oct 2008 Studies (IJRS) ISSN 1023–2001 www.ivcs.org.uk/IJRS Article 3 Page 3 of 7 confidence in their skills and in the village. for socializing by the men and women folk in b) To provide resources for locally-made the evenings, are converted into children's products to be value-added to the highest playgrounds during vacations and into clean possible degree within the village so that plinths for drying grains during the harvest wealth generated stays with the villagers. seasons. The rehabilitated families laid good c) To provide a model for the development interior concrete roads in every part of the of the rest of rural India, by creating and village at a low cost. With government demonstrating solutions in his own village. support, all highway and union roads were also repaired, and re-laid, where necessary. INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT OF 4. Rain Water Harvesting and Water Supply: KUTHAMBAKKAM: This was thoroughly The Panchayat has desilted and deepened discussed among the villagers at ward and six ponds in and around the village, as a street levels, and accepted after suitable result of which, the water table does not go alterations. below 13 feet even during the summer. An 1. Eradication of illicit arrack trade. overhead water tank has been constructed, The one compelling reason Elango went and a water pump installed in every hamlet. back to his village was that women were These are connected to every cluster of beaten up, humiliated and exploited by their houses. alcoholic husbands every night. With 5. Self-help groups (SHGs): assistance from the local police and 18 women's SHGs have been formed, which newspapers, Elango was able to bring about are being trained to undertake income- a change the Gandhian way. Boys from the generating activities. 130 boys have now Loyola College helped by performing street come forward to form self-help groups. plays. After years of persistence, the men 6. Literacy and Education: agreed to quit alcohol provided they were The illiteracy rate in Kuthambakkam is as given alternative means of employment. high as 60% among women. A local balwadi Elango gave this rehabilitated group of more has been constructed as part of the than 200 families employment in putting Samathuvapuram. The village has two infrastructure (houses, drains and roads) in primary schools and one upper primary place for the entire village. From among the school. Primary education enrollment is most notorious villages for illicit arrack trade 100%, with a 99% dropout after the 8th in Tamil Nadu five years ago, grade due to the distance to the school. The Kuthambakkam now figures at the bottom villagers have built toilets for these schools. end of the list. Elango has been motivating the teachers to 2. Low-cost compressed mud-block housing: refrain from child beating or any form of harsh punishment for the children. The The Panchayat started its work with the village has an Indira Gandhi National Open establishment of a ``Samathuvapuram" (a University (IGNOU) education centre township of equality) of 50 twin-houses (now equipped with a television, which benefits one of the 6 hamlets of Kuthambakkam) in village youth. "The drop out rate is 98% in October 2000. A Harijan family and a non- our village mainly because of the distance to harijan family live together in every twin- the school," says Elango. He praises house. The villagers are responsible for government officials and his colleagues at laying the foundation and building the walls the Panchayat who provide strong support at their own cost. The government helps for his work. "As long as you are committed, with roof tiles, doors and windows. honest and transparent nobody can stop 3. Roads and street lighting: you. Once they understand that you will not Unlike in the cities, village roads are used sacrifice quality for anything you can win co- for more than transportation. They are used operation from all sections of the

International Journal of Rural vol. 15 no. 2 Oct 2008 Studies (IJRS) ISSN 1023–2001 www.ivcs.org.uk/IJRS Article 3 Page 4 of 7 population," he says. They also produced some hand bags and 7. Employment generation purses using jute and other materials. Small-scale rural industries are being set up to provide permanent employment for the 6. Rural Technology Resource Center: rehabilitated families. The village has trained This aims to demonstrate sustainable village 90 women in making woven leather shoe industry packages, networking with other uppers for a shoe company in Mumbai. They institutions like universities, Gandhi Gram earn a monthly salary of not less than Rural University and IIT colleges to spread Rs.2,000 each. Another unit has about 12 this grass root work. women making jute products like bags, footwear and folders for export. SAMATHUVAPURAM [HARMONY 7.8. Information Center and Computer ESTATE]. One of the housing concepts that Education Center the Tamil Nadu Government promoted was The TNF (USA), is helping set up an Samathuvapurams [Harmony Estates]. The information center by donating six idea was to make different castes and computers, and training the village women in religions live together in a campus of about operating them. 50 dwellings each. Over 150 came up all over the State. Most were shoddily built PROJECTS AND EMPLOYMENT: men and mockeries left to fast buck contractors in women receive training to engage in cahoots with local leadership. Elango revenue producing activities. In most of the demanded --and got-- a say in the design projects listed below, the resulting products and execution. are cheaper and the process provides employment to the village men and women. He got HUDCO to design a soulful campus. Local soil was pressed by people into mud 1. Toor dhal processing: Raw Toor dhal is blocks to build the houses. The community processed and sold in Kuthambakkam and hall was designed to be an activity centre neighbouring villages. where vocational courses and village businesses are now run. The money set aside for that darling of the Government --a 2. Soap making unit: Using an age old commemorative arch-- was used to build a bullock cart wheel fitted with bearings and meeting place. Of the Rs.88 lakh that the pulleys, Elango has constructed a machine project cost, over a fourth was spent on to mix soap ingredients and make soap. wages for villagers. More was saved by using local materials. Villagers assimilated 3. Low cost toilet: A well maintained toilet many cost effective building technologies. is essential for maintaining health and Houses in this Samathuvapuram are about hygiene of the rural (or any) population. 40% larger and better designed. Elango has set up nearly 200 low cost toilets in his village. For the buildings under the project, "we made bricks without burning. That saved us 4. Ground nut oil production: In this not only the cost but also our environment," section, the ground nuts are shelled. The oil says Elango. The bricks were a mix of red is extracted. Some ground nuts are used to soil, cement and sand, which was dried and make ground nut candy. cured by a locally available cheap block- making machine. For the 900 odd families of 5. Leather Unit: Elango secured a contract Kuthampakkam, 'Samathuvapuram' this with a shoe manufacturer. The women in the reflects the whole community-organised, centre knitted the top portion of a shoe.

International Journal of Rural vol. 15 no. 2 Oct 2008 Studies (IJRS) ISSN 1023–2001 www.ivcs.org.uk/IJRS Article 3 Page 5 of 7 eco-friendly ethos with complete communal known. Just fifty more Panchayat leaders harmony. No communal tensions, no illicit like him across India would act as nodes brewing, no thefts, no gang fights. Every one from where sensible village development in the village is engaged in a constructive could radiate in all directions. activity irrespective of age, gender or caste. "The whole village has developed - all its SOME OBSERVATIONS: Elango basic amenities satisfied - good drinking Ramswamy has been able to introduce the water, proper roads, proper lights and ideas of Gram Swaraj and development in proper drains." Kuthabbam. Being a native of this village he knew it very well. He quit his job and joined ECONOMICS FOR VILLAGE CLUSTERS: the village for its all-round development. In This approach recurs in Elango's economic the water drainage project, when he was thinking which is deeply influenced by J C frustrated, Gandhiji’s “My Experiments with Kumarappa. "If you bring in the contractors Truth” showed him a way. Then he applied you are exporting jobs," he says. He got a Gandhian ideas of Gram-swaraj and door-to-door survey done in the village and development in his village. In the era of found the village consumed Rs 60 lakh globalization, when the issue of Gandhiji’s worth of goods and services per month. ideas is raised, this is one experiment Elango discovered that nearly Rs 50 lakh of whose success can be shown. that can be produced at village level. Since then, he has been evolving an economic Elango has also changed his ideas theory of village clusters. About seven or regarding employment opportunities for the eight villages form a free trade zone. They people in the village. Attempts were made to identify and produce goods and services give employment to adults through toor dal without overlap. They consume each other's processing, ground-nut oil, soap-making, produce. And the money stays back and low-cost toilet, jute articles etc. At the same gets invested in human development. time there was an issue of providing employment opportunities to youth. After 10th Ever the Gandhian and a Kumarappa or 12th grade, when the youths do not have acolyte, Elango challenges the theory of any work, they get frustrated and there are competition being good at all levels. For cases of starvation. He thought that the villages it is co-operation that holds the key. land/ buffalo/ cow based economy was not Extreme Competition Theorists are useful for the youths. So Elango executed heartless. 'People have to be able to begin two outsourcing projects - the production of again," says Elango. "Especially if they are stove burners and producing material for able to see where things went wrong the first first-aid-kit bags. These projects gave time." employment to nearly 75 youths.

He could spend his life basking in the The basic idea is to provide employment to successes he has wrought so far but he has the youths in their villages. In the current chosen to evangelize village-centred situation big companies employ some rural development. He is a family man with people. But time, money and energy is spent longings for his loved ones. But he lives a in reaching the companies. Instead of that solitary life for his cause, Gram Swaraj [the he asked the companies to outsource some autonomous village]. Most of all, at a time of its work in the villages. Elango has an when it is the vogue to belittle Gandhi, he engineering background and he assured the adores the great man as the one who truly companies that quality work would be done. understood India. The career path of The company gave training wherever Rangaswamy Elango needs to be widely necessary and both projects are now

International Journal of Rural vol. 15 no. 2 Oct 2008 Studies (IJRS) ISSN 1023–2001 www.ivcs.org.uk/IJRS Article 3 Page 6 of 7 running well. Elango wants to replicate this in neighbouring villages with out-sourcing work from other companies.

The present situation of big companies in the cities has caused large scale migration which in turn leads to slums and related problems. These can be curbed if employment opportunities are made available to villagers in their villages. Elango’s attempts are in that direction.

References:

1. Chemical Interactive Business Services (P) Ltd., 2006 from Internet.

2. “ Marathon Ma of Village-India”, by D.V.Sridharan India Positive, 04 August, 2004.

3. “The Importance of Rangaswamy Elango” Good News India Magazine, www.goodnewsindia.com

4.India Together, August, 2002 form Internet.

5.Ram Krishnan “ Visit to Kuthbakkam village on Oct. 23. 2002, from Internet.

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