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Rural development awards conferred

Written By dna Correspondent | Updated:

The ninth Anil Shah Gram Vikas Paritoshik, sixth Gram Sangathan Paritoshik and the fourth Gram Vikas Fellowhip were announced at the Ahmedabad Management Association on Saturday.

The ninth Anil Shah Gram Vikas Paritoshik, sixth Gram Sangathan Paritoshik and the fourth Gram Vikas Fellowhip were announced at the Ahmedabad Management Association on Saturday. Rowland Roome, CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation, New Delhi was the chief guest at the function.

Two books, namely, Strengthening Civil Society Participation in Natural Resource Management – Experiences of Sajjata Sangh, a Network of 34 NGOs promoted by DSC, and Enhancing Rural Livelihoods by Enriching Practice and Influencing Policy were also launched in the function.

The Anil Shah Award was given away to Biplab Ketan Paul for his water management work in the arid region of North Gujarat.
He is associated with Lokvikas, an NGO and is also heading the Naireeta Service Pvt Ltd.  Biplab has used an innovative BHUNGRU (aquifer recharge) technology for water conservation as well as to combat salinity in 13 villages of Sami taluka of Patan district.

Adoption of this technology has led to decrease in salinity and recharge of large quantum of water in this region. This serves as a buffer against the drought-like conditions that often befall such water-scare areas. By using this technology, farmers are getting three crops in a year.

They also go for high-value crops for better income.       
Rajendra Patel, winner of the Gram Vikas Fellowship – 2011, has been selected for his commitment and contribution towards developing and promoting best practices in Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) since 1994.

The team leader of Visnagar unit of Development Support Centre is instrumental in facilitating Water User’s Associations and their federations in the Dharoi Irrigation Scheme on the Sabarmati River Basin.

It is one of the few successful models  of PIM in the state and also in the country.

The Pani Samiti (drinking water committee) of Kharaghoda village of Surendranagar district has been selected as first winner for the Gram Sangthan Paritoshik – 2011, while Thalota Water User’s Association was placed second for its pioneering work in Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) programme.