Author: Bharat Yagnik TNN
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 21, 2012

Think of an Indian village and what comes to mind are images of mooing cows and open drains. But Punsari, a village in Himmatnagar, boasts of wi-fi and optical fibre broadband network, air-conditioned schools for its children with CCTV-fitted classrooms, a mini-bus transport system of its own and 25-odd CCTVs at important junctions to spot litterbugs. All this without a single rupee coming from across the seven seas.

District development officer Ravi Arora said: “There is not a single family in Punsari which has an NRI family member. The village has just managed its accounts well and villagers here agreed on a cooperative approach to development.”

The Gujarat village has managed its funds and those it received from central and state developmental schemes over the past five years exceptionally well.

“The village panchayat pays an annual premium of Rs 25 lakh against insurance for each of the 6,000 villagers who have a cover of Rs 1 lakh and a mediclaim policy of Rs 25,000. Our schools have zero dropout rates, CCTV cameras in classrooms help us keep watch on teachers. Our reverse osmosis plant supplies 20-litre cans to houses for a token cost of Rs 4. These are bare essentials for a standard life today and why should our village be behind,” said the village sarpanch Hemant Patel, 29.