Doon School is known as the alma mater of many a celebrity and counted among the best residential schools of the country but villagers of Fatehgram will remember its students and teachers for entirely different reasons. Fatehgram has been their classroom where their rural development initiatives have borne fruit, making the once remote village self-sufficient in its energy and livelihood needs.

Doon School, in association with Dr Anil Parkash Joshi, a social scientist, has been working in Fatehgram to provide better roads, living conditions and basic rural technology for self-reliance. ‘‘We had worked hard to establish 80 schools in many under-developed areas in the past as part of the community service exercise which is considered part of the extension of the classroom.”

“But this is the first time that a rural development initiative has been taken up,’’ said Dr Mohan Joshi, Dean of Activities of the school.

It all began during Independence Day celebrations in the school last year where Dr Anil Joshi, a Padma Shri awardee, was invited as a guest. He asked the school to help in his mission of making villages self-sufficient. It was then decided that the school and Himalayan Environment Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) would work together in Fatehgram in Vikasnagar Tehsil (37 km from Dehra Dun), a village of 65 people of nine families which had no road, electricity or potable drinking water.

The students then got down to doing their homework. What emerged was a step-by-step plan of action:

• Students went to the village on weekends and vacations and after an initial survey, prioritised the needs of the villagers. Electricity was decided on first, so work on the upgrade of the two watermills (gharats) began.

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