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.

Earlier, these watermills were only used for grinding wheat and cereals. The students put in turbines. The watermills generated three kilowatts of power each, enough to light up homes of all nine families. ‘‘The efficiency of my watermill has increased and now I want to buy more wheat for grinding,’’ said Rangi Lal (35), one of the watermill owners.

• None of the houses had toilets. The students drew up a plan and each house now has a toilet.

• A half-kilometre approach road to the village was built while a 400-m irrigation channel was repaired.

• Each family living below the poverty line, in consultation with students and HESCO, has now chosen several income generating activities. One of the families wanted a fish pond while another wanted to start a plant nursery. Students pitched in for both ventures, helping them out while the school provided funds. One of the families has been trained in bee-keeping and thus has been provided with two boxes of bees.

• The HESCO team and students taught another family to make cement blocks. Soon, the two ramshackle watermill huts were replaced by rooms. ‘‘We are now encouraging them to prepare and sell these blocks,’’ said Arvind Chalsani, a teacher associated with the project.

Till now Doon School has invested more than Rs.1.5 lakh in the project. ‘‘We are going to be around for another five years till the villagers are self-sufficient,’’ said Mohan Joshi.