Shortly after Venod Sharma,the MLA from Ambala City constituency,won his seat in the recent assembly elections in Haryana,a group of people from the posh Urban Estate area of the city approached him with a request. They said they were unhappy with the infrastructure in their colonies and instead wanted new plots in Ballana,a village some 6 km away. The request stunned the MLA but its easy to understand why they wanted to go to Ballana. This is a village unlike any in Haryana. All its roads and lanes are paved with concrete interlocking tiles. A round-the-clock sanitation and cleanliness drive ensures that roads are remarkably clean. A solar lighting system keeps the streets well lit,even during power cuts. Add to it,a regular water supply,a daily visit by a top district administration officer,brand new administrative offices and an excellent drainage system that preempts the possibility of any water stagnation. It isnt as if Ballana is a village of rich landlords or families of prosperous NRIs. In fact,of 500-odd families in the village,165 are classified as those living below the poverty line. It isnt a new village either. Even its oldest residents say they were born and brought up here. But what everyone does remember is that the change happened in 2008. That change,as Haryanas Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati says,was goaded by a realisation that quality of life in villages can improve only if villagers are made stake holders in the process. Honestly speaking,there is no shortage of schemes of the Government of India and the state government. But as is often seen,the money spent doesnt yield the intended results. So this time,the Haryana government took a conscious decision to involve villagers in the decision making process. So in 2008,a few villages were selected from all over Haryana to be carved as model villages. Ballana was one of them and today,it has emerged as the most successful outcome of that experiment. Giving an example of how they made the turnaround possible,Gulati says,In every village,the government appoints some sweepers and other Class four employees. But the sanitation and hygiene standards remain woeful. This time,we gave the entire money meant as salary for these employees to panchayats. These panchayats mostly hired their workers and monitored their performance. Panchayats across the state hired about 14,000 sweepers. Bahadur Singh,a resident of Ballana and a member of the Block Committee,says,We hired four sweepers. All of them are residents of this village. The panchayat and block members supervise their work and thats the reason we have such spic and span surroundings. Sheela Devi,the sarpanch of Ballana,says the government involved women and elderly citizens in the project and that was instrumental in the makeover. The local executive engineer visits the village every day. Before the start of any development project,he takes our views and that helps. Recently,when the government identified a plot to dig a pond under the NREGA,the villagers quickly intervened,saying the land wasnt suitable for digging. The pond now being dug elsewhere and a new modern land records office has come up on the originally identified plot. Local officers say such inputs from villagers help. Ramphal Singh,the executive engineer,tells an example. Recently,we had to lay a new drain in a particular part of the village. As we were about to start digging,some residents warned us that this area was prone to water stagnation. We took that into account and adjusted the gradient accordingly,ensuring that a perennial problem of the village got solved. Some of Ballanas development schemes have found a mention in the United Nations Development Project book. But its villagers feel a lot more can be done. They have recently replaced all the old bulbs in the village with CFL lamps. We need some better schools. Since the main town of Ambala is only six km away and we already have 3 to 4 government schools in the village,people dont find it difficult. But if we can have some good modern schools,it will be great, says Ram Singh,a villager.
