We have all read about suicides in Vidharbha, crushing poverty in the villages of the nation. But here is the story of a village, that is truly a testimony of The Better India.Hiware Bazar, situated in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra is India’s model village. The village with the highest GDP in the country.Ensconced in the rain shadow area of the Sahyadari range , Hiware Bazar faced an acute water crisis and severe land degradation during the 1970s.Throughout the 1980s, the village had a rain fed farming situation which resulted in limited seasonal agriculture and forced the farmers to migrate to surrounding towns and cities for work. The village therefore was deprived of its sole source of income – agriculture and the inhabitants turned to local liquor production and selling, giving rise to criminal activities.
Driven by a desire to improve the condition of the village, Popatrao Baguji Pawar came back to the village from Ahmednagar. In 1990, he won the elections and became the sarpanch. From there began the transformation of Hiware Bazar.A five pronged approach has been adopted for the socio-economic infrastructure of the village that includes :
1.Free labour
2.Ban on Grazing
3.Ban on Tree Cutting
4.Ban on Liquor
5.Family Planning
Each resident of Hiware Bazar village earns almost double of most of the country’s rural population.
Source and Credit:http://www.thebetterindia.com/2264/hiware-bazar-model-village-india/