IAS Probation Period – Durg Dt. in Madhya Pradesh State (1972-73)
Innate and insatiable goal was carried forward from the college days – totally drenched in Gandhian philosophy and thoughts with a burning desire to experiment some of his teachings as soon as possible. Since I entered a permanent government job for the first time (although supposed to undergo the training on district administration for a year) the undersigned wanted to start his work right away. Hence the decision to adopt a village called ‘Andagaon’ (meaning ‘Egg’s village’ which was later on changed as Gandhigram) for development in a year. It had a small rest house maintained by irrigation department without electricity which I used as my abode during the stay in the village. The dignity of ‘shram dan’ (free labour for a common good), a famous Gandhian precept which immensely influenced my thinking and action for the rest of my career was to be tried and tested immediately in a village. So I convened a meeting of village elders with the help of Patwari (village record-keeper) and Kotwar (village security-guard) and explained my intentions. They agreed and wanted to assist in my plans.
First of all I desired the cleanliness and sanitation of the village to be improved and maintained. I took the assistance of school children and the adults to sweep the streets and lanes which the rest of the village appreciated and promised to cooperate further in the work. For this task the farmers having bullock-carts came forward to construct a tolerably-useful road with the soil available near the road and the hard and red soil (murrum) available at a distance to be used as the top layer. The hard-red soil helped to suppress the loose soil-dust rising from the road as and when some vehicle moved on it. Once in a while we engaged the bullock cart to fetch water from village pond for the purpose of silencing the dust for some time.
Secondly the primary school was made to function with proper attendance of the teachers and the students. Absenteeism and the drop-outs of the students were checked to a great extent.
Thirdly the problems faced by the village community with regard to land matters like payment of land revenue, proper recording of the crops on the records, issue of relevant certificates to the cultivators, availability of agri-inputs like fertilizers, seeds, insecticides and crop loans from the co-operative bank etc.
Fourthly Village Panchayat meetings were held and attended and relevant issues raised and discussed for further action and follow-up. I ensured the celebration of festivals like Republic Day on Aug 15, 1972 and Gandhi Jayanthi on October 2, 1972 in the village. ‘Shram Dan’ was undertaken to lay a road on Gandhi Jayanthi in which majority of the villagers participated with their own crow-bars and pick-axes. I indeed saluted the cooperation of the village elders and children on such occasions. They were little surprised at my sincere efforts with the ‘broken Hindi’ (picking up for the first time in life).
[For this experiment and effort I bought a bi-cycle to be used in the town of Durg and used to leave it in the house of Tahsildar near the Bus Stand from where I used to catch the bus and reach the village in the evening of Fridays. I used to make night halts in the rest house while the food was arranged by the Patwari for a payment. Collector of composite Durg District, Shri K.D Saksena and SDO, Rajnandgaon, Shri Naresh K.Narad used to watch my work and hear about its progress with a little surprise and amusement. They were under the impression that what I was trying to do was not expected of me as a young IAS officer.]
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