Vikas Ka Jatan
Shivganga Samagra Gramviaks Parishad (SSGP) is a group of Social Entrepreneurs committed to restore the ecosystem of sustainable living through holistic village development.
It began with one man walking, and five years of not proposing anything.
Volunteers assembling for a shramdaan — the labour is given, never paid for.
Mahesh Sharma came to Jhabua to study the tribal ecosystem, and spent five years moving from village to village — observing, and living among the people he had come to understand.
A community living by the highest values of humanity was suffering, yet was being read as backward and uncivilised. With Shri Harsh Chouhan, a tribal himself, the conversation turned to what a movement would have to look like.
Alongside tribal social leaders, they organised a training camp for young people. It was the first time the tribal youth of Jhabua had discussed the pain of their own community aloud. The water crisis came out as the sharpest of it.
The movement took its name from Raja Bhagirath’s effort to bring the Ganga to earth — here, to bring jal to quench the Jamee Mata of Jhabua.
Shivganga Samagra Gramvikas Parishad was constituted as a voluntary non-profit for holistic rural development, under the Madhya Pradesh Society Registration Adhiniyam 1973.
The same method holds: the village decides, the village digs, and the labour is given free. Shivganga now works across roughly 900 villages of Jhabua and its neighbouring districts.
Shivganga does not deliver development to a village. Four ideas, in order, describe how a village arrives at it on its own.
Leveraging of any kind of motivation for self, family or village becomes a deadlock in bringing collective prosperity, and leads to conflict. Parmarth is about finding blissfulness in working for others without expecting. The motivation of Parmarth upholds self-respect and leads to sustainable development for everyone.
The real development of a person or community means ending their vulnerability and empowering them to become self-dependent (Swavlamban). But it is often forgotten that self-reliance comes only from self-esteem (Swabhiman). Hence, the building of self-esteem is the beginning of development.
‘Samvardhan leads to Samruddhi’ (prosperity through enrichment) is a principle which says it is not enough to conserve the natural resources — there is a need for enriching them. The five basic resources of this planet, Jan (people), Jal (water), Jungle (forest), Jameen (farmland) and Janawar (animal), must be not only conserved but also enriched.
Sustainable development is the ultimate goal. The solid base of sustainable development is Swavlamban — only a self-reliant community can attain it. Swavlamban comes from Swabhiman, a community with high self-esteem. And one can have high self-esteem only by virtue of Parmarth.
Shri Mahesh Sharma spent his formative years in the company of social reformers and leaders, which instilled in him the drive to work towards the betterment of communities. With over 20 years of experience in social reform, he came to Jhabua in 1998 to study the tribal ecosystem there. Over the years he has developed a deep understanding of that ecosystem and now has networks in over 800 villages. He has played a critical role in bringing tribal people together, and was conferred with the Padma Shri in recognition of his contribution.
A mechanical engineering graduate of SGSITS (1985) with a master’s from IIT Delhi, Shri Harsh Chouhan has been active in social work since 1988. Beginning with Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, he has been part of Shivganga since its conceptual inception in 1998. He has since been appointed Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes by the President of India.
Graduates of the IITs and national law schools who arrived through the Image vs Reality program, took a fellowship, and never quite left.
Came to Jhabua through the Image vs Reality program in 2014, then took a two-year fellowship to develop the Rural Entrepreneurship Incubation Centre. He conceptualised and initiated Jhabua Naturals. As a full-time volunteer he coordinates Image vs Reality, heads the Jhabua Crafts venture, and works on urban outreach and fundraising.
Came to Jhabua in 2016 through the Image vs Reality program. After several visits he became a fellow for two years, taking up a project of social capital generation through youth empowerment camps. As a full-time volunteer he works on Community Forest Rights and the Jan Samvardhan dimension of Shivganga.
Came to Jhabua in his college days in 2016 under the Image vs Reality program and completed his two-year fellowship in 2021. With Shivganga’s tribal entrepreneur Vijendra Amaliyar he led the Jhabua Naturals venture, and now serves as its project leader. The pair also lead the Nav-Vigyan Samvardhan dimension, under which the Rural Technology Innovation Lab was started.
Came to Jhabua in 2018 under the Image vs Reality program and returned to do his final-year thesis there. He is involved in the communication design team and other projects at Shivganga’s Dharmapuri Gurukul.
Met Shri Mahesh Sharma and Nitin Dhakad at a Vision India Foundation program in Delhi in 2018. Inspired by their address on rural development, he left his job after college and came to Jhabua in 2020. As a fellow he works on the Jhabua Tourism venture and the Bamboo Training Centre at Meghnagar.
Came to Jhabua in 2019 under the Image vs Reality program. After completing his studies he took on the Community Forest Rights project, and as a fellow has been working on it across 25 villages.
A pond costs a fraction of its market price when nine hundred villages dig it themselves. What they cannot bring is cement, fuel and tools.
