A template for attaining sustainable growth throughout the world

The 7th Edition of the Ideal Village Conference was held at Banaras Hindu University’s Swarantrata Bhavan. The conference was organised by Stanford University, WHEELS Global Foundation, Pan-IIT Alumni, and Banaras Hindu University to look at the best practices from successful rural transformation implementation

Several Central and State Ministers, Industry and CSR Leaders, Rural (Panchayat) Community Leaders, Bureaucrats, Policy Makers, Academic Leaders, Social Impact Organizations, Foundations, Trusts, Academia, Research Labs, and NGOs discussed six conference tracks during the three- day conference, including water and sanitation, healthcare and nutrition, energy and environment, and education and skill development.

What is Ideal Village?

Speaking about the conference’s theme, Dr. Kanwaljeet J.S. Anand, Stanford University, stated that more than

800 participants from 20 countries, including more than 50 businesses and colleges, were attending. He added: "We can shake the foundations as and when there is an ideal village happening around us, across India.

Some may call this a battle cry of the business, teachers, and administrators. But, this is more than a battle cry. We are trying to change the environment. We can shake the foundations as and when there is an ideal village happening around us, across India.

Arjun Malhotra, Co-founder HCL Group Wheels Global Foundation, said Wheels Global Foundation organized its first conference back in 2005. Foundations focus on water, health, environment, education, livelihood, and sustainability. We have a smart village program going on in Aravallis. The solutions that we are looking at will be applied all over the world.

After that during the inauguration address Surya Pratap Shahi, Agriculture Minister, Agriculture Education and Research, UP Government, noted that he was an old student of BHU-IT. The endeavor for rural development was started by Prime Minister in 2014, while taking oath. This is a revolutionary meeting being held today. It is looking at development. The government is dedicated to rural welfare. Mahatma Gandhi said that we want a village government. The concept of ideal village also came from there.

There are people who have come forward to take this up at the BHU-IT. There are efforts to connect villages with good bathrooms and toilets for the rural population. We now have to take our country out of the woods to a better tomorrow.

He appreciated the efforts of UP CM ShriYogi Adityanath for trying to develop the state.

He said, “We are now having the investors summit in Lucknow, 2023. Economic reality is based on farming. There are 68% reliant on farming. We need to give them a better livelihood, similar to cities. We are looking forward to new suggestions from you to extend rural welfare schemes. We have started Har Ghar Nal. We have given priority to Bundelkhand. We are taking care of protecting people from encephalitis. Health workers regularly visit villages, and take care of infants, malnutrition, and even provide food, etc. We have units in Prayagraj for looking at nutrition. In UP, there are 204 centers that will start by the end of this year. There were estimates from the USA that there may be over 10 crore deaths in India. Today, we have given booster dose to over 90% of the population.”

Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain, VC, BHU-IT, remarked there have been several heart-warming stories that we have heard from the Honorable Minister. I am connected to WHEELS for some time. I am grateful to be present at BHU-IT. BHU was set up back in 1915. It was meant for studies and experiments. It was meant to provide the best education. It has a strong education agenda. There has been a feeling that if you want to remain connected to the roots, BHU is among them. Out of the first four VCs, two were from South India. 

Healthcare and Nutrition

A conversation on "healthcare and nutrition" began the second day. The session was started by Stanford University professor Kanwaljeet J. S. Anand, with spiritual leader Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai, the creator of the Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence in Karnataka, participating online.

The programme included a discussion on building infrastructure to make healthcare accessible in rural regions and integrating nutrition into regular eating routines.

Sadguru Madhusudan Sai, Founder, Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence said healthcare and nutrition is very close to his heart, and for social development. India is a country of villages. 65-70% of India is located in rural geographies. They need the most help. They contribute 15-16% to India's economy. The first problem is that their incomes are very low. They cannot spend much on good nutrition, good education, and good healthcare, etc. They are looked after largely by the Government and their social welfare schemes. It is very difficult to cater to everyone in the rural geography.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the United States National Drug Control Policy, referred to India as the "pharmacy of the world" and praised it for successfully reducing the production of illegal synthetic drugs while also expressing concern about the rising number of addiction cases in rural areas of the nation. The Indian-American physician, who was appointed to the position by the US Senate in November of last year, spoke on Saturday at the second day of the seventh Ideal Village Conference about India's future in healthcare and medicine, pandemic management, drug trafficking, and partnerships between India and the US in the sectors. The Institute of Management Studies at Banaras Hindu University organised the meeting with Stanford University and other partners.

Water and Sanitisation in Villages

Ms. Gauri Kumar, Former Secretary, Government of India, and Chair, WHEELS Water Council, introduced the Minister. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Govt. of India, the convenor of Har Ghar Nal Se Jal. He pointed out on various government schemes in rural transmission, he said, “the 7th Ideal Village conference is mapping the rural India. Many experts from various parts of the country have assembled here for rural transformation for sustainable development in India. Lot of activities and meetings have been planned at BHU-IT that can take this forward in the future. Development and governance are interconnected. We are also seeing the convergence of Stanford University and the various IITs in this endeavour. 

India is on the path of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas today. We are progressing on the path of development and growth, and that is dependent on the PM's vision and foresight. The Jal Shakti ministry was formed in 2019. We are moving towards development, and focusing on more convergence. Gram Panchayats are also participating in this journey. 



We have many examples from Covid-19. India has moved fast, and managed to overcome that. We saw how women started making masks overnight. We found people coming forward to help those in need. Late Arun Jaitley mentioned convergence in his first budget, and emphasized on its importance. One such endeavour is through water. We are now addressing water and cleanliness.”

The role of IITs in rural transformation

There was a panel discussion by Dean/Directors of IITs, on the role of IITs in rural transformation. Pradeep Gupta, Pan-IIT Alumni, Co-Founder, Chairman, Cyber Media Group, was the moderator. Gupta said the discussion is on the role of the IITs in rural transformation. What are some of the initiatives in agriculture and healthcare that have been done so far? 

Prof. Vikash Kumar Dubey, Dean, R&D, IIT BHU, said they are working aggressively in rural development and are part of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna, hosting large agri-incubator, where they are hosting farmers from nearby villages, and 30 startups and training them on how to use the various agricultural techniques. These are in food processing, how to do value addition, and how to take the product to the market.

Prof. Amit Prashant, Dean, R&D, IIT Gandhinagar, has been working on global to local.

Gupta next asked Prof. KN Satyanarayana, Director, IIT Tirupati, about precision agriculture. Prof. Satyanarayana said the IIT started in 2015. From day one, we started looking at what the other IITs are doing. Only IIT Kharagpur had a department on precision agriculture among the 23 IITs. 

Gupta asked Prof. Sandeep Sangal, Department of Materials & Metallurgical Engineering, IIT Kanpur about education. He said IIT Kanpur started interacting with villages adopted. One thing that came up was the youth were more aspirational and ambitious. We started student-driven tutorials. Reaction was tremendous. We had started in one room. That filled up quickly.

Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Dean, Sponsored Research; Head of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur talked about his initiatives. There has to be some focus. We set up CoEs to be inclusive. During the journey, we learned that all IITs are doing great things.

Prof. Amarendra Kumar Das, Department of Design, IIT Guwahati, noted that when IIT Guwahati came up, it was a crucial time for Assam. In 1994, there was insurgency. There were really no jobs for people. The design department was unique.

Prof. Anand B. Rao, Head of CTARA, IIT Mumbai provided his experience. We were the first IIT to offer M.Tech in rural development. And, the technocrats do not understand the social aspect of technology.