Mumbai: On the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak Jayanti, the Governor of Maharashtra, Ramesh Bais, graced the award ceremony honouring the tribal changemakers of the Atmanirbhar Palghar project at Govardhan Ecovillage.
The event celebrated the awardees of the Atmanirbhar Palghar initiative, a project aimed at empowering tribal communities through sustainable development and self-reliance.
Being a predominantly tribal area dependent on agriculture, Palghar is home to tribes like Warli, Katkari, Konkana, K Thakur, M Thakur, and Bhilla. These tribes, being part of forest areas, rely on rice, ragi (finger millet), and pulses as their staple diet and a variety of tubers, fruits, pods, leaves, and flowers as seasonal supplies. However, they are equally prone to drought and malnutrition.
The Tribal Changemakers of Govardhan Ecovillage believe in sustainability as a viable solution to this and have worked in this field to decrease malnutrition amongst the tribal communities. This was achieved through a series of practices that led to cleaner water, ponds, and infrastructure around these areas, enhancing the production of crops, and their quality and broadening the crop diversity. This indeed resulted in the saving of biodiversity as well as the nutritional value of the indigenous crops. A few case studies that showcased the drastic impact of GEV programs were also shared by Sanat Kumar Prabhu.
Congratulating the awardees, Ramesh Bais, the Governor of Maharashtra, commented, “I congratulate all the awardees and the people who have been a strong support system behind these awardees. The hard work and innovative approaches in Atmanirbhar Bharat are the future this nation needs. People here have not only improved their own lives but also set a benchmark for sustainable development across the nation.”
The Honourable Governor also appreciated the various developmental works undertaken by ISKCON-GEV with a special mention to how Aashramshalas of the region are in dire need of some intervention and a collaborative approach where society, sarkar (government systems), and samajik sansthae (Civil society) come together to ensure holistic development is need of the hour. He also reassured the GEV team that the district administration would provide its full support to GEV’s social impact vertical.
Additionally, he showed interest in all the agricultural produce items showcased by Sanat Kumar Prabhu and his team and gave a few suggestions about how to create the best market-farmer linkages to give farmers the best value for their organic farming efforts.
