Campaign to build a new Dantewada well on its way

Dantewada district of Bastar division in Chhattisgarh has been a part of the national news in recent times one more time. Great cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was surprised to see the zeal for cricket in a polio-affected child, Maddaram, from one of the most backward regions of India. He shared the video of the specially-abled child and captioned it as "Begin 2020 with this inspiring video".

Once plagued by Naxal violence, today Dantewada is touching new heights just like Maddaram with drastic drop down in Naxal incidents, a decline in the level of malnutrition and women defying old age superstitions by joining unconventional enterprises like production of sanitary napkins. Farmers have themselves become a brand in terms of organic products.

Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel said, “If we don't provide plough to the hands, they will hold the gun. This is the only way to eliminate Naxalism. He emphasized on the need of eliminating problems like malnutrition and malaria because they are more dangerous than Naxalism. The result of this thought process of the CM Baghel can be witnesses evidently in Dantewada.

It is not a coincidence that the CM kickstarted all his important schemes from the district of Dantewada itself, whether it was about making Chhattisgarh malnutrition free, or the campaign initiated in Bastar to make the division malaria-free. Now, this district has been selected for the pilot project for the campaign to eradicate poverty from backward areas of Chhattisgarh. The ‘Poonah Dantewada Madhakal’ campaign has started, the sentence in Gondi language meaning ‘We'll build a new Dantewada’

The poverty percentage in the district is 70%, which is way higher than the national average of 22%. The Chhattisgarh government has kept a goal of liberating this district from the category of the most backward districts of the country and raise it as a developed district in the upcoming time. The new action plan prioritizes the allocation of right prices and adequate income for the forest produce. This year, 22 minor forest produce will be purchased at minimum support price by the government. Due to this system of procurement, now a reasonable rate of forest produce will be obtained for Rs 30 crore.

The processing hub is being established at Balod Gram Panchayat with a budget of ₹100 crores, which is estimated to provide income to 5000 families. An annual income of ₹25000 is estimated to be received by these activities.

Within the district, 9,534 people have forest rights patented. It is being ensured that the fields of these people are being developed for the production of spices, Kosa, drumsticks, coffee and vegetables. With this, every single family is expected to generate an annual income of ₹30,000.

With the initiation of bamboo harvesting and processing, an annual income of about ₹30,000-35,000 is being ensured for about 1500 families in 28 villages. Arrangements are being made for the compilation of the Biodiversity Register, in which young men and women who have passed Class 10th from 143-gram panchayats will be provided with a training of three months at the district level and a sum of ₹6500 per month.

387 farmers generate an income of ₹40000 per annum via vegetable and fruit cultivation. Women self-help groups are producing dry mango powder and pickles and 50 families are receiving an annual income of ₹30000 with two dairies. Four more units of dairy are under process.

According to the district's 2002 statistics, they are approximately 20,857 women employed in self-help groups. 262 self-help groups provide warm food for malnourished women and children as part of the Suposhan Abhiyan. 8 women self-help groups generate an income of Rs 11.93 lakh by the production of sanitary napkins.

This is just the beginning because the construction of a new Dantewada has just commenced. Taking a look at the "Suposhan Abhiyan" figures, (according to weight) in January 2020 as compared to June 2019, malnutrition has decreased by 4.52%.

Like Maddaram, Dantewada is also working with passion and zeal to rise up and build its future ahead. Running on the feet of the spirit and scoring runs.

(The author is an IAS officer)