Mendha (Lekha): The Village Republic

Threat to natural resources and livelihood of Mendha villagers led to the emergence of “Mawa Mate, Mawa Raj” concept . These four words mean “in our village we are the government” in Gondi dialect. Keeping with the objective of the independence struggle people of this village decided to have Gram Swaraj (village democracy) based on Gram Sabha (village assembly).

One can gauge the power of Mendha’s Gram Sabha from the fact that when P C Alexander, the then Governor of Maharashtra was to visit this village in December 2000, the collector took permission from the Gram Sabha for his visit.

Location

Mendha is situated in the Dhanora tehsil of Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra state. There are seven villages by the same name in this district but this Mendha is no ordinary village. It is 500 meters away from Lekha village. It is located in the region that is termed Dandakaranya - comprising of Bastar, Dantewada and Rajnandgaon of Chattisgarh, Gadchiroli and Bhandara of Maharashtra. The total area of Mendha village is about 1,600 ha of which 80 per cent is forest.

The Village

There are 80 families with 380 members in this village. It’s a village where only Gond tribals live. The village has an average rainfall of 1400-1500 mm. They have a bio-gas stove for each family. It has a village fund created by villagers who contribute 10 per cent of their income from activities like honey collection, collecting tendu leaves and farming.

The village has a Van Suraksha Samiti (Forest Protection Committee) with 11 members in the Karyakarni (executive body) with all the villagers as its members. S H Dange, assistant conservator of forests says, “the villagers volunteered to be part of the Joint Forest Management (JFM)”. Mendha became the first village in the state with standing natural forests to come under the JFM scheme because of their sustained struggle.

They are demanding 50 per cent share in the revenue from the sale of timber. The village also has a Mahila Mandal (women's organisation) which is a saving group and it focuses on saving schemes and status of the women in the village. They have a system of Abhyas Gat which conducts meetings to ponder over issues of village interest vis-à-vis the out side world.

“When I visited the village for the first time in 1988, there was scarcity of water for irrigation. The vllagers wanted to dig ponds for the same but forest depart- ment did not allow them to do so as Forest Conservation Act, 1980 prohibits irrigation ponds in forest land,” says Mohan Hirabai Hiralal of Vrikshamitra, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Chandrapur, Maharashtra. The villagers have undertaken the construction of 1,000 small check dams on forest streams, two van talabs (forest ponds) and a large dam to retain water for the summer season.

Gram Sabha

The Gram Sabha of Mendha got recognition after a lot of struggle with its Gram Panchayat which comprises of three villages. According to Dewaji Nawlu Toppa, the former Sarpanch, “Gram Sabha has decided work on six principles”. They are: 1.If a work is started in the village’s 1,600 hectare area, permission of the Gram Sabha is mandatory. 2. The Gram Sabha will consist of all adult members of the village (a woman and a man from each family). 3. Village work will be treated as individual’s work. 4. Sustainable use of natural resources is a must. A fine of Rs 101 is charged for unreasonable cutting of the trees. Wine or money to the government officials will mean payment of the same amount to the gram sabha. 5. The gram sabha will meet once in a month except when there are instant emergency meetings. Decisions will be taken in the gram sabha through a consensus. 6.The village will not take any subsidy instead we will take loans, he explained.

How it all Began

“It all began with the problems and hurdles created by forest officials. They did not allow us to go to the forests. We suffered as we could not use the forest produce on which we are dependent for our livelihood. This common suffering united us,” says Dajirao Sarju Toppa, former Bank Khatedaar.
Mohan Hirabai Hiralal played a crucial role in bringing the villagers together, adds Dajirao.

The villagers discussed ways to develop the village and to begin with they decided to have a school with shramdaan (voluntary) and forest wood. All the government officials including the collector were given a letter to this effect. When the question of school arose, the officials said that the government has sanctioned Rs 80, 000 for the school but as the villagers do not have any trust, the money will be given to the Gram Panchayat. But they can also be given only Rs 20,000 (now Rs 50,000). Therefore, Gram Sabha took the decision to have a NGO.

Gram Niyojan Vikas Parishad

They named their NGO as Gram Niyojan Vikas Parishad (GNVP). This acts as a trust for the development of the village. All its members are from the village. These members have to deposit Rs 6 every year for the membership.
This unique NGO has a Karyakarni Mandal (Executive Body) which does not have the power to take decisions. They prepared the draft for the registration with seven office bearers in the Karyakarni Mandal.

These office bearers include Sanyojak (convenor), Dewaji Nawlu Toppa, Likhanewala (draftsman for writing work), Maniram Bandhu Dugga, two Bank Khatedaars (persons having the bank account ), Raju Kuttu Kummutti and Dudhram Madhawi, Hisobnis (accountant), Dewarao Virju Toppa, Passbook Rakhnewala (passbook keeper) Zadoramji Halami and Kharcha Karnewala (spender). Gram Sabha takes decisions about all the issues. Sometimes it asks the Karyakarini to execute some work.

“It took two years of relentless struggle for the villagers to get the organisation registered the way we wanted in 1992,” says Dewaji Toppa.

Impact of GNVP

After GNVP intervened the productivity has increased. Earlier we used to get 350 kg of rice in 1 acre now we get 1400 kg in the same plot. Today the village boasts of a primary school till 4th Class. Now there are 8 wells and 3 hand pumps for drinking water. In fields there are 8 wells, 17 ponds and one forest pond for animals. Earlier, we had to go to Lekha village-1 kilometer away- for drinking water, says Zanni Bai. They put bleaching powder in their wells during rainy season. They have built a temple of their deity in the village. “They have succeeded in empowering themselves, improve their soci-economic and political situation and have been able to divert commercial pressure from the surrounding forests,” says Neema Pathak of Kalpavriksh, a Pune based NGO who has studied this village. They have also managed to regulate the use of the forests by themselves as well as the surrounding villages, She adds.

Proceedings of Gram Sabha

On 31 July the gram sabha met as usual on Tuesday around 12 o’ clock. It chose one Dayaram as their adhyaksha (president) for the meeting. Contrary to the proceedings of our state assemblies and the Parliament the villagers chose to deal with the issues without any pandemonium and adjournments. They took up the issue of 42 BPL (below poverty line-below Rs 20,000 per annum) card-holders who were given APL (above poverty line) cards. They had before them Union Rural Development Minister, M Venkaia Naidu’s letter dated April 2001 which he had written to all the Sarpanchs which informed that Gram Panchyat takes decisions about BPL. Dayaram decided, “ the Patwari who issued the APL card will be asked to be present in the next Gram Sabha to explain the matter”. Our parliamentarians will do well to compare themselves with them.

Conflict with Ballarpur Paper Mills

The villagers understood forest rules and learnt that the forest of the region was classified as nistar forests and these forests could not be assigned the under category of reserved forest under the Forest Act of 1927. The Ballarpur paper Mills of Thaper Group of Industries was leased the nistar forests for 40 years without the knowledge of the villagers. In 1991, when the period of the lease came to an end the villagers got to know about it. They wrote to the chief minister of Maharashtra, Collector of Gadchiroli and the General Manager of the Paper Industry that since these were nistar forests the lease should not be renewed. The Maharashtra government and ignored villager’s letter and renewed the lease.

Despite the fact that the state government, the paper mills and the naxalites were against the gram sabha, when the paper mill went again to the village, the Gram Sabha showed them Forest Conservation Act, 1988 and told them these were nistar forests. The paper mill complained to the forest department which issued a warning to the Gram Panchayat and the Gram Sabha. The gram sabha responded saying, “the forest department should take action against us”. Knowing the law was on their side, the paper mills did not go to either police or to the court. The confrontation continued for three years and the government of Maharashtra was compelled to reverse its decision in 1996.

Battle of Ghotul

Asserting their right over the forests, the villagers decided to make a Ghotul -a traditional house for unmarried males and females- out of Sagwan trees. Gram Sabha approved their decision. Ghotul is a symbol of their culture. All the senior forest officials visited the site and tried to convince the villagers to desist from such activity. When the villagers refused they came with a huge armed mobile squad and took away the Ghotul twice. This angered the villagers and they called a meeting of the adjoining villages.

Traditionally, Gonds have 32 villages of their tribe around them met to protest. As a result twelve more villages decided to make ghotuls in their villages and later all the 32 did the same in one night. Sensing the mood of the tribals the forest department withdrew and did not even complain about it as the police refused to cooperate. Thus, they won this battle as well.

Honey Extraction Method

They have devised a way to extract honey from rogue beehives without burning and smoking out the bees which kills them. They cut out the section that has honey. In this way now they have two ways of harvesting honey because the hive remains intact. The villagers have sold 80 quintal honey in one year.

Future Plan

Gram Niyojan Vikas Parishad wants to work on watershed management but is facing financial problem.

Conclusion

Based on his experience in Mendha Mohan Hirabai Hiralal quotes Mahatma Gandhi’s book Hind Swaraj saying, “Parliamentary democracy is a prostitute which is infertile,” as it goes to the powerful and seeks status quo. It is only participatory democracy which can redeem the status of the citizens of our country, he added. If every Indian village follows Mendha form of governance then Gandhi’s and Binoba’s dream of an ecologically rich and democratic society can easily be realised.