A village with wi-fi, AC schools!

If you thought villages in India are bereft of amenities, make your way to Punsari of Himmatnagar in north Gujarat.

The village boasts of wi-fi connectivity, air-conditioned schools with CCTV cameras and mineral water for villagers. It also has an internal transport system and all streets are paved with RCC.

As many as 640 districts across the country will replicate the Punsari model now.

This was announced after a visit by additional secretary of the Union government, L C Goyal, who studied the model and interacted with villagers and the sarpanch, who successfully implemented all the schemes. Punsari has already received an award for model village in the state. What makes Punsari’s achievements all the more special is that it became a model village under its own steam. It utilised funds from the Centre and state government did not bank on donations from outsiders. 

In 2011, Punsari village won the national as well as state-level awards for Best Gram Panchayat.

Sarpanch Himanshu Patel told Deccan Herald, “The central team studied the way we have utilised state and national-level developmental schemes to create infrastructure in the village.’’ He said the team members interacted with villagers and local leaders to understand the mechanism.

Talking about its functioning, Patel said, “The village panchayat paid an annual premium of Rs 25 lakh against insurance for each of the 6,000 villagers who have a cover of Rs 1 lakh and a mediclaim policy of Rs 25,000. It had a capital of Rs 25,000 seven years ago, but now the deposits have swelled up to Rs 45 lakh with no additional assistance.”

Other accomplishments include a zero dropout rate in schools since 2006 and a reverse osmosis plant that supplies 20-litre cans to homes for a token amount of Rs 4.

Patel said it is not difficult to recreate the Punsari model in other parts of the country. “All one needs to do is encourage people’s participation and ensure a non-corrupt system of functioning,’’ he said, adding that the visit from the national team served as a boost to the villagers and they would ensure better participation in every sector from now on.