GUJARAT’S THREE-TEAM CHIEF MINISTER and now prime ministerial candidate of the opposition BJP for the general election scheduled for this summer, Narendra Modi has had to endure severe criticism for his failure to maintain law and order during the communal riots which swept the state in 2002 when over 3,000 citizens — mainly of the minority Muslim community — were killed by rampaging and allegedly unchecked mobs. However, there is general acceptance that during his unprecedented 12-year (2001-2013) and counting reign as chief minister of this western seaboard state (pop.63 million), Modi has crafted a private sector-led economic development model which has captured the public imagination and transformed him into the front-runner in the race for the prime minister’s office in Delhi.

But while Gujarat’s industrial development model has invited charges of crony capitalism, one of Modi’s greatest — and unheralded achievements — is the sustained growth of the state’s agriculture sector. According to an Assocham study, Gujarat achieved an annual growth of 10.97 percent in real terms during the decade 2000-2010 — the highest countrywide. 
Now in a new initiative to consolidate the gains of Gujarat’s farmers, Modi has drawn up a plan to harness the state’s premier technical education varsity, Gujarat Technological University (GTU, estb. 2007). As per directions issued by the state’s education ministry, final year students of GTU’s 486 affiliated management, engineering and architecture colleges, will draw up blueprints for holistic development of 187 villages. This initiative is reportedly heavily inspired by former President APJ Abdul Kalam’s Vision 2020 plan, detailed in his book India 2020 which proposes the Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) as the prescription for stemming rural-urban migration through the development of rural infrastructure and facilities in India’s 600,000 villages.

Earlier in August 2012, a pilot project Vishwakarma Yojna was initiated under which final-year civil engineering students led by faculty conducted a survey of public facilities of 68 villages in 26 districts of the state, and drafted a proposal to redesign and transform them into model habitats. “The project reports were prepared and submitted to village panchayats as well as district development officers of each district,” says GTU vice chancellor Akshai Aggarwal, who served as former director of the school of computer science at the University of Windsor (Canada) and earned a dozen prestigious awards before joining GTU in June  2010.

According to Aggarwal, the pilot project modestly funded by the state education department, is set to be expanded in scope and reach. “As envisaged, it entails covering every aspect of development in 187 villages including town planning, health, sanitation, employment generation, societal integration and economic growth. GTU students drawn from various streams will conduct field studies, and make recommendations covering sectors of their specialisation, and business management students will integrate them into a single composite report for each village,” explains Aggarwal. Students who contribute to the project will not only be rewarded with credits towards their academic work, but also get certificates acknowledging their contribution.

Under the project plan, students of GTU’s 486 affiliated professional education colleges will draw up comprehensive infrastructure development plans for villages in their vicinity to reduce commuting time and expenses which will be covered by stipends paid to students. Under this ambitious rural development model, students will acquire hands-on experience of their specialised subjects and also derive emotional satisfaction from community service. “The state and local governments will receive detailed village development plans which will enable them to chart a future course of action for a happier, cleaner rural living experience,” says Aggarwal.

Although most liberals find it difficult to forgive Modi for the 2002 pogrom in Gujarat and dismiss him as a brash upstart, there’s no denying his readiness to embrace innovative development ideas.

R.K.Misra (Gandhinagar)