The New Ethos

Prayog Pariwar is a non-institutional network of knowledge communication. Its various 'Venture Nets' are now fetching new attention, new recognition and new collaborations from people in all sections of society. Such collaborations, Prayog Pariwar calls 'Equity Shares'. These Equity shares are generated and accumulate from all types of resources by new value additions. Human resources are the knowledge or skills one has, credits one can earn, goodwill, insuring, assuring, risk sharing, trusteeship, institutional, professional or occupational potentials. There is no market in it. These equity shares are the real measures, of our new ethos. This ethos is now promoting new growth of Prayog Pariwar. I would like to list a few of these from industrialists, scientists, journalists, media persons and persons form top government administration as well the core activists and social workers and social scientists.

1. Dr R. T. Doshi an industrialist from Mumbai took to the 'NC' ventures of soil building. He brought the sugar cane waste from the sugarcane juice bar to build up the new fertile soil. In this soil alone in a year he took two tons of sugarcanes on his terrace of one guntha (1000 sq ft). He gave the first cup of the juice to then Governor of Maharashtra. Complete half page full story of this appeared in the Times of India. He also succeeded in taking variety of vegetables in half cut, both side open Polythene bags on such soil and wrote a book City Farming, on the success of these ventures. Soon he modified his venture to build new soil from family wastes and city wastes of fibrous biomass on the city roads, under big trees. He developed the 'Barrel Method' of building 200 liters of our new type of soil and got record yields in multi-tiers by having holes in the barrel at different heights from the ground. He got very good success in growing all kinds of fruit plants like figs, lemon, papaya, banana, pomegranate, custard apple and sugar cane. He also tried coconut tree with success in the heap of soil on the terrace. He has written a book, 'The Community City Farming' on all these ventures. These books, he has dedicated to Prayog Pariwar.
2. Thakurdas Bung and Siddharas Dadda, both Ex-President of, 'All India 'Sarva Seva Sangh' came on their own and were pleased to see how Arun Mane, a venturer, in severe drought zone had built up fertile new soil from bagasse of sugarcane brought in tons from the sugar factory, to build fully fertile soil that contained all the original nutrients of the sugar cane plants as well as built ligno protein to absorb water from air and give white root flush to the grape plants. One ton of bagasse was enough to build up new soil need for one guntha grape plantation. Thakurdas Bung later wrote in detail about this and other success stories in Sarvoday monthly magazine 'Satyagraha'.
3. Shri Ganaptrao Mhetre from Tasgaon took grapes on zero fertilizer inputs from outside, by growing Glyricidia plants as permanent plantation, along with grapes in the same plot, two grape vines having one glyricidia plant in the inbetween rows, to be cut and used to build the soil and got regular record yield for ten years. Then he removed the grape plantation and has established mango plantation, with full crop per plant from very second year of this new plantation.
4. Sandhya Edlabadkar from Chandrapur took with Science and Technology Department, New Delhi, wasteland ventures for women in their kitchen yard through their organization 'Jagrit Mahila Samaj' and submitted full report later. Similarly with the same department, Ashok Bang and his team Chetana Vikas Sanstha from Wardha, is studying the full economic potential of Ber Crop and is trying to evolve new techniracies in Ber and also to access old techniracies which are proved in Sholapur Area.
5. Chaya Datar, Head of women studies, Tata Institue of Social Sciences, Mumbai took two very critical studies. One at Khudawadi, Andur, Sholapur district and the other at Velhale near Bhusaval; on fertile soil building from within resource by destitute women groups and found out how many 'women days' can build up Ten Guntha fertile soil. These full reports are now available. Chaya Datar now feels she should devote fully to Ten Guntha ventures in Tuljapur center of their institute, by herself living as a poor destitute woman.
6. Dr Shaila Dabholkar tried similar ventures in a village called Kurul with the aid from TRYSEM wing in the State. The report with all findings is submitted. An interesting fact to note is how the 'Urmody Valley Scheme' of having a Dam on the river is to make them displaced people. The ladies group had an argument with the Collector, that real wealth of fertile soil and their tree cover can be shifted at a nearby place, by the same machinery of Dam Construction and they now know the way how to build the prosperity there itself, on higher terrain in the vicinity and why they should get displaced. They could simply be relocated only in their own neighborhood instead of getting displaced.
7. Deepak Suchde, left his precious nearly five figures earning a month and is now for four yeas with the Ten Guntha Ventures. His plot has now become a resource and inspiration to those who are now on new ventures in soil building and Bamboo, Papaya, Banana plantation etc. in this type of soil.
8. His Ten Guntha success attracted the Chief conservator of Forests, Thana District, Mr. V. K. Mohan and one of his RFO, Mr. S. D. Narnavar, who joined P. P. Venture Nets to work as non-government persons and venture into Ten Guntha ventures in their Wada center. They established that in the tribal zone, PP has a great potential of building wealth worth Rs 50,000 in vegetable crops in Ten Gunthas in six months by building new soil in it. I had a letter from Mr. Kanwarjit Singh, Chief Conservator of Forests (Policy, Technology and Strategic Planning) Maharashtra State, Nagpur. He wrote, "I had the opportunity to see the work at Wada where the experiment for improving our productive capacity of Ten Guntha plot is taken on your philosophy. I am confident, within the next one or two years we shall be able to demonstrate to the Govt. of Maharashtra and the Govt. of India, a living and workable model of development for poverty alleviation in rural areas along with greening of the country side. A fully illustrated book on this success story in tribal area is now available.
9. Chikotra Valley Project, Gadhinglaj, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, is now formulating their venture techniracies to take Natueco Culture to the farmers. Yusuf Meheralli Center, Panvel are now closely in link with Prayog Pariwar to have their search of new techniracies and ventures for adivasi tribal villages.
10. Vasant Gangavane from Gokul Pratishthan, is now venturing to establish Information Technology Network for country side to take Prayog Pariwar venture nets through them to the schools and the people.
11. Sarva Seva Sangh and Manaveey Technology Center in Gujrath are taking this message to 1000 villages with their method of 30 village workers for 30 villages with insight in Prayog Pariwar venture. The Vedchi Center of Jayaprakash Narayan Kranti Kendra had two venture study interactions with Prayog Pariwar each of five days period and the these methods are gradually spreading.
12. Ten Ashram Shalas in tribal zone at Vyara Gujrath took to Ten Guntha venture, kept the records and sent them to me saying their progress so far in their ventures are substantiating Ten Guntha venture conviction of producing Rs One Lakh worth yearly returns. But they had still to improve them.
13. Some of these Equity shares come in very novel and surprising ways. Vijay Tendulkar had a T. V serial 'Dindi' of twenty episodes. He enquired of the main crop of Maharashtra and being told that Jowar is that crop, he wanted to contact some one who had done some genuine work in this crop. Accidentally he heard of our new techniracies in Jowar Crop. In Nandurbar a Christian organization Janseva Mandal was faced with the problem. After first early June rains, the rains failed and would come late August. So the crop sown in June failed. Their Ashramshala was asked to keep nursery of Jowar plants of different age groups ready. By relay plantation, only nursery plants of age of about 30 days were replanted, when only nine inches of late rains came and use the other early plants as good nutrient to these plants. The Equity earned in this venture success made Vijaya Tendulkar to get involved with Prayog Pariwar Venture Nets. He presented two full 40 minutes episodes on Prayog Pariwar titled 'Kimaya', thus adding his new equities. Only recently Priya Tendulkar invited me to be present in her Talk show on Brain Drain where my contribution on how grape growers of Maharashtra have made 'Brain Gain' by staying here and bringing world knowledge on grapes to India and evolving our new techniracies were well high lighted. In still another Priya Tendulkar Talk show 'Go Ahead or Bust', high lighting the evil competition in our system of education, she had invited me in panel discussion. Shri Nitish Kumar, Shri Anil Agarawal, and Shri Patangrao Kadam, the founder of deemed Bharati Vidyapith & myself were on the panel. My views were that all deemed universities are doomed universities for the masses as a whole, but our venture nets have shown that instead of 'Go Ahead or Bust', be where you are and be prosperous. Thus our equity shares at some unknown village school later built many national level equity shares through the T. V. media.
14. Still more unseen, unthought event was to take place in my life only because of such equity shares we had built in Mango cultivation at Kasegaon near Pandharpur. Shri Namdev Bapu Mane had a very successful new mango plantation in hard rocks and in an area of least availability of water. He had been very successful to take full crop in the very second year onwards in this plantation. He had sixty varieties. Accidentally, Dr. B. M. Udgaongar, a top personality in scientific world and especially an inspiration behind Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education was to come across his work. Namdeo Bapu's command on mango crop made him ask him how he could know all those critical details. He refereed it to Prayog Pariwar. Dr.. Udgaonkar then came straight to me and had four hours lively interactions and appreciation of my work. I received the Jamanalal Bajaj Award for taking Science and Technology to the people. Later I came to know that this award came through this incident. The equity share of ours in mango ventures had earned new equities, by chain action, as in T. V. Episodes by Vijay Tendulkar.
15. Very similar events were behind my earning Vasantrao Naik Award for the same reason. But here Shri Annasaheb Shinde, a one time Cabinet Agriculture Minister, had recommended my name. Accidentally, he was to inaugurate one of grape venture study nets at his place Shrirampur. He got interested and involved and was so engrossed, that he attended the venture meeting the entire day, and observed & experienced how full eight hours of rigorous interactions and involvements to demystify techniracies can keep each one fully engrossed even in large groups. He had also told me that he had understood that day as to why the government and university extension approaches had failed.
16. Our Equity shares in energy self reliance for rural people are very enthusing. Shri Kantibhai Shroff, the vision and inspiration of Excel Industries, Mumbai, had taken keen interest in PP's Ten Guntha ventures. He opted for venturing Nandi Urja or electricity from bullocks for remote place villages, where even roads are not still Jeepable. His team worked on it and has brought forth most of the details that are feasible with Ten Guntha greening for bullocks. A workable animal electricity model is in the offing and various techniracies in it are getting assessed and standardized.
17. Prayog Veer Prakash Ashtunkar and Ramesh Borole from DeepNagar, Bhusaval venturing as a part of SARMET [Society for Advancement of Renewable Material and Energy Technologies] have devised, developed and patented 'Solar thermal power model' useful for Rural and urban sector. Its output is 3000 Kcal heat energy at 200 °C per sq. meter Sun focusing device and the structure at present of iron bars is getting modified to local bamboo wood structure material. It's concentration ratio is 100 times the Sun with a cost 9000/- per sq meter. Models tested are 3. 25 sq. m, 7. 5 sq. m, 9. 0 sq. m. These equity sharing among Prayog Pariwar and SARMAT are also in other ventures as geo-fiber for road construction in place of steel or fiber glass. Bamboo plantation can give as in grape revolution, a record yield of bamboo in tons every year. New type of windmills on bamboo structures as also in building construction with local cement, and cement from rice husk is porcelain type cement.
18. Various papers on Prayog Pariwar are presented in various national and international conferences.
    A. The paper 'Homestead wealth for All' was presented and discussed in three day conference on 'Redefining the good society. It was organized by Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, New Delhi. Ms. Sonia Gandhi later that night after dinner in Raj Bhavan had come searching for me and had a good interaction on Prayog Pariwar's ideas and methodologies. Later Rajeev Gandhi Foundation had a letter expressing the desire to collaborate with Prayog Pariwar. I had a correspondence with them on Prayog Pariwar's equity sharing methods & the manner of collaboration.
    B. In the All India conference on Eco-Feminism at Jaipur (1995) by the Indian Association of Women studies, the paper 'The new thrust venture Formats' was presented showing how this thrust is accelerating the process to establish a gender bias free society with real equity, liberty and prosperity to the last woman. It was also clearly presented how these ventures with the women are bound to restructure the present multinational industrial nature of the society into decentralized network of more viable, powerful, prosperous, well-poised, purposeful, Eco-friendly human decentralized industrial society.
    C. The paper, 'Invisible Open University' was presented in the first International Conference, 'Open University System and Development' in 1994.
    D. In 1995 on United Nations theme of the year "Poverty Alleviation" at Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, 'ManiBhavan', Mumbai, I had explained, 'Follow Nature's Path to alleviate poverty'. This lecture was very well summed up, in Free Press Journal, giving the gist of our approach, in very few words but with powerful content in it. It read 'Linking natural resource development with that of human resource is essential for creating a new national wealth energy. This linking can really make even the last person in the country an entrepreneur. These entrepreneurs can enrich the natural resources quantitatively and qualitatively with sunlight, soil and water with little enlightenment. The networking of knowledge which will empower them and can create a feeling of trusteeship, which can be measured in terms of energy. That will go a long way in creating a novel way of equity and market sharing through a new type of shareholdership of energy in the village.
    E. In the International year of the Family of United Nations, all India interactive meetings on Prayog Pariwar Ten Guntha were organized. Within 10 months, we were able to activate more than 4000 individuals and voluntary organizations to move in this direction. A resolution was then passed and submitted to the United Nations, Geneva. It read 'We have shown that by using scientific knowledge it is possible to lead a self-sustained life at higher middle class income (Indian Standard) level with
    
    1. 1000 sq. mtrs. (10000 sq. ft.) of sunlight
    2. 500 liters of waste water of a family of five per day
    3. Latest scientific know-how carried unto the last individual through venture developments amongst the masses through demystification and de-professionalisation of science by the Prayog Pariwar method

For achieving this aim of I. Y. F., the following resolution was passed on the 29th December 1994 and was submitted to the United Nations for necessary action.

Resolution:

"Resolved that the United Nations should recognize minimum resource base for sustainable living as the Basic Right of Every Family and declare the coming ten years as the Decade of the Family for enforcing the right.

While sending this resolution, Prayog Pariwar then knew well, that it is not the United Nations, but the resolution of the masses, the alliance of the people all over the world which is going to realize these rights as basic legal rights and basic entitlements of each and every family.