THE Uttarakhand disaster in 2013 proved to be a wake-up call for the centre and the state governments, to realise that it is high time that the development model followed in the Himalayan regions be reviewed. A lone man, years ago, realised this importance and without waiting for policy makers to bring about a change, he set out himself, with Mahatma Gandhi’s message ‘Be the change you wish to see’, as his guiding spirit. Now after 28 years, Dr. Anil P Joshi has been able to present a new way of rural development in hilly regions – ‘ecopreneurship’ as he calls it. He says, “Ecopreneurship or ecological entrepreneurship is a term used in the context of sustainable industry. For the Himalayas, the concept needs to be tweaked to include a system where an entrepreneur would be remunerated for restoring natural systems by monetising the value that such restoration would bring to the region.” Dr. Joshi has proved through his work that only such kind of development plan will work in mountainous regions. Though he started his career as a teacher in a college, his keen desire to contribute to society made him quit his cosy job. He set up a voluntary organisation HESCO or Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation in 1981 to take his vision forward. HESCO concentrates on need-based science and technology developments and their application for the mountainous regions. The main slogan of HESCO is “Local need meet locally”.A major path-breaking contribution of HESCO has been the revival of water mills by upgrading the traditional systems. It has led to far-reaching effects on the economy and social life of the villagers, not just in Uttarakhand but also in states like J & K and Himachal Pradesh.
In the mountains, agriculture is the major source of livelihood. Dr. Joshi has been promoting agriculture mainly by bringing back the harvest of traditional crops. In order to promote such farming, Dr. Joshi persuaded temple committees of Badrinath, Gangotri and Vaishno Devi to distribute offerings made from these local crops to devotees. This initiative has been a huge success in the region.
While economic activities help in restoring livelihood of the region, it is also necessary to look at the social issues of the region to ensure overall development. That is why Dr. Joshi embarked on ‘Technology Initiative for Peace’ or TIP that works with youth in border areas. These youth, once involved in illegal activities, now are leading a peaceful and resourceful life. TIP has closely been working with Indian Army and Ministry of Youth Affairs. Dr. Joshi is also helping the Army to promote this model in other border states.
Dr. Joshi is also a keen advocate for women’s empowerment and it is with this view that he set up WISE or Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment to initiate employment opportunities for women using local resources. Yet another ground-breaking scheme of Dr. Joshi has been the recharging of mountain springs. It has helped solve the problem of water crisis and impressed policy makers of other hilly states who were looking for a solution to water scarcity since some time. Dr. Joshi also works closely with school children to include them in the development of villages and make them aware of the need to serve society. He also publishes a children’s newspaper ‘Bachcho ka Akhbaar’, to bring more awareness about science and the local natural resources amongst children. The newspaper is distributed in around 2600 villages of the mountain regions. Along with sustainable activities it is also important to raise awareness about their importance not just locally but also in the neighbouring regions. Dr. Joshi organises padayatra or walkathon to spread the word from time to time. Observing September 9 as the Himalayan Day was another idea of Dr. Joshi to draw the attention of planners and government towards issues in Himalayan regions.
Dr. Anil Joshi has been recognised for his work across the country. He was awarded the Padma Shree in 2006 while ‘The Week’ magazine declared him as the ‘Man of the Year’ in 2002. His momentous work in the mountain regions has earned him a title – Mountain Man and rightfully so, for his vision and efforts have made the mountains smile. Dr. Joshi‘s work has impacted close to five lakh villagers, in more than 10,000 villages, spread across nine mountain states of the Himalayas. Only if the governments across the country take a cue from his idea of rural development, then we can all hope for social development in its true sense.