We would like likeminded noble industrialists/philanthropists/institutions/organizations to help us to sincerely try, as pilot projects, to transform some villages in the light of the Gandhian conception of village swaraj into ideal modern eco-villages with natural farming / organic farming, Cottage Industry, ideal Goshalas, world-class ‘Gandhian Senior Citizens’ Ashrams’ for like-minded Gandhians, noble intellectuals & experts from different streams of life who can contribute to the Gandhian Modern Eco-village, Village Swaraj, pilot projects in some way and needy noble local persons, each with a Naturopathy Centre, use of renewable energies such as solar energy, biogas, etc. with the mission of Zero Use of Fossil Fuel, etc., as an experiment to test the Gandhian claim about the importance of village swaraj in the context of the present very grave global environmental crises. We would like first to have one pilot project each in some rural areas of Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh / Bihar.

We are happy to inform you that we are in the process of creating a Gandhian Village Swaraj at Manitara Panchayat, Aska Parliamentary Constituency, Odisha, as our first pilot project to do an experiment to test the Gandhian claim about the importance of village swaraj in the context of our present very grave global ecological crises. To begin with, we will create a 4-G Ashram (Gandhi, Ganga, and Giriraj Himalaya and Gram) / A Gandhian Ashram for Senior Citizens for like-minded Gandhians, noble intellectuals & experts from different streams of life who can contribute to the Gandhian Modern Eco-village, Village Swaraj, a pilot project in some way, along with a Naturopathy Centre at Makarapalli-Kandarai in Manitara Panchayat, where they can live together with dignity, away from the gas chambers of the cities, a deeply satisfying constructive noble life of simple living and high thinking with loving care of the life-and-health sustaining aesthetically and religiously invaluable natural eco-systems of mother Nature. Gandhi symbolizes a culture of Truth and Non-violence, i.e. a culture of pursuit of ethical perfection as the ultimate goal of life and a selfless ethical life of universal love as its means; the Ganga symbolizes all rivers, water bodies, surface as well as groundwater, and aquatic life; the Giriraj Himalaya symbolizes all mountains, forests and wildlife; and Gram symbolizes Village Swaraj.

Industrialists, experts, Institutions / Organizations interested in being associated with us for this noble cause are earnestly requested to contact us. We would like some noble industrialist/philanthropist / corporate house/institution/organization to sponsor some wing/wings of the project or at least some wing/wings of the Ashram whichever of its choice and dedicate it to any noble person/persons of its own choice.

Gandhiji said in 1945

“I believe that if India is to attain true freedom and through India the world as well, then sooner or later we will have to live in villages in huts, not in palaces.” In Harijan, on 4th August 1946 Gandhiji wrote: “When our villages are fully developed, there will be no dearth in them of men with a high degree of skill and artistic talent. There will be village poets, village artists, village architects, linguists and research workers. In short, there will be nothing in life that will not be had in the villages. Today the villages are dung heaps. Tomorrow they will be like tiny gardens of Eden where dwell highly intelligent folk whom no one can deceive or exploit. The reconstruction of villages along these lines should begin right now…not on a temporary but permanent basis.” “God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after that manner of the West. The economic imperialism of a single tiny island kingdom (England) is today keeping the world in chains. If an entire nation of 300 million took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts”, (Harijan, 20-12-1928). Let us reflect rationally on Mahatma Gandhi’s view: “The soul of India lives in her villages.”

Theme Note

(1) The present fundamentally unethical, lust for pleasures and greed for wealth-based, extremely Eco-hostile and unsustainable culture of development of modern civilization has catastrophic consequences for our masses, future generations and our voiceless fellow lower forms of life. No great teacher and seer of any great religion would approve of it. It has caused through the unethical use of science and technology disappearance of tens of thousands of plant and animal species and continues to cause greater and greater violence to our life-&-health sustaining aesthetically and religiously invaluable natural eco-systems, which has catastrophic consequences for our masses, future generations and the dumb-and-deaf lifeworld. The WHO in its report released on 11th October 2021 claims that globally every day about 18,700 people die due to air pollution caused by fossil fuels. According to the Living Planet Report of WFF, about 69 percent of the wildlife population has declined only in the last 50 years and in the near future many more wildlife species will disappear from our mother Earth if global warming continues to increase at the present rate (https://www.downtoearth.org,in/news/wildlife-decline-by-69-in-50years-85438). One recent study estimates that over 61 thousand people died due to heat in the record-breaking summer in Europe last year.

(2)The profoundly ethics-based, Eco-friendly, village-friendly, agro-friendly, sustainable, equitable loving and caring Gandhian non-violent culture of decentralized industrialization & urbanization, which is based on the basic ethics of all great religions as well as of the great living ancient Indian civilization in the context of our present technological age, is the surest and perhaps the only long-term permanent rational solution available to us for avoiding the impending catastrophic global ecological crises, including the crisis of global warming and climate change, along with the present all-pervasive deep-rooted global moral and spiritual crises. Village Swaraj constitutes its core. It is essentially based on the basic ethics of all great religions as well as of the great living ancient Indian civilization in the context of our present technological age.

(3) Gandhian Village Swaraj is not possible without the rejuvenation and preservation of our water resources, mountains and forests, which are absolutely necessary to ensure permanent water, food, air and health security for our masses and future generations and the dumb-and-deaf life-world. They provide their invaluable services freely with Zero use of fossil fuel.

(4) In the context of the present very grave global environmental crises, the growth of more and more concrete forests is bound to create the growth of less and less natural forests, and the less and less natural forests are bound to create less and less pure food, pure water, pure air, etc., which is absolutely necessary for a healthy life. And heath is necessary for the pursuit of all the four Purusharthas (goals of life) i.e., Dharma (ethical life), Artha (wealth), Kama (pleasure) and Moksha (liberation). (Please visit our website: www.savegangamovement.org. for some deep discussion on the above issues.)

Phase I

We would like to give top priority in the 1st phase of a Gandhian Modern Eco-village project to create first a 4-G ashram / ‘Gandhian Senior Citizens’ Ashram’ for like-minded Gandharan senior citizens, noble intellectuals & experts from different streams of life who can contribute to the Gandhian Modern Eco-village, Village Swaraj, pilot project in some way, each along with a Naturopathy Centre & an Ideal Goshala with natural farming / organic farming, etc., where they can live together with dignity.

• It would be an opportunity for them to serve society through some collective efforts with the help of their valuable knowledge, skill, and wisdom.

• It would be an opportunity for them to experiment with the Gandhian Village Swaraj along with creating the necessary mass awareness for the rejuvenation and preservation of our life-&-health-sustaining ecologically, aesthetically, and religiously invaluable natural eco-systems with the help of their valuable knowledge, skill, and wisdom.

• It would be an opportunity for them to get due love, respect, security, comfort, medical and other necessary care in an Eco-friendly atmosphere

Main Benefits:

• It would set an example for likeminded noble industrialists/institutions/organizations and Union and state governments to create similar ‘Gandhian Senior Citizens’ Homes’ for various great noble causes such as promoting awareness for environmental protection, communal harmony, awareness against rural exploitation, gender injustice, cast-injustice, species-injustice, etc.

• It would certainly be a major step in the right direction to use the valuable knowledge and wisdom of our eminent noble senior citizens constructively in our nation-building work, with the loving care of the senior citizens, in the context of our increasing population of senior citizens facing increasingly various grave old age problems, especially in the urban areas.

• Successful creation of some Gandhian Village Swaraj is bound to lead in the long run: (1) Stoppage of forced migration from villages to cities and voluntary migration of enlightened people from cities to villages to convert rural India into a heaven for leading enlightened noble life of simple living and high thinking in an atmosphere of natural purity and beauty. (2) Promotion of natural farming / organic farming, Cottage Industry, village tourism, and use of renewable energies such as solar energy, biogas, etc. with the mission of Zero Use of Fossil Fuel in rural India and (3)Stoppage of creation of concrete jungle in rural India: creation of more and more concrete forests in the context of our present very grave global environmental crises is bound to create less and less natural forests, with great sufferings as its consequences for our masses, future generations and dumb and deaf wildlife.

We must know that

Embracing the Wisdom of Gandhi and Einstein

We must transform India into a morally and spiritually enlightened/rational kingdom/country of ethical righteousness/goodness (Ram Rajya/kingdom of God) to save our mother India and through it the world at large. In the context of our present age of science and technology, it means in the language of Swami Vivekananda, a synthesis of Western science & technology and traditional Indian spiritual wisdom, which means creating a profound ethics-based, enlightened/rational Gandhian loving and caring non-violent culture of development. Let us always remember the invaluable message of Mahatma Gandhi: “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” Let us also always remember the valuable environmental messages of Albert Einstein: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years to live.” “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” Unfortunately, leaders of various countries the world over are showing great apathy to take some substantial steps in the right direction necessary to avoid the catastrophic consequences of global warming and climate change for the masses, future generations and the dumb-and-deaf life-world, although the scientists of IPCC of UNO are unanimously claiming that their warning about the catastrophic consequences is essentially true. (See, for example, the following UNO-Report released on 13/09/2022: http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/09/1126511) Stephen Hawking rightly claims that life on Earth is at risk from a sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, global warming, or other dangers humans have not yet thought of and that modern civilization does not know how to avoid the unethical use of science and technology based on selfishness or some base passions like greed for wealth, lust for luxuries, etc. (Please visit our website: www.savegangamovement.org. for some deep discussion on the above issues.)

We hope some noble industrialists/philanthropists will consider our request with empathy and compassion for the sufferings of our masses, future generations, and the dumb-and-deaf life-world due to the impending catastrophic global environmental crises in general and the crisis of global warming and climate change in particular. Let us sincerely try with goodwill, courage, patience, humility and prayers for the success of this noble project.

With regards,

Smt. Rama Rauta,

Chairperson, Gandhian Modern Eco-village (4G Ashram)

Founder, Save Ganga Movement

Former Member, Expert Advisory Committee, Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of WR, RD & GR, Govt. of India

Former Expert Member, National Ganga River Basin Authority, Govt. of India

President, National Women's Organization, Pune

Mobile: +91-9765359040, +91-9930537344

Email: ramarauta@rediffmail.com, ramarauta29@gmail.com

Gandhian Modern Eco-Village, Odisha