India is the land of villages. If you want to get to know India, visit the villages. There are thousands of villages in India. So, many think that due to villages our country has remained backward. But this village in India has proved this wrong. This village proved that not all people who live in villages are poor. This has been proven by the residents of Hiware Bazar Village of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra. This village is popularly known as the Village of Millionaires. There are over 50 residents of this village who are millionaires. Sustainable development and community-based natural resources management have helped many residents of this village. It is one of the model villages in India.
Before 1989, Hiware Bazar, situated in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, was just like any other village in India. In 1972, it was even gripped by poverty and drought. But in the 1990s, the fate of the village suddenly began to change, and it transformed into a wealthy village, and all the credit goes to the village head named Popatrao Baguji Pawar. The village now has nearly 60 millionaires at present, interestingly all millionaires are farmers.
The success behind the rags-to-riches story of this village is due to the transformation of the socio-economic fabric of the village by its head. Roughly populated by around 1,250 people, this Hiware Bazar village is indeed a prime example of how people can change their fate through hard work and determination. This village is also great due to its forbiddance towards open defecation, tobacco, deforestation, grazing, alcohol consumption etc.
The success journey begins in 1989 when Popatrao Pawar was unanimously elected as a village head (sarpanch). Since then, there’s been no looking back for this village and its success. In the beginning, Pawar prioritised ending the menace of smoking and inebriation by shutting down all the illicit liquor stores in the village. Then, he followed this with a ban on liquor and tobacco consumption. Next, as the village barely receives a scant amount of rainfall every year, it became necessary to sort its water requirements. Taking this into account, Pawar arranged for a loan and began a rainwater harvesting, watershed conservation and management program in the village.
With the help of the villagers as well as the state government’s funds, he collectively established several water bodies, including 52 earthen bunds, 32 stone bunds, check dams, and percolation tanks to store rainwater. He even ensured that thousands of trees were planted as well. The progress kickstarted as the technique of watershed helped the villagers with irrigation and harvesting different crops too. From having 90 wells back in the 1990s, this tiny village now has around 294 water wells.
In 1995, out of 182 families living in the village, 168 were registered below the poverty line (BPL), whereas today the number is down to zero. Other accomplishments by the village include a toilet in every house, every house using biogas, schools and a healthcare system have been built, electricity and water running all across the village, etc.
The village also obtained the title of ‘Ideal Village’ from the Maharashtra Government. Even our Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured the outstanding work done by the village head as well as the villagers. Popatrao Pawar has even been appointed chairman of the Model Village Programme of Maharashtra, whose motive is to create 100 similar villages.
Considering his outstanding achievement, in 2020 Popatrao Pawar was awarded the Padma Shri honour from the Government of India for his contribution to the field of social work.
