Sadguru Model of Rural Development: Pioneered by India’s Social Work Stalwarts

by Govindasamy Agoramoorthy

ISBN: 9789386949394
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Imprint : Daya Publishing House
Year : 2018
Price : Rs. 4495.00
Biblio : xvi+64 p., figs., 25 cm

Author Profile

Govindasamy Agoramoorthy is Distinguished Research Professor at the College of Environment and Health Sciences, Tajen University, Taiwan. His research ranges from nature conservation to sustainable development, and he has carried out field research related to nature conservation in Asia, Africa and South America during the last 25 years. He was Visiting Scientist at Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC (USA) from1989 to 1993, and later served as an Adjunct Professor at the Ohio State University (Columbus, USA). His recent work targets multidisciplinary research on environment and development in Asia. He currently serves as Tata Visiting Chair in India at Sadguru Foundation (Dahod) and Research Advisor at SVYAS Yoga University (Bangalore). Professor Agoramoorthy has authored over 25 books, 100 book chapters and 500 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.

About The Book

In my professional career as field biologist, I came across thousands of people with diverse background, from politicians to policy-makers, and from indigenous people to intellectuals—Harnath and Sharmishtha Jagawat do not fit into any of them. They belong to an unusual class of India’s rural development practitioners. Harnath is an idealistic institutional leader, who always looks far into the future to eradicate poverty plaguing the drylands. His creativity, administrative aptitude and physical robustness brought up in the remote Chambal valley from childhood embodied with the upbeat spirit armored by his competence and genuine big-heartedness helped countless farming communities for over four decades by his tireless social work centered on irrigation water. In contrast, Sharmishtha is a down-to-earth person, who bows down to greet all humans irrespective of their age and status—from children to chief ministers, she expresses her lovely enthusiasm with genuine human touch. In this book, the author, who is Tata Visiting Chair at N M Sadguru Water and Development Foundation, highlights their enormous contributions to India’s rural development eradicating poverty while revolutionizing village-level food security.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement ix Preface xi 1. Beginning of a Legacy 1 2. India’s Largest Check Dam in Rajasthan 17 3. Environmental Benefits of Check Dams 29 4. Impact of Irrigated Agriculture in Drylands 39 5. Need for More Rural Development in Rajasthan 49 6. Concluding Remarks 55 Literature Cited 59