#mywaterstory- Shyam Sundar Paliwal
Padma Shri awardee Shyam Sunder Paliwal, a former village council leader from Piplantri, Rajasthan, celebrates every newborn girl child in the village by planting 111 saplings. Mr. Paliwal, a farmer by profession was satisfied with farming and providing for his family, as were other farmers. After successfully merging the “111 Trees for Each Girl Child” concept to empower Beti while conserving the environment, he got recognized as the “Father of Eco-Feminism.”
“Swajaldhara Yojana” was promoted by him to conserve and exchange water, and over 1800 dams were built in the area. As a result of the campaign, the Piplantri community successfully overcame Rajasthan’s chronic drought and water scarcity issues as check dams on the fields helped recharge the groundwater level.
Mr. Paliwal was elected Sarpanch (village leader) in 2005. During his time, he implemented several changes, including improved seating in the Panchayat Bhawan (Village council), building sanitation facilities for every household, and keeping a register for residents to record their problems. He also altered the panchayat timings to evening hours because most government officials and organizations arrived in the village after people had left for work, so changing the schedule to evening hours was advantageous to the villagers. The goal for Mr. Paliwal from the beginning was to implement government initiatives properly; to date, all major modifications in village infrastructure have taken place under government schemes and initiatives.
Piplantri village was affected by drought in 2006 due to excessive mining, which resulted in a shortage of water and vegetation. Around this time, Mr. Paliwal, a humble, straightforward, and self-motivated sarpanch had lost his eldest daughter to sickness. That is when he planted a Kadam tree (Burflower Tree) in her memory, and his massive project of “111 Trees for Every Girl Child” began. Not only that, but people also planted “11 Trees every time they lost a loved one,” and every girl from the village who got married and moved away also planted a tree. At that time, it also appeared that the issue of killing girl children had been on the rise, which had disrupted the village’s sex ratio. As part of the campaign, the panchayat started opening a fixed deposit bank account in the name of the newborn girl child. The parents were to take care of the saplings and sign an affidavit promising not to engage in foeticide or marry their daughters off until they turn 18. Later, he with his fellow villagers started planting aloe vera and rose plants. Today products made of those plants are providing them employment.
Mr. Paliwal recollects that they used to have a lot of challenges because they were constantly worried that the plants, they were planting would be uprooted by those who didn’t agree with their way of thinking. In comparison to 2005, there has been a significant shift in the way people view their work in the village. Then, villagers could never have imagined that their efforts would have an impact on humanity and the environment, yet they continued to work. But today, they are mindful of their activities, they realize the importance of water, seedlings planted 15 years ago have grown into trees, and young girls feel secure riding their two-wheelers to work or college.
He recently went on the television show Kaun Banega Crorepati and he plans on utilizing the funds for the betterment of women and sustainable development of his community. Not everyone has the mindset of Mr. Shyam Sundar. We congratulate him on his accomplishments and wish him the best in his future endeavors.
