Nanda Talukdar Foundation (NTF) successfully transformed a backward village of Barsimalugiri into a ‘SMART Village’ modern and full of facilities. This was made possible by two non–resident Assamese and veteran journalists. With their efforts, in the village of Barsimalugiri an insurgency-hit village in Assam’s Himalayan foothills, is now cited as the first ‘smart village’ in the entire northeast.
Barsimaluguri is a village that shares international border with Bhutan. For centuries this village has been surviving without basic necessary living conditions. NTF foundation roped in Anirudh Goswamiand and Surajit Dutta, for technical and organisational support to change the face of this village and the results were astonishing. The foundation worked on various problem areas of the village like safe drinking water, total sanitation, alternative power, skill development, child development, women empowerment, legal awareness and employment generation besides improving facilities for sports and education. As a result of the sincere efforts of people engaged in this initiative, various problems have been solved and village Barsimaluguri has now become the first village in Assam to have a reverse osmosis (RO) plant which can deliver 500 litres of standard mineral water in an hour at 20 paisa per litre. Nearly half of the households have got new sanitary toilets. The highlight of the intervention is the solar energy component where 100 houses are given solar kits and 75 streetlights are installed.
The NTF foundation have been instrumental in bringing about positive change. They have a broad palette of activities, from preservation of 19th century books, to transforming villages through corporate social responsibility (CSR), to visiting about 400 villages a year to conduct social audit of self-help groups etc. It is essential to say that motivated substantial initiatives by NGOs like NTF are good news in the wake of improving human lives.
News & Image Source: News18.com
