Punsari village in Gujarat becomes India's first 'Adarsh Gram'

Punsari has all the facilities to compete with any metropolitan city in the country.

Punsari village has a population of around 6000.

Sabarkatha: A village in Gujarat's Sabarkatha district has been declared as "Adarsh Gram". Punsari village with a population of 6000 has all the facilities and can compete with any metropolitan city in the country.

Be it the schools or Anganwadi centres which are updated with new infrastructure and are well maintained. The roads are clean and litter-free. There is a speaker installed at every corner of the village to make public announcements to pass on all kinds of information to people. 

Further, there is a bus facility system that people in the village use to commute to places within and sometimes to other nearby villages. Every basic need is well taken care of which has also improved the lifestyle of the villagers.

The credit for the transformation of the village lies with Himanshu Patel. He was the village sarpanch from 2006 to 2014. For the success of Punsari, Patel did start any new initiative but relied solely on schemes and programs launched by the government.

From educating people about Mudra Yojna, Jan Dhan Yojna or Ujjwala Yojna to using the state-sponsored schemes for the village to proper use. 

Just like in any city Punsari too has good roads, clean water, electricity, CCTV, RO water plant, waste collection, arogya kendra, kaushalya vardhan Kendra, digital schools. Facilities like bus stand and sound system at every intersection is present in this village.

After the success of Punsari, he is now working with close to 10,000 villages in India and over 2 lakh people have visited the village to look at their model of governance.

Patel has a team who helps him connect with Sarpanch of other villages who seek his guidance in making their villages Adarsh. He has won several awards and recognition for his work with Punsari village.

(With input from Shailesh Chauhan)