On 24th December 2021, Sewa International organized Sewa Samwaad

Shivganga Samagra Gram Vikas Parishad was established in 1998 as Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad. It is a cohesive group of rural and urban youth, successfully implementing a replicable model of “development movement” in tribal districts Jhabua and Alirajpur of M.P. Shivganga Samagra Gramvikas Parishad is actively engaged in organizing various activities like training of youth (school drop outs between the age 15-35years) for village development which includes imparting motivation and organizing skills, team work, exposure and understanding of today’s world, technical skills.

The founder of SSGVP is Shri Mahesh Ji who has been actively working for the welfare of the people in Jhabua.
Mahesh Ji was invited for the December edition of Sewa Samwaad. His insights of rural India and their problems were enlightening. He differentiated between image and reality. He lived among the people to understand the situation. He got involved with villagers to build trust. In the district of Jhabua, villages were struggling with water shortage that affected their crops. The farmers of Jhabua could cultivate a substantial harvest in only 6 months in a year. Mahesh Ji suggested the technique of Rainwater harvesting to solve the scarcity of water.

He talked about the concept of Halma wherein People come together to solve problems. He propagated the idea of Halma for Earth. With the help of villagers, he built 20 contour tanks and Dams in a span of just 34 days. A contour tank could hold 700-800 litres of water. The water stored through the contour tanks and dams could be used for 2 rotations of crops and also for the animals.

He talked about Mataan, Samwardh se Samridhi - Sustainable Development. He said that village empowerment will lead to the country's empowerment. Almost 920 villages come under Shivganga Mission. He also mentioned Swachh Gao Swachh Parivar. He said that we should encourage the participation of youth in social work. His idea is to inculcate the feeling for society, self-dependency and skill development among the youths.
Through Shivganga’s Bamboo Craft initiative, 14 boys worked together and created art and diyas that earned around rs 5 lac and rs 11 lac respectively. This mission also started cotton weaving for women named Jhabua Naturals, Jhabua crafts, Jhabua Agro.

Mahesh Ji emphasised bringing acceptance among the local community. To achieve this, there must be a shift in the paradigm. He shared a checklist for this. He said that everyone should be self-dependent with a problem-solving attitude. According to him, the lack of practical knowledge in our education system creates a gap in understanding people. It can be bridged if we do good to them selflessly.

Mahesh ji's understanding of human behaviour is outstanding. He said that people are born with selfless behaviour but gradually it is exploited. He encouraged us to leave selfishness for happiness. He advised doing everything together in the office to attain success.
Concluding the session he said- Contribution can be small but it is important.