We often forget to acknowledge the efforts of those who are actually the agents of change. Far away from the bling of limelight, often in rather small and lost districts of India, the unsung heroes of today in their own bid are changing the face of the country. It’s true, India is a country that dwells in its little lanes and shines in the eyes of its people. Aspirational district Fellows (ADF) are those who in their pursuit to conserve the glint of ‘Good Governance’ in as many as 115 districts have far alighted their high horses and continue to serve the nation in a style that is rather sarkaari. Monitored directly by the NITI Aayog and Home Ministry at the Centre and District Magistrate and District Collector at the district, the key focus areas of Aspirational District Fellowship are Health, Education, Social Welfare, Infrastructure, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development. While they assist the district administration in implementing NITI Aayog’s Transformation of Aspirational Districts Program, which also happens to be the brainchild of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi; they also assist multiple departments of the district administration through ideating, innovating, implementing and monitoring several interventions.

In conversation with The Logical Indian, three Aspirational District Fellows from Ranchi, Simdega and Dantewada talk about the significant changes that they have been able to bring about in their respective districts.

Satwik Mishra (ADF, Ranchi, Jharkhand) was earlier in Simdega

Hailing from Purnia, Bihar, Satwik started his sojourn at Simdega district in Jharkhand and moved to Ranchi as an ‘Aspirational District Fellow’. Concerned primarily about Health and Education, Satwik Mishra started by the most impending issue gripping women, Menstruation. Through ‘Garima Abhiyan’ for which Satwik won the ‘3M CII Young Innovator Challenge Award 2019′, he locked horns with various stigmas attached with menstruation through the Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) awareness campaign. In collaboration with a United Nations Agency, ‘Water Sanitation Supportive & Collaborative Council (WSSCC)’, Garima Abhiyan addressed the issue of menstrual hygiene, sensitised both men and women and also trained women to make indigenous sanitary napkins at home. Simdega, with a population base of 6,00,000 under Garima Abhiyan, became the first district of India, to sensitize the entire population base of the district through an awareness campaign.

Other than that, Mishra under guidance of the then Deputy Commissioner Dr. Jatashankar Choudhary, also spearheaded several health awareness campaigns like ‘Bhag Filaria Bhag’, ‘Khabardar Malaria Abhiyan’ and ‘TB Bhagao Abhiyan’ out of which the ‘Bhaag Filaria Bhaag’ model got a larger National Level recognition more so that the Ministry of Health (GOI) accepted it for getting it replicated at the National level. In the field of education, Satwik Mishra, on his front foot helped the administration roll out technically equipped classrooms called the ‘Smart Shaala’ in as many as 93 schools to improve attendance and learning standards of the children. Besides, in pursuit to make young students computer smart, ‘Mission CompLit’ was introduced in 60 government schools of the district. Another thoughtful proposal by Mishra that culminated into transformational reality was ‘Operation Whiteboard’. Launched in Simdega, ‘Operation Whiteboard’ was to replace blackboards across schools to a more sustainable, environmentally friendly and human-friendly alternative, the whiteboard and assure ‘Freedom from Chalk Dust’ to the students and teachers.

Currently, Satwik is working for implementing similar projects i.e. ‘Operation Whiteboard’, ‘Sahuliyat – Saving women from UTI’, ‘SmartShaala’, ‘Poshaandolan Abhiyan’ etc. in Ranchi district of Jharkhand, under supervision of the DC Rai Mahimapat Ray.

Biswambharnath Naik (ADF, Simdega, Jharkhand)

Bishwambharnath is a name who redefined the way we look at sustainable development. The first example that truly justifies his all-inclusive practices is the “Wall of Hope”. Through the wall of hope initiative, a wall at the block office was dedicated for donation and collection of clothes in a unique way. People willing to donate clothes need not find a person who they can donate it to instead simply drop off the donation items at the ‘Wall of Hope’ and people in need can collect them at any point in time. On the Water Conservation front, Naik ideated the concept of low-cost household level soak pit to conserve the greywater coming from each household and use the same to recharge groundwater through these pits that are also called the ‘Magic Soak Pit’.

Biswambharnath believes that any change can catch undefeated momentum only if people are educated. To promote the culture of education in Simdega, Naik assisted the administration to realise the dream of having a community library in the district. As a result, the library was set up in…