Popatrao Baguji Pawar (born 1960) is the farmer sarpanch of Hiware Bazar, a gram panchayat in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra India.[1][2] He was the only post graduate in the village. In 2020, he received the Padma Shri honour from the Government of India for his contribution in the field of social work.[3]

He is the Executive Director of Maharashtra state government's Model Village programme.[4] He is credited to have transformed it from an impoverished village into a model of development that the government of Maharashtra wishes to implement across the state.[5][6]

Pawar led Hiware Bazar's transformation from a drought- prone village to a green and prosperous model village, thus successfully reproducing Anna Hazare's Ralegaon Siddhi model of village development.[7] He featured in an India Today cover story as the person who demonstrated how rural water resources could be revived.[6]

The Hiware bazare gram panchayat, with Pawar as its sarpanch, won the first National Award for community led water conservation in 2007.[6][8]

In an interview with Nikhil Wagle on IBN Lokmat, Pawar describes his entry into public life as an accident.[9][10] In relation to the control of malaria he is quoted to have said "Show me one mosquito (in Hiware bazar) and take away Rs 100."[11] He speaks regularly at Policy BootCamp,[12] a flagship summer school in public policy conducted by Vision India Foundation.

References

  1. Ajit Menon; Praveen Singh; Esha Shah (10 September 2007). Community-based natural resource management: issues and cases from South Asia. SAGE Publications. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-7619-3574-2. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  2. Kothari, Vishwas (11 March 2012). "Panchayati Raj training centre to come up at Hiware Bazar". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. "आदर्श गाँव की नींव रखने वाले पोपटराव बागुजी पवार को पद्मश्री सम्मान". khabartak. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  4. Byatnal, Amruta (12 May 2011). "38 more 'ideal' villages to come up in Maharashtra by June". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  5. Md Babar (1 January 2007). Environmental Changes and Natural Disasters. New India Publishing. p. 155. ISBN 978-81-89422-75-2. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 Bhupta, Malini (17 July 2010). "Popatrao Pawar". India Today. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  7. Planning Commission of the Government of India (1 January 2007). Maharashtra Development Report. Academic Foundation. p. 293. ISBN 978-81-7188-540-4. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  8. Down to Earth: Science and Environment Fortnightly. Society for Environmental Communications. 2007. p. 19. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  9. "IBN-Lokmat presents Great Bhet with Popatrao Pawar, a leader with a difference". India PR Wire. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  10. Wagle, Nikhil(host) (17 July 2011). "Great bhet: Popatrao Pawar". Great bhet. Season 3. IBN Lokmat.
  11. Mukhim, Patricia (29 January 2012). "Big talk, tall promises & zilch". The Statesman. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  12. "Team | Vision India Foundation".


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