Subject: 'austraLasia' # 371

'BOSCO GRAMIN VIKAS KENDRA' AWARDED FIRST PRIZE BY MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT

Tej Prasarini (not a person, for the uninitiated!)

AHMEDNAGAR: July 7-- The Maharashtra Government has awarded Bosco Gramin Vikas Kendra the Maharashtra Rajya Vanashree Puraskar for the year 1999. This prestigious title is conferred on an agency that has excelled in afforestation projects in rural Maharashtra. Bosco Gramin Vikas Kendra has secured the first prize and will receive Rs. 10,000 and a citation at the hands of the Governor of Maharashtra. This information was made known to Alex Gonsalves, Founder-Director of the Kendra by letter.

The work that has been commended by the Government comprises the growing of trees over approximately 5000 hectares of land, involving 7000 people from 8 villages spread out in the Nagar taluka of the Ahmednagar District in Central Maharashtra. This afforestation project is but a part of a larger project that is called Integrated Watershed Development - a work usually carried out in drought sticken areas that methodically implements scientific techniques to preserve the scanty rain water in the subsoil. As a result the village becomes self-sustainable and the economic foundations for integrated growth and development are firmly established.

The Bosco Gramin Vikas Kendra began its work in the Taluka since 1989. Its work has been accompanied by well documented research studies and a documentary film entitled Dongargan - a Story of Survival. The project has also attracted many students of agriculture, social work and development agencies both in India and abroad.