As a child, Mehmood Khan, the son of a farmer in Nai Nangla, would trudge a few kilometers everyday to get to school. When it rained, he would fold his clothes in a neat bundle and wade through the water carrying the school uniform on his head just to make sure it did not get wet.
Taking off
Khan: Instead of we giving a formula of what needs to be done, in spring of 2005 we did a stakeholder meeting. We invited villagers and divided them into syndicate groups. We followed a process like we do in Unilever or any other company – of filtering issues coming from the people. But people had their doubts about how illiterate people can do this? How can they articulate sensibly what their problems are? But in two days, we got a large output with four big issues at the helm – education, unemployment, health and hygiene, and water! Next we did action planning – about who will do what. And surprise surprise! The people took upon themselves nearly 80percent of the action!
If You Can’t Get Through It, Get Around It
Khan: There are some things that are simply unacceptable: for instance, you can't have a ratio of 1:100 for teachers and students. I took upon myself all such things. So for the appointment of teachers specifically, I leveraged my IIM networks and approached the education secretary of Haryana who happens to be an IIM grad. He empowered the local sarpanch and the deputy commissioner so that they can appoint teachers in cases where the teacher-student ratio is so badly skewed. This was an inherently new model wherein they didn't have to go to Chandigarh for every approval. So if there were 40 or more students, the sarpanch could appoint a local teacher. If the appointed teachers didn't perform well in six months, they would be sacked. So in the last two years, they have appointed 4000-5000 teachers in Mewat! In contrast, the whole of Haryana had merely 15,000 appointments.
Ushering change through women
Khan: Women are change agents. We have to make them responsible so that they can charge of their lives and their families. In Mewat the average fertility is eight children per woman. In fact, one woman in Mewat has the record for the highest number of children in India – 23 children! My point is that women, in general, make better entrepreneurs and responsible citizens. If you educate a woman, you educate the family.
Impressing the Academia
The experiment in Mewat has started to spark off interest amongst academic researchers worldwide. Dr Pierangela Morlacchi, a lecturer in Science and Technology Policy Research at UK's Sussex University, is following this as an action research project. Prof Shai Vyakarnam, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at Cambridge University's Judge Business School is writing a white paper for the World Economic Forum and he has taken this project as an example. Louise Koch, an anthropologist, has started working on a project for Copenhagen Business School on the collaboration and co-creation aspects of this initiative. Channel 4's James Johnson and Rajesh Vyakarnam have made a documentary film on this, titled 'The Challenge and the Hope'.
The Hurdles
Getting this project off the ground was far from easy. Apart from the usual suspects- local politics and failed promises, the group had to deal with a social disconnect as well
Local politics:
"While democracy is working in India, there are too many goons in Mewat who have a vested interest in the region. They and push their limited agenda and try to disrupt larger community cause."
Disconnect between promises and reality:
"There is a gap between what the Central Government says and what the ground realities really are. For instance, we are still struggling to get a broadband connection to the village despite the government promising to get it for us."
Finding people committed to the cause:
"It isn't easy to find people willing to be part of this project to undertake development work in backward places like Mewat."
Winning people's trust:
"People in such areas are used to hear false promises from government agencies. We had to deliver results to be credible."
Hello Sir, My name is Tanzeel Ahmed and i am currently pursuing my Post-Graduation from IIM Ahmedabad. Its an honor talking to you as i have heard about you since I was 10. My father worked in Brook Bond India, Aurangabad when you were the head of the company and he was really inspired by you. It was those stories that further inspired me to take my CAT exams. So after completing my graduation from IIT I gave my CAT exam and made it to IIM Ahmedabad. I would be really honored if I could meet you anytime you visit the campus. Regards, Tanzeel Ahmed
on Jan 3, 2014dear sir, i am a student, pursuing PGDM (post graduate diploma in management) from greater noida (U.P.). I belongs from a village and i have seen dream for my village and expectation of villagers are so high with me.I need some help and ideas from you, please consider my thinking. i will be very thankful to you for this kind act.
on Aug 29, 2013Dear Mehmood Bhai, Assaalamu Aalikum, Here is Wahid (Dada to Umesh and Chitra) from the Netherlands. Hope you remember me. I was pleasantly surprised to come across your story in the CARIM-India Research Report 2012/25 on \"Working with the Diaspora for Development Policy Perspectives from India\"by Dr. Dider Singh, Former Secretary of MOIA. A Google search gave me this magnificent original story. Hats off to you. You have done a marvellous job. Given your background, network and drive you have delivered something which is difficult to replicate. In my own small way I am still busy doing some \"community work\" in Assam. Your story has given me some ideas. If you visit the link \'about wahid\"at www.indiawijzer.nl you will get some background information of these activities. If you care to send me a private mail, I shall be able to communicate with you with more information. The link about this article I shall circulate amongst different Assamese groups on the net. Best wishes and warm personal regards to you and your family. Wahid
on Feb 2, 2013Dear Wahid Saheb Thanks for your kind words.I remember your social work with Indian community in Holland. Will be very happy to work with you in Assam. My email:mehmoodmewat@gmail.com Tel 91-9818534609 Do call me when you visit India next Warm regards Mehmood
on Mar 18, 2013Mr Khan, I applause for your great contribution for development in rural sector it takes great effort to do this. Sir i also want to bring some changes in my village but it seems quite difficult because in your case you had capital and good network so you got the benefit for that. can i as an normal mba graduate bring a change in society with having constraints like lack of capital and low network
on Oct 26, 2012Dear Santosh It is about imagination and will to do.There is famous saying"Where there is will there is way". Money and network follows. You can contact me via email: mehmoodmewat@gmail.com or by phone 91-9818534609 Best Mehmood
on Mar 18, 2013Dear Sir, My joys knew no bounds when I read this article about progress of your village Nai Nangla. Kindly do the same for other villages of Mewat too. Regards, Dharam Vir Singh Email ID : dharamvirsingh25@yahoo.com, dvsingh321@gmail.com
on Jul 27, 2012Dear Dharam Vir Singh: Thanks for your encouraging words. Our mission is to make a difference to all the villages not only in Mewat but across the whole country. We need collaborators and co-creators to join us in this journey. Do join us. My email is mehmoodmewat@gmail.com. Thanks Mehmood Khan
on Jul 27, 2012Dear Mr Khan, This is a fascinating effort. My parents have also risen from humble backgrounds. Pl elaborate on how u managed t beat the odds while studying.
on May 13, 2012Dear Mr Rohit Panda As your parents might have told you, being raised in the rural areas is just a matter of chance. While I am thankful to my parents, siblings and teachers to do their best to raise me but the overall environment was just not condusive to excel. I feel that I am lucky to have grown to where I am today. Thanks Mehmood Khan
on Jul 27, 2012Sir ..its my pleasure to congratulate you for such a developmental work for betterment of humanity.Mewat is still backward region .someone doing such work ,I feel motivate and inspired to do something for society..............thank you sir my no is 09640300352
on Feb 18, 2012Dear Irfan Khan Thank you for your encouraging words. Currently I am travelling abroad. Once I get back to India, I will call you so we can discuss details of your involvement in our programmes. Thanks Mehmood Khan
on Jul 27, 2012sir i got an opportunity to listen u at social marketing summit conducted by Bmtech. i applause ur efforts n hope that this will also give some guidance for me. i also want to pursue things for my village but not getting any idea. i hope that i will get some guidance from u.
on Mar 18, 2013Dear Krishnamurthy<br /> <br /> Sustainable development will happen by Co-creation and Collaboration.<br /> <br /> Lets build a network.<br /> <br /> You can reach me on my mobile 9818534609<br /> <br /> Warm regards<br /> <br /> Mehmood
on Aug 12, 2009Hi Mehmood, I can guess how joyful you are these days. Serving people with love and compassion is an awesome experience. It’s a humbling feeling and a sense of satisfaction to see smiles on people around you. This is a journey, we all wish to take on. You have started off in your village and my deep appreciation and congratulations for your commitments to serve people with love. I too share your vision and working seriously towards it. I know for sure that, its not one, not ten, not thousand and not million people. As per the World Bank Statistics, It’s a whopping 700 Millions in India earn less than $1/- per day. The challenge is enormous. Neither government nor any institution can provide solution to such human plight. We need collaborated efforts between people to people, people to institution and people to Government. This is also an opportunity for all of us; like minded people to think, innovate and open up channels to reach out to as many people as possible. Imagine with such collaborated efforts, if we are able to bring about a change and enable even a meager 10% of the people to join the mainstream economic activities, we disprove the myth that, we don’t have solutions to our vast majority of people and their plight. We need New Age Interactive Media, the one that helps us to connect with people across the people eco-system. This has been my vision and purpose of my self propelled research during the last 18 months. Some of my thoughts and ideas are posted as discussion on the Interactive Media Worldwide(http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/1254667) group on www.Linkedin.com. It would be a honor and delight to network with you and add momentum to this initiatives. Regards, Krishnamurthy krish23456@yahoo.com 91-9833606115
on Jul 11, 2009Congratulations.
on Jul 7, 2009Mehmood - Congratulations!
on Jun 30, 2009A very inspiring story. Shows the impact a man can make in lives of many. This model could and should be replicated in other deprived areas also.
on Jun 29, 2009Dear Mr. Mehmood, Is there an email ID where we can reach you? Thanks and Regards.
on Jan 28, 2010Dear Yogi You can reach me on following email ID mehmoodmewat@googlemail.com Thanks Mehmood
on Feb 14, 2010Kudos Mehmood. Sterling sustained work. Keep it up man. My best wishes.
on Apr 19, 2019