Economic advancement alone may not improve the quality of life. On the contrary it may also lead to scial and cultural degradation. Symptoms of this degeneration may show up in many forms, like terrorism, juvenile and organized crime, drug addiction, vulgar display of riches and total neglect and antipathy towards the poor. Any system that supports or even tolerates gross disparities is both inhuman and immoral. Such a system cannot bring about progress of human society.

Often the new-rich in the cities and many of the new professional class are heard blaming the poor themselves for their poverty. The poor are branded as lazy, illiterate, ignorant and inefficient. Often the poor also internalise this perception about themselves and develop a low self-image with the result that consequences of poverty are seen as causes of poverty.

When the people of Ralegan under the leadership of Anna Hazare decided to throw off these burdens from their backs and chart a new path, it was a difficult and deep struggle for social change at two simultaneous levels, personal as well as the community. Changes at the individual level are essential for societal level changes to be meaningful. Social morality is farcical if the people at an individual level, are authoritarian, casteist, communal or sexist. However, social pressure often helps in bringing about conformity to normative behaviour at the individual level.

Campaign against Alcoholism

In Ralegan, Anna saw that the village temple was in a dilapidated condition. Even some of the wooden pillars and beams had been pulled out and burned as firewood in the liquor stills. This temple had been constructed years ago in the name of Yadav Baba, a saint who preached and also breathed his last in Ralegan Siddhi. Yadav Baba has almost been looked upon as a village deity. Anna started the work of reconstruction of the village temple with Rs. 20,000 of his provident fund and gratuity. This act of Anna moved the villagers. People came forward and offered contributions in cash and kind to the tune of Rs. 90,000. A youth group was formed to supervise the construction work.

Whenever old and young people gathered in the temple, Anna used to tell them about the need to have a ban on liquor in the village and to close down the liquor stills if the village had to make any progress. Finally, one day a village meeting was held in the temple and it was decided to impose a total ban on making, selling and drinking of liquor. The villagers took an oath in the name of Yadav Baba and also decided on a code of discipline to implement it. The person who started the first liquor still was also the first to close down his business. Even today one sees him in the temple and, though older to Anna Hazare, he touches Anna's feet.

Implementalion of total ban on sale and consumption of liquor was not an easy lask. All those involved in making and selling of liquor were helped to find alternative vo,cations. The habitual drunk ards were persuaded, warned and the incorrigible ones were given a public beating. Still, there were some known goondas who defied the village unity. After a few instances of public punishments the village remained free of alcoholism. Gradually the opposition died out and Anna's selfless moral Ieadership rose to mobilise the entire village.

After the people of Ralegan took an oath in front of the village temple to implement the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol, the change was achieved in three stages - some people gave up drinking alcohol after realizing the evil effects of excessive drinking, some of them required heavy persuasion and the third category yielded under social pressure when some of them were given physical punishment in public. After the full achievement of this campaign the village youth started fighting the other social evils.

Collective Marriages

Most rural poor get into a debt-trap as they have to incur heavy expenses at the time of the marriage of their son or daughter. It is an undesirable practice but has almost become a social obligation. Ralegan's people have started celebrating the marriages collectively. The feast is held together where the expenses are further reduced by the Tarun Mandal  taking the responsihility of cooking and serving the food. The vessels, the Loud-speaker system, the mandap  and the decorations have also heen bought by the Tarun Mandal members belonging to the oppressed castes. From 1976 to 1986, four hundred and twenty four marriages have been held under this system.

Banishing Dowry

The evil practice of dowry given at the time of marriage is well known even to the village people. But this evil cannot be banished by individual action. Ralegan people do not accept any dowry at the time of their son's marriage. However, they cannot extend the same rule in the case of daughters of Ralegan i.e. no dowry will be given in their daughter's marriage. Till such consciousness to banish dowry reaches other villages it is bound to remain only a one-sided affair for the people of Ralegan.

Untouchability

The people of Ralegan have largely succeeded in eradicating social discrimination on the basis of caste. The dalits have been integrated into the social and economic life of the village. Obviously the initiative for this had to come from the upper castes and lhe Ieadership of the Tarun Mandal. Thc people of all castes, however rresponded  very well to this process of social integration.

Fighting Superstitions

Goddess Padmavati is the village deity of Ralegan. During the annual village festival of goddess Padmavati,  the people used to bring goats to the Padmavati temple for sacrifice. After the sacrificial killing of the goat and ritual of offering it to the goddess the people had a feast at their homes with meat and alcohol freely served to relatives and other guests. During the pooja rituals some persons would start dancing vigorously pretending that they were possessed by the goddess. The villagers would ask questions about their problems and seek remedies from these persons (often called devarshis) supposedly blessed with divine powers. This entire drama gave rise to many superstitious practices. People used to trust the tantra-mantra or the ash given by this person even for treatment of well-known infectious diseases. These practices were not peculiar to Ralegan Siddhi but the people of Ralegan, especially the Tarun Mandal, decided to put an end to it.

As a first step they told the people that if sacrificing a goat and offering it to the goddess pleased her then why should the sacrificial goat be taken home for a feast, let it remain with the goddess to make her happier. As a result, the practice of sacrificing animals at the temple stopped. Secondly when some people got "possessed" by the goddess and started dancing, the one who started first was beaten up by the Tarun Mandal members. He immediately started behaving normally; since that day no one in the village has ever got possessed by the goddess! Exposure of these practices has brought ahout a dramatic change in the beliefs of the people of Ralegan.

The people contributed their voluntary labour for the implementation ot every project of community or group benefit. This has resulted in socialisation of costs along with the socialisation of benefits. From the benefits, every beneficiary contributed 10-25% of the surplus to the community fund from which many other schemes ol comrnon benefit were undertaken.

As a result, a sense ol personal involvement and attachment has developed among the people for all community assets. Therefore, people take care of such assets. whether these are common toilets, water taps, the hostel building or the fruit bearing trees on common lands.

A sense of social obligalion and sharing of benefits has also been built into every program. This consciousness has been demonstrated by the people of Ralegan in the form of running the grain bank, self-imposed restriction on growing water intensive cash crops, growing fodder and supplying it to neighbouring villages, helping oppressed caste families to get out of their debt trap and contributing towards the resettlement of people affected by the Kukdi Canal construction.

Nyaya Panchayat

Squabbles over sharing of water, straying of cattle into other's fields for grazing, and land disputes are very common in villages. Usually, these fights result in people filing complaints with the police and spending a lot of money in bribing the police or paying the lawyers. The people in Ralegan resolved that all such disputes would be settled at the Gram Panchayat level where the Gram Panchayat acted as a Nyaya Panchayat. As a result of increased social awareness and deeper community feeling, disputes are rare and all disputes have been amicably settled at the village level itself. Fron 1976-1986 not a single police case had heen filed trom this village at the police station .

Democratic Functioning

Collective decision making and election by consensus are the basic principles of democratic functioning in Ralegan. All public  offices in Gram Panchayat or village co-operatives are considered as offices of responsibility and not as opportunities for gaining power and making money. Hence all the elections to the village level bodies are held in the Gram Sabha and as far as possible, by consensus. This practice has put an end to political factionalism that has vitiated the public life in almost every other village.

Even at the time of Assembly and Parliamentary elections the Gram Sabha holds a meeting to discuss the merits and demerits of each candidate as well as of their parties. These are discussed and then "whom to vote for" decided at the individual level. The usual campaigning by shouting through loudspeakers, taking out processions, etc, is not encouraged.

Women's Status

The women were asked in an informal group meeting as to what Ralegan's development has meant to them i.e. how have their lives changed. They replied, "earlier the men used to drink, waste their money and at home the women and children did not even have enough for their basic needs; they had to go hungry. Besides, the women were harassed both at home and outside. At home they were shouted at, beaten and reprimanded for trivialities. The men were drunkards, paid no attention to agricultural or domestic chores and used to pick fights and create scenes on the streets. We had to work hard at home, in the fields and take care of our drunkard husbands as well".

As a result of the developments that have taken place in Ralegan, their drugdgery has reduced. Water sources close to their house, gobar gas plants and smokeless chulhas have made their life easier though they are still found to be working much more than the menfolk. Their workload has to some extent, increased due to larger number of milch cattle to be looked after. But now the men are also taking greater responsibility in looking after the agricultural operations and at times even the children. Construction of public latrines and bathrooms has also been a great relief to women.

Many more girls are now going to school, and even seeking higher education. In 1971 only 12.33% of the girls were literate. In  1981 this figure went up to 24.24%. Literacy figures were not available for 1986 but in 1986-87 there were 200 girl students in Ralegan schools and 2 girls were doing the Diploma in Education and 4 others were studying in the twelfth standard in colleges outside Ralegan.

Due to increased social consciousness and improved economic conditions, health problems of women were now better taken care of. A case of wife battering was reported to the Tarun Mandal by the neighbours; the husband was pulled up and publicly admonished.

There is a Mahila Mandal in the village registered with the Charity Commissioner though an active women's group has still to emerge. Women do not, as yet, participate in the decision making at the Gram Sabha level or in any other program. Tarun Mandal members and Anna Hazare himself have expressed the desire that some catalysts (women activists) are required to mobilize and activise the women of Ralegan.
 

 
 
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