What is involved in building capability? For instance, can a community mired in seemingly insurmountable difficulties and wallowing in helplessness build capabilities to take charge of its problems and implement solutions from within? Some years back, I heard a fascinating account of transformation that can help us reflect on this important question. The story has its origins in pre-independence India, but its lessons continue to remain important and relevant today. I was fortunate to learn about the events first hand from the Magsaysay Award Winner Dr. Manibhai Desai. I hope you find the story as inspiring and instructive as I did when I heard it as a first-person account from the man who spearheaded a transformation that has made a positive difference to 5 million poor families spread across 70,000 villages.
Manibhai’s meeting with the Mahatma
As a youngster, Manibhai Desai was drawn to the Gandhian ideals. He nursed hopes of meeting Gandhiji and seeking guidance on what path he should pursue. Fortunately, he got that opportunity in 1945 – a ten-minute meeting was fixed up for him. By then, Manibhai was 24, and had completed his graduation with distinction.
Closer to the meeting, Manibhai became nervous. Would he not become tongue-tied in front of the Mahatma? An elder acquaintance assured him: “Don’t worry, it won’t be difficult. Gandhiji is likely to pose rhetorical questions. Listen to him without being in a hurry to answer questions. He will elaborate his thoughts.”
As expected, Gandhiji did begin with questions. He asked: “Manibhai, do you know why India is poor?” Manibhai merely nodded. Gandhiji answered his own question, “India is poor because rural India is poor.” Then he asked, “Why do you think rural India is poor?” Again, Manibhai nodded. Gandhiji said, “Rural India is poor because there is rampant unemployment or under-employment.” Then he asked, “Why is there so much unemployment and under-employment?” Manibhai was listening with rapt attention as Gandhiji said, “It’s because there is inadequate enterprise in villages to generate the right ideas and execute those effectively”.
Then Gandhiji asked: “Do you want to make a positive difference?” For the first time, Manibhai opened his mouth and said, “Yes”. Gandhiji said, “You have to generate productive employment to address the formidable challenges of poverty, starvation or social Ills. Knowledge and resourcefulness have to be channelized for this purpose. There are no short cuts. This is a life-long commitment”.
Given his science background, Manibhai was more inclined to take up an engineering project in his native Gujarat. But Gandhiji asked him to do his work in Uruli Kanchan in Maharashtra. Manibhai asked, “What would be my role?” “You would be like a fire bucket hanging on the hook!” said Gandhiji. “You’ll have to go wherever there is a fire. You have to see and care. You have to be watchful and be sensitive to your surroundings.”
Uruli Kanchan mired in helplessness
When Manibhai reached Uruli Kanchan, he saw abject poverty all around. There was starvation among the poorer sections. Water was scarce, and even the little groundwater was brackish. Certain tribes had taken to criminal activities and robbed houses and crops. There was an Afghan money lender who charged 300% interest. There was fairly wide-spread drinking and gambling, which compounded the misery all around. There was no school for children to go to. In the absence of resources, there was little agricultural activity, and people did not even think that there was a way out of their myriad problems.
Manibhai began by interacting with people to understand their perception. He talked not only to the dominant members of the community, but also gathered the reactions of the women, rural poor, Harijans, and even the tribes involved with criminal activities. He was surprised to see one common element emerge in all discussions. At every level, individuals and groups felt that with the village Maruti temple in dilapidated condition, even God Hanuman had forsaken them. That was why there were no rains and no crops.
While renovation of the Maruti temple was certainly not part of the initial plan, Manibhai felt that his first initiative should begin there. It was one agenda item on which there was almost unanimous agreement. He considered this step as appropriate to gain psychological entry into the village. After all, he was still new to the village and did not speak the local language well.
Dawn of new hope
With the help of villagers, Manibhai began mobilizing funds for temple renovation, but sought consent of the villagers to build twelve classrooms in the same complex. As soon as the renovation was completed, and the classrooms were ready, he became the first teacher. And he started the routine of playing with the children in the evening. As the villagers saw these developments, they slowly began to perk up.
Of course, the important agenda of growing crops was not forgotten. Water scarcity was the biggest impediment. An old villager directed Manibhai to a well near the railway station. He informed Manibhai that the water was not suitable for steam engine due to its high salt content, but the village community had to obtain permission from Railways to use water from that well. Paper work for obtaining permission was taken up in all earnestness and successfully completed. But there was another challenge – a pump house could not be built near the railway tracks, and so the challenge of bringing the well water to the village remained.
This challenge led Manibhai and a group of villagers to learn about oil engines and lift irrigation. When that experiment succeeded, the villagers got the idea of lifting water from the nearby river. That idea solved the problem of water scarcity. In the meanwhile, Manibhai went along with some villagers and consulted knowledgeable people to select the right crops considering the soil chemistry. As the right crops – brinjal, wheat, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, and even grapes – were chosen, the agricultural production grew. At the same time, capabilities were getting built in the areas of lift irrigation, crop selection and the right agricultural methods.
As sugarcane production grew, the idea of establishing a co-operative sugar factory came up. But many small farmers were not in a position to make the initial investment. With Manibhai’s help, the villagers obtained a special bank loan, secured necessary licence, procured machinery and organised the production. The project proved to be a grand success.
Non-violent bullet against rural poverty
When the villagers started their journey with Manibhai, their implicit commitment was to learn by doing. With initial successes reinforcing their pioneering spirit, Manibhai began trials of crossbreeding Indian cattle with exotic breeds. The community’s experiments led to the birth of calf ‘Savitri’ that inherited the hardiness of its mother and the productivity of its father. It was an important break-through, and soon milk production went up 15 times. Manibhai felt that the community now had in its arsenal non-violent bullets to wage war against rural poverty.
As the community felt confident and capable of venturing into new areas and learn through experimentation, new projects were initiated to meet emerging community needs. For instance, the community addressed the challenges of animal health and nutrition, promotion of agro- forestry, development of wastelands, sericulture, and so on. A horizontal organization model was followed rather than a vertical one. Each project was quite autonomously run by separate management group, which had the responsibility for ensuring effectiveness and efficiency of that project. With decentralized functioning, people felt empowered to respond quickly to emerging challenges.
Manibhai’s leadership had dramatically altered the organizational identity of Uruli Kanchan community. The initial identity was that of helpless victims of cruel destiny. Now the community saw itself as capable, resourceful and confident of facing new challenges.
What can we learn about capability building?
Manibhai’s contributions did not stop with Uruli Kanchan. He went on to create an institution that has transformed the face of 70,000 villages and enhanced the future of 5 million poor families. We won’t get into that story here. Instead, we’ll turn our attention to what we can learn from the story of Manibhai in Uruli Kanchan about the nature of leadership required to build a new organizational identity.
First and foremost, we must recognize that the creation of new identity starts with a powerful sense of purpose. Inspired by Gandhiji, Manibhai saw his life’s mission as making a positive difference to the rural community trapped in a cesspool of helplessness. Gandhiji had remarked: “If we don’t learn to build Uruli Kanchan, we will not be able to manage Delhi”. Having taken that message to heart, it was important for Manibhai to learn to build Uruli Kanchan.
For creating a new organizational identity, it is not enough for only the leader to be imbued with a strong sense of purpose. The vision has to be owned by the community so that people feel energized to move in a new direction. Again, Gandhiji’s message was very clear: “You may analyze problems and design projects. But go to people and explain it to them and take their approval. If you don’t do this, people won’t participate in the programme”.
People feel energized not only because they consider the goal as important and worthwhile, but also because they feel hopeful and optimistic about change actually happening. Manibhai began by understanding the perceptions of the villagers. He started by renovating the Maruti temple as this was an agenda that was widely shared by different members of the village community. When the community saw the temple renovated and the children going to school in the temple complex, they saw the first rays of hope on the horizon. That created the impetus to move forward in addressing the community’s challenges. As key individuals in the community were enlisted and vision of a better future got crystallized, there was alignment in the community, which provided a significant thrust to the process of transformation.
Then people were motivated to solve the problem of water scarcity and address the challenge of increasing agricultural production through self-help. This created greater engagement. Simultaneously capability was getting built. The community had developed technical knowhow and professional skills for lift irrigation, improved agricultural methods, running co-operatives, and increasing milk production through cross-breeding of cattle. Learning by doing became more and more accepted as the approach to be followed for dealing with new challenges.
Learning by doing implies action and experimentation using local resources, extension of appropriate technologies, and constant up-gradation of skills and capabilities with community participation. The organizational forms that were employed to institutionalize changes also reinforced principles of empowerment and flexibility, people involvement, employment generation, and customizing solutions to the local context.
Let us close with a few key insights emerging from this inspiring story from a bygone era. First, there are no short cuts for sustainable transformation. Second, you build capability by engaging with people in the organisation. Third, you can’t engage unless your goals are aligned. And finally, talk does not create capability. Action does. Thus, Manibhai’s story has some powerful lessons: Invest in the long-term. Build capability. Work on alignment and engage with people. Take action. And above all, manage with your heart and a deep sense of purpose.