Paving a way for villages to walk from dependency to independence

Parul University hosts Nationally renowned Sarpanch Shyam Sunder Paliwal

Parul University invited and hosted the social icon whose life has become the spitting image of this ideology at its Vadodara campus. The idea is to bringing the reality about development of rural societies through the aid of governmental policies and active participation of these societies to reach a stage where they are empowered to sustain themselves.

Shyam Sunder Paliwal a passion driven social activist and a committed Sarpanch whose efforts have revolutionised his village from a position of socio-economic dependence to a point of complete and progressive independence.

Organised by the University’s Faculty of Social Work this social centred PUTalks event brought together various Sarpanches from across the nearby villages of the district to learn from the person behind this change. The gathering was made with the objective of creating a platform for interaction between the Sarpanch and other rural society leaders to share ideas on how his model village can also act as a roadmap for their own to develop in such a manner.

The platform also provided an insightful exposure to the students of social work regarding some of the concerns and issues which are faced by these villages and how best they can utilise their education to mitigate these issues and contribute to their development.

With the tragedy of losing his daughter, Paliwal turned his pain into his power by advocating for policies within his village which were centred on ensuring the well-being and welfare of the girl child amongst many others. He made this possible by implementing various social welfare policies, such as creating a practise of planting a tree for every newly born girl child.

This practise did not only promote the environmental well-being of his village, but it went on to instill within the villagers a sense of value towards the girls and women within the village. Beyond this he has carried out various initiatives which have made a lasting impact on his village and other villages within the nation of India.

With this event Parul University aims to empower the surrounding villages to understand their potential to grow and develop. As a result of his visit, the University’s Social Work students will also be visiting Shyam Sunder Paliwal’s village to practically learn how to

implement this growth and carry forward the message of self sustenance to other villages as well. “As a University, our initiatives to help the surrounding villages are only brought to fulfillment the moment, these villages also learn to sustain themselves. I believe having Paliwal on our campus is the much needed step towards towards making this a reality towards promoting the well-being and development of the societies,” said University’s President Dr Devanshu J Patel.