Integrated Braj Development Program
The flow chart below illustrates our systematic
approach towards the all round development of Braj as a model rural
society based on the traditional Indian culture of harmony between
natural resources and human needs. In resource poor areas people and
environment are often trapped in a downward spiral. Penury of natural
resources often forces the less privileged to consume the few resources
available to them. In the Braj region, this led to the awry
consumption and destruction of the natural environment and ecology. The
result is deeper poverty, depleted soils, deforested hills, polluted
waters, disease, and despair. Our model demonstrates how the
replenishing of the natural landscape will eventually lead to overall
growth of the Brajwasi, physiologically as well as financially.
As evidenced in the writing of numerous historians
and scholars, the Braj ecology and natural landscape is made up of four
essential elements –
Kunds, Vans, Hills and Yamuna
This forms the basic premise in our model. Any
efforts towards reinstating the glory of Braj as a traditional rural
society must essentially start from the restrengthening of these four
pillars of the quadrangle of the Braj landscape.
As an immediate effect of replenished water tables,
acres of available pasture lands, renewed forest cover, and clean and
pure water flowing in the Yamuna, the cow-based economy and organic farming
will tend to flourish. The Foundation aims at a wholehearted entry into
these areas of rural development as a step 2. Already we have started
basic interventions at this level as background work. With the support
of M R Morarka Foundation (Jaipur), BAIF Pune and other such
organizations, The Braj Foundation is developing an extensive program
to revitalize the cow-based economy of the region and promote organic
farming.
The growth of organic farming and animal husbandry
will tend to provide a natural impetus for the development of related
industries such as food processing, dairy, cultural and spiritual tourism and small scale enterprises such as handicrafts.
This will impact the Braj society beneficially in
terms of employment generation, enhanced facilities for pilgrims and
tourists, improved health, hygiene and sanitation, promotion of arts,
crafts, and other folk art forms of Braj, and heritage conservation.
The protection, conservation, restoration and
maintenance of the ecological, architectural and cultural heritage of
Braj would not only ensure the sustenance of rural life but also
improve and enhance their standards of living. The Foundation is in the
process of creating a Comprehensive Rural Tourism programme using the
historic significance of Braj villages and sites. The plan would work
towards reviving the Braj artisans and their handicrafts in order to
provide them additional income; create haats for their sale in Braj
area and beyond in places like Delhi, Agra etc. A comprehensive plan is
also being drawn to revive the cultural festivals of Braj to integrate
it further into the national tourism circuit. This would not only boost
rural tourism but also support the local economy and create jobs
rather than eating into the natural resources and environment of Braj.
The Braj Foundation recognizes the importance of
the ecological, architectural and cultural heritage of Braj not only
for the local community, but for the global community as a whole
evidenced by the fact that it attracts over 50 million tourists
annually. It’s for this reason alone, that Braj culture and heritage
must be protected, conserved and restored.
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