A Grassroots Hero: The Story of Giri

D. Venkata Giri is a 35 year-old father of two, living in a small village called Narayanarajupeta in Andhra Pradesh, India.  Giri was an alcoholic, a smoker, a college dropout, and the son of a poor farmer. He is now the village Sarpanch (or leader), a spiritual leader, a propagator of social change, and an inspiration to hundreds. With a background of modest circumstances and difficult obstacles, Giri’s story is one of grit and determination, of the power of motivation, and the rewards of progress.

Like many of India’s rural youth, Giri started life in incredibly difficult circumstances. He was an alcoholic and influenced many friends to do the same. He had no true focus in life and lacked the means to chase fame and fortune.

Back To the Roots.

One day, he and his friends came across the Youth Leadership Training Program (YLTP) and it piqued his interest. The rest is history.

This program entails the education of India’s youth in the areas of yoga, meditation, spirituality, leadership skills, communication skills, public speaking, sense of service, sense of responsibility towards oneself, family, nation and the environment, physical and mental stamina, to empower them to be citizens that take control of the future of the country and drive progress.

Giri’s world expanded beyond that of his small family farm to include the hopes and dreams of his entire village and he soon became an active, dynamic force of change in his community. He got rid of his bad habits and influenced his friends to do the same.

In 2011, Giri took a situation into his own hands when an elderly woman in his village, abandoned by her children and dealing with the extreme inefficiency of government programs, became homeless. Although she had tried to utilize the services of Indiramma Government Housing Scheme, the bureaucratic nature of the agency prevented her from being able to access all the forms and procedures necessary for the program.  Giri put in all the resources he had into acquiring basic materials such as cement, bricks, asbestos sheets, and the like. She now has a roof over her head, but for Giri, this effort is just the start of his life-changing journey.

The unusual and tragic circumstances of the rape of a girl in a nearby village led to the building of 83 toilets. In many rural villages in India, the lack of toilets means that villagers generally go to the restroom outside in the open.  However, most women avoid going out during broad day light due to uncomfortableness and the presence of men..  They avoid drinking too much water and hold off until late at night to relieve themselves.  This has led to a lot of health problems. In a rare incident a young girl near Giri’s village was raped when she was alone.

		To combat both issues of women’s safety and public health, Giri went door to door to garner support to build toilets with the support of government funding.
Due to the fact that government funding was insufficient, Giri asked residents to pitch in and also received help in fundraising from the Back to the Roots Foundation.
		Thus, by being proactive and taking on a problem that no one else was willing to see through the end, Giri accelerated the development of his village.

In an agricultural country such as India, the availability of water and land is of utmost importance. Every summer, the lake in Giri’s village shrunk due to natural causes, and after this occurs, the farmers in the vicinity encroach upon the land and use it for farming. Thus, year by year the lake became smaller, and the wealthy and powerful landowners added more to their assets, confident that none of the villagers will have the bravery to take them on.

 After being unsuccessful in getting help from the government, he decided to start a dharna, or a strike. Soon, the media got involved and political parties took their own sides on the issue for their own gain.

In order to prevent the issue from getting out of hand, Giri took the matter into his own hands and many joined him in the strike because of the good will he earned with his teachings of yoga and meditation, eventually gathering enough support for the issue to be fixed.

After the incident, with the subsequent media coverage, Giri became an overnight hero.

It came time for the Panchayat elections, and with Giri’s new found popularity, many wanted him to contest. Despite the support, Giri hesitated due to the importance of money, alcohol, caste, and family background, of which Giri had none. However, his parents had a decent reputation; he was not of a high caste but was of the same caste as many others in the village, and most of all he had proven himself as a capable and dynamic leader. However, with the official announcement of his campaign, opposition sprung up. The one opposition candidate was a distant relative from a wealthy and influential family that had won many elections previously. The other members of Giri’s own party also felt threatened with his unorthodox campaign and the impact he could have on their future political prospects. In the middle of this opposition, an even wealthier third political party wanted to buy out Giri. It was Giri’s refusal of lakhs of rupees that earned him the respect and approval of his parents towards his campaign. On July 9th 2013, he finally filed his nomination. The village came together and unanimously elected Giri to be the village President or Sarpanch.  

After this victory, Giri helped three more villages during their elections persuading people to vote for the candidate they felt was best, without succumbing to money, alcohol, or food.

As Sarpanch, Giri took the lead in the development of roads, toilets, electricity, clean drinking water and other amenities in the village.  

In 2014, the Hud Hud Cyclone hit South India, especially Andhra Pradesh. Giri went street by street removing debris and coordinated with others to gather food, water, and supplies for his village along with neighboring villages.

		In response to these issues, Giri forms a “Back to the Roots Village Development Committee” with youth and well-wishers from his village. With this organization he enlists the help of non-resident Indians (NRIs) who want to give back to their home country.
With the help of this program, Giri greatly increased the amenities and government grants in his village, including his project to distribute water filters to every household.

In January of this year, Giri was awarded the Swachh Bharat Mission Award for achieving a hundred percent sanitation in his village.

It’s 2016, and Giri continues his fight for justice and change along with raising two children. Giri’s story is an example of the extraordinary powers of education, determination, and hard work.