GRAMNOMICS By Lakshmi Subramanian

Cover Story MAN OF THE YEAR 2013

GRAMNOMICS By Lakshmi Subramanian Rangasamy Elango watered Kuthambakkam with a mix of his sweat, blood, Gandhi and J.C. Kumarappa. The ripples of his gram swaraj are spreading far and wide RANGASAMY ELANGO. Photo by Bhanu Prakash Chandra

Most Viewed THE WEEK-Hansa Research survey An idea called Shiva Chanakyas of modern India Birthday basher Powering change through Gen-Y The Kumarappa model Elango’s economic model for villages draws heavily from Dr J.C. Kumarappa’s work. A Columbia University graduate, Joseph Chelladurai Cornelius (1892-1960) was transformed by Gandhi and became a close follower. During the freedom struggle, he gave up his English surname and embraced his traditional family name, thus becoming J.C. Kumarappa. He is regarded as the father of Gandhian... I am not for rural development Elango has a blueprint for gram swaraj: start small, identify problems, provide basic amenities, empower people economically and transform one village at a time. Excerpts from an interview with him:Can you define rural development for us?Rural development is completely technical and my aim is not rural development. I aim for and love only village development. Village is a community which is... Sowing gram swaraj For this 33-year-old from Tiruchirapalli, empowering villages is more important than cashing in on his MCA degree. Nandakumar Shiva dropped all lucrative job offers to join Rangasamy Elango in finding solutions for village empowerment. After working under Elango, Nandakumar has now started an organic vegetable farm at Gandhi Niketan Ashram in T. Kallupatti near Madurai. He is in the fields every...

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