MARTANDAM PROJECT

MAJOR PROJECTS
The major projects of the YMCA Rural Centres, Marthandam are:

YMCA Rural Demonstration Centre at Marthandam

YMCA Community Centre at Muzhucode
YMCA International Guest House and Programme Centre at Kanyakumari

RURAL RECONSTRUCTION

The coinage of the word ' rural reconstruction ' owes its credit to the YMCA that was
coined by late K. T. Paul, an ardent disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and the first Indian General
Secretary and the architect of rural reconstruction programmes in India. YMCA Rural Centre,
Marthandam became a bacon light for rural reconstruction programmes in the whole country.
The Centre has been a hub of comprehensive, dynamic activities catering to the Physical,
Mental, Spiritual, Social and Economic aspirations of the ruralites.

YMCA –PIONEER IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Rural Development was thought of by the YMCA leaders in India as early as 1910 and the
Rural Development Department of the National Council of YMCAs of India was opened in
1914 under the able leadership of the first Indian National General Secretary, the late Mr.
K.T. Paul.

Rural Service in South India with Marthandam as headquarters began in 1916. The present
Rural Demonstration Centre was opened in 1924.

Marthandam had its rise as a well planned Rural Reconstruction Centre, with a definite
service programme to serve people within a radius of 10 miles.

The people were economically poor and the service rendered by the Marthandam YMCA
reached the poorest sections of the community. Thus the physical, mental, social spiritual
and economic phases of the villagers' life was enriched. Visitors who now visit the Centre
see and appreciate the fruitful work turned out in the area and thousands of people
implementing the ideas gained here are enriched.

THE PIONEERS OF THIS WORK:

George Williams, Sir Daniel Hamilton KT Paul

Rev. L.A. Dixon of Canada, the District Secretary of the YMCA in Travancore (from 1913)
was enthusiastic in extending YMCAs into the villages.

Mr. S. Manuel, under the guidance of Mr. K.T. Paul and the hearty co-operation of Rev.
Dixon started organising many Cooperative Societies and village YMCAs.
The Christian Mission working in the areas cooperated with the YMCA giving financial
assistance. Sir Daniel Hamilton, a philanthropic planter in Calcutta financed the Rural Work
of the YMCAs from 1916 to 1921.

Dr. D. Spencer Hatch, who was trained in scientific Agriculture and Community
Development, U.S.A. was the District Secretary in-charge of Rural Reconstruction in South
Travancore from 1923 to 1940. Dr. & Mrs. Hatch carefully guided the work at Marthandam
as their "light house" project.

Mr. J. Jesudas was in charge of the Marthandam Centre while Mr. Manuel was in charge of
extension work. The programmes at the Centre were demonstration of better farming
methods, leadership training, development of Cottage Industries, organising Cooperative
Marketing of products such as eggs, honey etc.

Mr. G. John Rose and Mr. J. Dasiah were helping Mr. Jesudas. Mr. J. Rajiah worked as
Extension Secretary till 1966 and Mr. Paul Chellappa as Boys' work Secretary till 1969.
Mr. T. Stephen took charge of the Centre in 1941 and continued the useful work at the Centre
for about 10 years. The selfless services rendered by the pioneers were praiseworthy. Rev.
J.S. Williams worked for one year and later Mr. M.A. Samuel worked as Senior Secretary for
20 years and Mr. D.P. George as business Secretary for 6 years.

SERVICES DONE IN THE BEGINNING

At the Centre

Week-end classes for the farmers for 3 months on better methods of Agriculture, Bee-
Keeping, Poultry-keeping, Goat-keeping and refined jaggery-making were conducted.

Improved cattle

A Sindi Stud bull was presented by the Maharaja of Travancore to develop high milk
yielding animals by cross breeding. It continued till the key village scheme, came into being.

Yorkshire Pigs

Supplied piglings at half cost to the villagers to get more meat and more income.

Diploma Course in Rural reconstruction

A Diploma Course for one year was started and continued till the Government started
their own training in Kallupetti and other places.

Scouting

Scouting was first introduced at the Marthandam Centre by Mr. J. Jesudas and the
investiture ceremony was conducted. His Highness, the then Maharaja of Travancore, Sri
Chitra Thirunal inaugurated the function and presented the badges to the scouts. His
Excellency Lord Linithgow, the then Viceroy of India also visited the Marthandam Centre
and one of the Extension Centres at Kurumathur, a most backward village.
Soap making, Jam making, Dyeing and Printing on cloth and other activities

These were demonstrated at the Centre and many village young men earned their
livelihood by these cottage industries.

Agricultural exhibitions, cattle-shows, goat-shows and poultry-shows were also

conducted regularly every year. Printing of Christmas cards and visiting cards on Palmyrah
leaves and marketing them to foreign countries was also done for some years.

Carpentry Unit

A Carpentry Unit for the supply of model bee-hives to the villagers was functioning
and the manufacture of palmyrah juice boiling zinc sheet pans to save fuel, smoke and time
was also carried on. This was done with the help of village Industries Commission.

Supply of potable drinking water in the villages

Digging of wells and chlorination of wells and clean-up campaign wok were regularly carried
on with the aid received from Government and labour got from the public.

EXTENSION WORK

Market Demonstration

The use of rearing better quality birds, goats and cattle were demonstrated in the market place
by showing charts, animals and birds and explaining the use of keeping such things in the
homes to get an additional income to the family.

Temporance work

Lectures on temporance, film shows and dramas explaining the evil of drinks were
regularly conducted at the Centre and in the villages.

Projects undertaken
I.C.A.R. Poultry Scheme for the supply of 20,000, three months old White Leghorn chickens
to the villagers. A deep litter house for poultry was built at Muzhucode. 100 Poultry units
were started in the villages.

Hunger Crusade work to grow more food in the villages were conducted.

A Government Agricultural School was functioning for 5 years at the Centre which trained
batches of 20 young men every year on better farming methods. Mr. Kamaraj helped us to
get the School.

Training for Tibetan Refugees for 6 months was give regularly for some time.

Poultry Demonstration
 Poultry farming is one of the Cottage Industries introduced by the YMCA as early as
1924. We market about 3,000 large sized eggs per week through our marketing section.
Hatching eggs are supplied to the villagers at half cost and on hatching plan.

Bee-keeping

We trained men and women in bee-keeping. It helped many unemployed young men
and women to earn their living. The villagers kept more than 20,000 working hives in this
area and marketed over 2 lakh pounds of honey every year through the YMCA and the Bee-
keeping Cooperative Society was started by the "Y".

Milch Goats (Poor man's Cow)

The YMCA pioneered with introducing Surati Milch goats and popularised Saanan milch
goats, a native of Australia. Bucks were maintained for breeding work.

Agriculture

Superior quality seeds and seed-lings of vegetables, fruit plants and cutting of tapioca
sticks were popularized in the villages. Model kitchen gardens were demonstrated at the
Centre.

Exhibitions were held and prizes awarded to the best exhibits to stimulate interest
among villages.

Palmgur Work

Through the work of the YMCA, boiling palmyrah juice in open Zinc sheet pans in
smokeless oven was carried on in the villages. This was a great improvement in saving fuel
time and smoke.

Bore Hole Latrines

We helped in digging bore holes in the villages by providing boring machines and
slabs free of cost to help sanitation.

Rabbit breedings

Rabbit breeding was introduced in the villages on rabbit scheme. One pair of rabbits
was given to a villager on condition that he would return another pair of young rabbits to his
neighbour when his rabbits litter. This was done through the boys groups organised in the
villages.

Reading rooms and Libraries

Five reading rooms were functioning in the villages and books were issued form the
Central YMCA to those who were members.

Games
 Volleyball, Badminton and Onam balls and other country games were played in the
local YMCAs and friendly matches were conducted often. Tournaments were held annually.

Major programmes of YMCA Rural Demonstration Centre, Marthandam

The following are the present major programmes of the YMCA Rural Demonstration Centre,
Marthandam.

1. Bee-keeping and Marketing

2. Fibre Art Crafts
3. Self Help Group Programme
4. Community based Herbal Garden
5. Boys Home for Orphan Children
6. Millennium Youth programme Centre at kanyakumari
7. Recreation Centre
8. Yoga Centre
9. Tsunami Rehabilitation
10. Holistic Health Care Centre
11. High Quality Seeds and Seedlings

A new infrastructure in the offing

The century old building is currently rebuilt with modern global requirements with a wider
perspective of training and human needs. It would offer training in:

1. HIV/AIDS Awareness
2. Banana Fibre Craft
3. Women's Empowerment
4. Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojana
5. Tailoring and Embroidery
6. Leadership
7. Career Counselling
8. Vocational Training
9. Organic Farming
10. Environmental Awareness

SELF RELIANCE TRAINING PROGRAMMES

Self-reliance training programmes like Bee-keeping, Dress making, Food processing,

Banana/jute fibre craft, Sericulture, Straw-craft, shell craft have been conducted
systematically. Short-term training programmes are arranged in Kitchen gardening,
Mushroom culture, Health and Family welfare, Mother and Child Care, HIV/AIDS
Awareness, Social Awareness, Consumer Awareness, Women's Empowerment,
Environmental Awareness and Leadership.

MULTI-VARIED RURAL PROGRAMMES

The core concepts of Mahatma Gandhi in economic development that, '' India is a village of
villages", and " India lives in the villages", have been translated into concrete action by the
rural based humble services of the YMCA.
The YMCA has launched multi-varied rural programmes with an ennobling ideal to boost up
the rural economy coupled with a holistic development of the rural homes. Accordingly it
breeds hybrid varieties of fancy birds, quality layers, pet birds, table birds, rabbits, varieties
of ducks, geese and encourages rural villagers to rear the domestic birds which fetches a
modest economy to the homes, besides meeting the food requirements of the table.

A rural beneficiary

The YMCA maintains model agricultural nurseries and farms for demo purposes in five
places – Muzhucode, Moodode, Manjalamoodu, Mukootukal and Dharma Farm.

It maintains Kitchen Gardens, Herbal Gardens and Apiary for demo purposes.

The agriculture is practiced on certain concepts as insistence on organic manure, preparation

of compost manure, promotion and propagation of eco-friendly ethics in its operations.

The nurseries supply quality seeds of vegetables, fruits and green leaves, in addition to
saplings of teak and seedlings of coconut.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAMMES

The village groups are organised to secure active participation and involvement of villagers
in development. The groups are formed irrespective of caste, creed, faith or language. Small
Savings, Self reliance Schemes, Women's Empowerment, Health and hygiene, Nutrition
Programmes, Environmental Awareness, Eco-friendly Farming, Family Welfare are topics
that are being dealt for them. The village groups are offered proper guidance to avail all the
government welfare programmes.

Presently 300 Self Help Groups (SHGs) function under the banner of the YMCA.

PRODUCTION UNITS

At the YMCA, rural women produce Honey, Banana / Jute Fibre Utility Articles, which
symbolises empowerment of women. It is also a self-reliance programme for women, which
supports the economy of the benefactors.

TSUNAMI HOUSING PROJECT

The unprecedented Asian Tsunami of 2004 left a trail of death, destruction and severe
damage to the livelihood materials of fish workers in the Southernmost part of India, and the
YMCA Rural Centre, Marthandam rose to the occasion in providing temporary relief on war-
footing to the victims as an expression of the humanitarian concern and commitment to the
broken communities in distress. As a long-term relief, it concentrated on providing permanent
relief, a measure of rebuilding their lives by provision of 60 houses to the needy at a coastal
village Muttom on the Arabian Sea. It utilised its own land to construct 27 houses and raised
money to buy land for 33 houses locally.
 The Gurgaon Experiment

Mr. Brayne was posted as Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon district in 1920. He

was moved at the uncertainty of rainfall, abject poverty, filthy dwellings, ill-health,
ignorance, illiteracy of the rural people. With a view to improve the living
conditions of the rural people living in Gurgaon district he ivolved a new technique
of village development called the "Gurgaon Scheme." This was, in other words the
practical application of the principle that the central figure, viz., the villager
himself must be made to take greater interest in himself and in his village before
any results can be achieved ; and the Government agencies should do more to
combine and co-ordinate their activities in order to assist, help and guide him. The
Gurgaon Scheme claimed to deal with the whole life and the activity of the peasant
and the family and to present the complete remedy from the terrible conditions in
which he lived.

Development work under Gurgaon Scheme

Institutional Social-Health Association-Women's

Institution

Sanitation Latrine, Urinals, Drinking Water

Agricultural Development Model farms-improved seeds and implements-

preventive measures- co- -operative farming

Education School Teacher as the centre of

activity

Co-operation co-operation in all activities

Social Reforms Prohibition of child marriages-education of

girls-thrift-reducing litigation, combining indebtedness.

According to Mr. Brayne, "our object in Gurgaon has been to jerk the villager out
of his old groove, convince him that improvement is possible, and kill his fatalism
by demonstrating that both climate, disease and pests can be successfully fought.
He must be laughed out of his uneconomic and unhealthy customs, and taught
better ways of living and farming. Further the secrets of our success were to deal
with the whole of village life, to take the whole district as the field of operations
and to deluge the areas with every form of propaganda and publicity that we could
devise of adopt or afford. Uplift is a mass movement, a combined assault, and no
area, no part of the life and no method of attack can be neglected."

The developmental work was taken up under Gurgaon scheme under these sub-
heads:

1. Institutional work comprised in the setting up of:

a. School of rural economy to train guides for the rural uplift. The school
managed a farm of 51 acres on long lease for the purpose of providing practical
training to the students. The curriculum of the studies including scouting, co-
operation, practical agriculture, first aid, infant welfare, public health, domestic
hygiene and sanitation, stock breeding and elementary veterinary training. The
students were exposed to qualify in the examination in first aid, and co-operation
and special test in all the other subjects. Those who qualified in this test were
appointed as village guides. The village guides were entrusted with these duties:

i. Development of co-operation

ii. Public health work, collecting list for, preparing people for vaccinators' visit

iii. Cleaning of villages by digging of manure pits, putting in of windows,

ventilators etc. in the houses

iv. Agricultural demonstration and sale of improved ploughs and other

implements, improved seeds, Persian wheel etc.

b. Domestic school of Economics to uplift village women. The curriculum of

studies in the domestic school included reading and writing up to primary standard,
in the case of illiterate women, and some instructions in sewing, knitting and
making clothes, embroidery work, toy making, cooking, hygiene, sanitation, first
aid and child welfare, etc.

c. Health Association to promote public health

d. Women's Institution to manage the ladies' garden in Gurgaon and also to

organize games and magic lantern shows for the women and first-aid classes.

2. Rural Sanitation Work: with a view to improve living conditions in the

villages by using manure pits as latrines and preserving sweepings, rubbish and
dung in properly dug pits. Efforts were also initiated to fight epidemics like small-
pox, plague and cholera.
3. Agricultural Development Programme: The programme was launched to
exhort farmers to set up model farms, use improved seeds, adopt Gurgaon plough
and other iproved implements; use preventive measures against crop pest, killing
of field rats and monkeys and drawing out other harmful insects by keeping
lanterns in the fields. The programme also emphasized on the consolidation of
fragmented land holding on co-operative basis. The principal objective of this
programme aimed at increasing yield per hectare, so that the farmer gets a fair
return on his efforts.

4. Education: Under the scheme, the school teacher was mad the center of all
development activities in the village. Mr. Brayne emphatically stated "The village
school teacher with his school library, his night school and his scouts must be the
center of uplift and culture and he must be so trained that he can solve all the
simple problems of the villager, whether they are of agriculture, social or moral or
relate to public health."

5. Co-operation: Co-operation was given special thrust as the cornerstone of

reconstruction of rural areas. Everyone will extend whole-heartedly co-operation in
the development of the village economy.

6. Social Reforms: Mr. Brayne had also realized that any process of economic
development should run concurrent with speedy social reformers, social reformers
were aimed at:

a. Prohibition of child marriages

b. Education of girls in the mixed schools

c. Abolition of Veil system

d. Curtailment of ceremonial expenditure

e. Introduction of marriage registers by which litigation in family disputes is

very much less ended

f. Propaganda against injuries litigation

g. Combating indebtedness

The Gurgaon scheme may be described as a judicious combination of the villagers'

own efforts with the activities of the nation building departments. It marked a
definite departure in the technique of village improvement. The programme at
Gurgaon awaken the people and the Government to the vital problem of village
reconstruction.

Mr. Brayne himself realized that "Good Work, excellent work is going on all over
the Punjab. You can travel all day and find nothing that offends either eyes or nose.
Village after village and zail after zail have been turn into models of new life.
Marvelous changes have been made and there is a feeling of life and movement in
the air. Have we found the incentive the? Will this work last and spread? Alhas
no ! This work is not being done by villagers determined to leave a better life but
by villagers determine to please their district officers. A good enough motive in its
way but not the motto we are looking for. There is no permanence about this kind
of work. What if the district officer's attention is diverted elsewhere, or he want
something different does, or in a different series of villages?