Article Review: Agrarian Collectivities By Bina Agarwal

“United we stand divided we fall”, a much acclaimed proverb which stands as a testimony for collective work. A best example for the citation of this proverb can be this article titled Agrarian collectivities by Bina Agarwal. This article put forth the point that the well-being of the people can be improved by collective work and operating together rather than functioning alone. The most important trait of collective work is that it gives strength, self-respect and the supremacy to challenge oppression. The new approach to development was emphasized on policy centric and not being individualistic.
The author emphasis that cooperatively working together provides more benefits than being individualistic. The real challenge of such collective

The topic is brightened up when the author put forth a valid question, what kind of collectivism do we foster? Do the collectivities formed foster only financial aspects or production facilities or to work against inequalities are some of the major questions to be answered.
Then comes the major factor of discussing the different types of collectivities and the important features that withhold them. The Indian collectivities offers the poor with economic, social and political advancement both in urban and rural areas. The author categories the collectivities into three types for a transformative society, the types are women’s group farming, community forestry groups and women’s self-group, which is the one that links the other

This eliminates their dependency on others. Though this may seem to be a very meager aspect when comparing to the whole new aspect of collectivity, this initiative helps the mentally challenged people to a great extent.
This is a cooperative society model where the organic agricultural products which is produced by the hard work of the differently abled and intellectual disabled are tried to be branded and sold in the markets. The returns are divided between them with which now they lead a self satisfied life.
Gone are the days when mentally challenged people were out casted from the society and made to live and die alone in wilderness. Now many attempts are done to include them as part of the society and not being looked down or frowned upon for the way they are. Such social interventions help in creating awareness among people, even if not to a huge extent; contributions are still being made in smaller amount and our worth discussing.
One such example is Sristi Village. These initiatives has encouraged renowned institutions like TISS to create and formulate a new curriculum and syllabus for mentally challenged people through which they can be trained. Hence such initiatives can be made successful only through a collective contribution of people who share the same